THE WORST PUBLIC SCHOOL SHOOTING IN U.S. HISTORY:
UPDATE on 1/11/13: A GRAY MATTER: Though Lanza blew his own skull to bits, Connecticut's state medical examiner says he was still able to determine "no sign of abnormalities" in the Kindergarten Killer's brain. He also holds out little hope now that toxicology and DNA tests will reveal any clues as to the reason for the Sandy Hook massacre.
Not much else of substance has materialized from the ongoing investigation and, as the days and weeks pass in its aftermath, the public grows more and more skeptical about what really happened at the elementary school, and why.
UPDATE on 1/4/13: Investigators are hoping to reenact the crime scene outside of Sandy Hook Elementary now because shots were fired at first responders in the school's parking lot and bullets hit several vehicles, including one belonging to a murdered teacher.
However, among the number of police who first arrived at Sandy Hook there still remain some who are seriously traumatized by the carnage they were confronted with that day. These officers are still on psych leave because of it.
It's not known, therefore, when or if ever they'll be able to assist with this final aspect of the investigation, and investigators haven't indicated if they're finally searching for a second party to the shootings or not.
They have stated that there is "no timeline" for completing the Lanza inquiry and the state's attorney in Danbury Connecticut, Stephen J. Sedensky III, suggested officials could go either way with regards to more arrests, depending on whatever other evidence they manage to uncover.
"I
can't say absolutely not because I have to see the whole investigation," Sedensky cautiously emphasized.
In the early hours of the school massacre on December 14th, a man in camouflage was apprehended in the woods adjacent to the facility, but shortly released.
This puzzling event, coupled with the existence of other weaponry left behind in the trunk of Lanza's getaway car, has caused some speculation that he may have had an accomplice. But this is a theory which local and federal authorities originally insisted had no plausibility.
The identity of the individual who'd been detained on that day has not been released.
UPDATE on 12/30/12: Lanza's father has secretly claimed his body for burial this week, acording to sources at the county morgue. The Kindergarten Killer's body will be laid to rest in an undisclosed location, they said.
UPDATE on 12/28/12: Are conspiracy theorists correct this time? A judge has blocked release today of search warrants in the Sandy Hook slayings citing "the ongoing investigation" into other suspects and homes, and the fear that these so far unnamed parties might be placed in "danger" by premature revelations.
Those search orders, originally slated to be released this week for public scrutiny, have now been sealed until the end of March 2012 when, no doubt, investigators will once more request that their "sensitive" contents be kept off limits.
Not so private, however, are current efforts by Connecticut's chief medical examiner and a team of geneticists to determine if psycho-shooter Adam Lanza carried an *evil seed* in his genome which, if known about, might have predicted his potential for extreme violence.
Scientists already know that "Asperger's Syndrome" which is a mild form of autism does not cause homicidal tendencies as a rule, but that certain other mental defects such as schizophrenia and similar psychopathologies do cause violent outbursts if left untreated. However, these are usually only detectable in the brains of live patients through active scans.
In this case, since Lanza is dead--reportedly from a gunshot wound to the head--those tests are now rendered useless. Genetic analysis then remains the only viable way to see if mutations associated with those more severe mental disorders are present in a more in depth autopsy.
The gene mapping of a mass murderer has never been done before. Final results are not expected until sometime in January.
UPDATE on 12/26/12: Mother of killer Adam Lanza allegedly spent almost the entire three days prior to the Sandy Hook shootings out of state on a binge, apparently in a vain attempt to escape escalating domestic turmoil festering in her Newtown Connecticut residence.
Anonymous sources, presumably from New Hampshire, claim they observed Nancy Lanza at a hotel retreat drinking alone and "glassey-eyed" until the wee small hours of the morning. She then checked out and drove straight back to Newtown, only to be shot to death less than twelve hours later by her deranged younger son as she slept.
Rumors were that dead "Kindergarten Killer" Adam Lanza was to be cremated by his remaining family members early in the week, but last reports are that his corpse has still not been claimed from the county morgue.
Update on 12/19/12: Investigators have now uncovered a great degree of malice and planning by Adam Lanza in the days, weeks and possibly months prior to the Sandy Hook massacre. This has led them to suspect that the baby killer's mother may have been understating that the psychotic youth only suffered from Asperger's Sydrome. Or maybe she was even outright lying about it.
Although rumors abound today, police say they've found no proof that Lanza was on psychotropic medications. Additionally, the story published on major media outlets last night and this morning asserting that Lanza went on the rampage because he learned his mother was planning to "committ" him have been refuted by the father of the source quoted, and dismissed by officials as hearsay.
Because Asperger's is a mild form of autism and not generally associated with acts of violence of such an extreme nature, the chief medical examiner for the state of Connecticut has been give the go ahead to further analyze Lanza's corpse. He'll be looking for evidence of genetic disease that might indicate Lanza suffered from a far more serious mental illness.
This should be easy to accomplish now since, as of late last night, nobody has yet come to collect the bodies of Adam Lanza or his mother Nancy, despite that the deceased have wealthy family living close by in the area.
Update on 12/18/12: Authorities say that the hard drives of a key computer found in child-killer Adam Lanza's windowless dungeon lair had been destroyed sometime before his assassination of dozens of 6-year-olds and their unarmed female teachers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Experts say that this discovery proves the massacre was intricately planned but also serves to confound the cyber forensic inquiry into the events that preceded it.
However, a cache of violent video games and other items has successfully been retrieved, and police haven't given up on the possibility of finding other important data such as the names and IP addresses of those Lanaz had been communicating with before he went berserk.
