Live blog: Aftermath of Newtown school shootings
The Globe provides live coverage of the fallout of the massacre
-
Police provided updates Monday morning on the investigation into the massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday. The tragedy elicited horror around the world, and drove U.S. President Barack Obama to declare Sunday that he will use "whatever power" he has to prevent similar shootings from happening again.
For our main story on Obama's speech, click here: www.theglobeandmail.com
For a gallery of the 26 Newtown victims, click here: www.theglobeandmail.com
And for the latest details on the alleged shooter Adam Lanza, click here: www.theglobeandmail.com
-
-
-
-
Lt. Vance: Major crimes detectives are working 24 hours a day to try to answer questions on how and why this tragedy occurred. "There are many many witnesses who need to be interviewed" and we won't stop until we interview them. We are holding both crime scenes as long as needed for investigatory purposes.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Lt. Vance was asked about the large amount of ammunition the alleged shooter carried. He says he can't speculate what would have occurred in that school, but the faculty and staff did everything they could to protect those children. First responders also did all they could. "It broke our hearts that we couldn't save them all."
-
-
-
The Connecticut State Police have now finished their morning briefing on the investigation into Friday's mass school shootings.
To sum up: Police have started analyzing the large volume of evidence they've collected. The school will remain a crime scene "indefinitely" -- possibly for months. -
Newtown residents are bracing for the first of what will be many funerals for the shooting victims. Two six-year-old boys -- Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto -- are to be buried this afternoon.
Noah's twin sister Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the shooting. The pair turned six just two weeks ago.
Jack was a big football fan and especially liked New York Giants player Victor Cruz. In his tribute, Cruz wore the boy’s name on his cleats and gloves during a game yesterday. -
-
-
More details are emerging this morning about the divorce of alleged shooter Adam Lanza’s parents. The divorce was finalized in 2009, when Adam was 17. Nancy Lanza had authority to make decisions on Adam's upbringing. Ms. Lanza received $265,000 in alimony payments last year.
To read more, click here. -
Classes in Newtown have been cancelled today and will resume tomorrow at all schools, except for Sandy Hook Elementary. The school district is making plans to send Sandy Hook students to a former school building in a neighbouring town. But it is unclear when that would happen.
-
Ryan Bartolotta, 17, right, and Ray Massi, 18, light up candles that were put out by rain at a makeshift memorial in the Sandy Hook Village of Newtown, Conn., as the town mourns victims killed in a school shooting, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)
-
-
The Newtown school massacre has reopened the bitter debate on gun control in the United States. Here are some developments:
-Pressure is mounting on President Barack Obama to take action. At a vigil last night, the President declared he will use "whatever power" he has to prevent similar shootings.
-Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is promising to introduce a bill banning sales of most assault weapons on the first day of the next Congress - Jan. 3.
-The National Rifle Association remained silent in the wake of the tragedy. Republicans have also remained largely quiet.
For more, read this story by The Globe’s Konrad Yakabuski. -
Friends of Nancy Lanza, the mother of alleged shooter Adam Lanza who police say was killed in her bed Friday morning, are speaking out. (Via the Associated Press.)
"A friend of the mother of the man who killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school says guns were simply a hobby for her.
John Bergquist told NBC's 'Today' show on Monday that Nancy Lanza loved the arts and culture and that shooting was one of her hobbies, and that she was not a survivalist." -
In the aftermath of the school shooting, Newtown residents are banding together, Reuters reports.
"Two days after a gunman opened fire in a Connecticut elementary school, killing 26 people, several dozen parents and children gathered in a circle at Newtown’s public library to draw something positive from the town’s sudden, tragic notoriety.
After several hours of anguished discussion about gun control, and of the responsibilities of parents and community members to prevent more bloodshed, Newtown United was born.
A Facebook and Twitter presence is on the way, and the group is already talking about meetings with elected officials and forming alliances with neighboring towns to push for such action as local automatic weapon bans." -
-
There were several heroes in Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning. One was principal Dawn Hochsprung, who was killed as she tried to intervene. Here's an account from her husband. (Via Agence France-Presse.)
"The husband of Dawn Hochsprung, the diminutive school principal killed as she tried to stop the killer, said she