Lanza was a gaming addict with a history of bizarre behavior and mental issues. He is believed to be the one who took a hammer or screwdriver to the hard drive in an effort to thwart police from tracing his online footprint as well as discovering who his cohorts may be.
To those ends, investigators say they are using other means to obtain this information.
Update on 12/16/12 - PM: Police evacuated a church in Newtown today after someone called in a bomb threat. This is the second time an anonymous individual has sought to intimidate the bereaved community--earlier, residents found a goodwill poster had been vandalized with a menacing message threatening that Friday's rampage was only the beginning.
Update on 12/16/12 - PM: Shooter's brother, Ryan Lanza, 24, told police investigators that he was "estranged" from his younger brother in recent years, implying a concern for his own safety. Police have also stated today that Adam Lanza had a room devoted to his computers and fanatically played his "extremely graphic" videogames there. He destroyed his hard drives before the massacre, they say, but notwithstanding, police are still steadily piecing together the cyber forensic aspects of this case.
Update on 12/16/12 - AM: Officials confirm that Adam Lanza attempted to gain entrance to the Sandy Hook Elementary school the day before the massacre, but was confronted by four female staff members and barred. Three of those four, including the principal herself, were shot dead the next day. The fourth was spared only because she didn't come to work the morning of the rampage. It's likely Lanza was armed on this occasion too, but little else has been disclosed about the incident because police are still investigating.
Update on 12/15/12: A close friend of the shooter's murdered mother, Nancy Lanza, 53, described her as a "high-strung" gun "fanatic" with numerous firearms in her collection, and who frequently took her sons to firing ranges to improve their aim. Her brother is also a police officer in the state of New Hampshire where she was born and raised. He was in the Newtown, Connecticut area today but unable to comment.
Update on 12/15/12: As Killing Killers reported below on 12/14/12, all child victims were only between five to seven years of age. Medical examiners have further determined today that each were shot multiple times with a high-powered, semi-assault rifle.
S T O R Y : 12/14/12
A bloody rampage that may have begun late in the night or in the pre-dawn hours of the morning has left dozens of dead, including the gunman's mother and himself.
Sources speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation say that the shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, died of a self-inflicted gun wound and that his 24-year-old brother, Ryan Lanza, is in custody and being questioned.
Alleged to be a diehard video gaming enthusiast, Adam Lanza entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in suburban Connecticut just as the school day was beginning.
According to eye witnesses, he arrived there dressed in combat fatigues, heavily armed with pistols and at least one assault rifle, and forced his way into the facility, silently opening fire on the principal, teachers, and a classroom of first-graders.
Although that room is where the casualties were concentrated, officials now say some of those children may have managed to escape.
A child from another class close by reported hearing a scream for help come over the school's Public Address system, but said the person was quickly silenced, and then the gunshots began.
When the list is confirmed at 28 -- the majority of them schoolchildren -- the violence and resulting fatalities surpasses the infamous Columbine High Massacre by double.
An older Lanza brother was originally rumored to be near the crime scene at Sandy Hook as events were unfolding there this morning, and was therefore considered a possible accomplice to the mass murder spree. But police now say Ryan Lanza, age 24, has been "extremely cooperative" with the investigation and is not under arrest.
He was detained by police at his Hoboken, New Jersey residence.
Federal agents from the ATF and FBI as well as SWAT teams arrived on the chaotic scene at the elementary school and then helped local police forces already assembled from the county and state to orchestrate lockdowns and student evacuations.
They also coordinated a swift room-to-room manhunt for the shooter which resulted in the discovery of Adam Lanza's body, and, reportedly, those of two teachers in one of the corridors.
Children said authorities escorting them in large groups from the school told them all to "shut their eyes" and to not open them again until they were safe outdoors. A precaution presumably taken so the youngsters would not see the bodies of their teachers or classmates or be frightened by the spectacle of armed men in the halls.
A neighbor who has claimed to be acquainted with the Lanza siblings described them both as "troubled" young men. But another individual from the area, who said he had known a Ryan Lanza in high school, doubted the same person could be capable of such a heinous act. He called the teen he knew "quiet" and "into computers."
Previously and incorrectedly cited as the dead shooter by all the major networks as the day progressed, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza finally declared his status as 'innocent' on his Facebook page: "It wasn't me" and "I was at work" it said.
Adding to the confusion were rampant reports that police had cordoned off a secondary crime scene, purported to be the Lanza brothers' other home in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the body of their father was to have been discovered.
But the father, Peter Lanza, is said to live in Stamford Connecticut, and...appears to be alive and well.
In that same state of New Jersey, though, a girlfriend of Adam Lanza, as well as another friend, were also reported to be missing, and sources originally feared more foul play and bodies would emerge before the day is done. However those parties have since been contacted by investigators, although the content of their discussions have not been released.
During his own questioning, Ryan Lanza informed investigators that his now-deceased younger brother had a mild form of autism known as Asperger's Syndrome and other "personality problems" that may have negatively impacted his mental health.
Adam Lanza used his mother's own car to drive over to the school today, as well as her own handguns to do the shooting with.
Police confirm that the disturbed youth first shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, dead in her home near the Sandy Hook Elementary School where she was falsely rumored to have once been employed as a Kindergarten teacher/assistant. Then he drove to the school to continue his rampage.
In a special White House news conference concerning the massacre, President Obama, himself a father to school-age daughters, choked back tears at the idea that someone would vindictively slaughter so many kids. "Our hearts are broken," he said.
However, earlier in the day the Obama administration had issued a different statement to the news, declaring that "now is not the time to debate gun control legislation."
*This story is still developing - bookmark this post for further info & photos
NOTE: only significant updates from reliable sources will now be added here.
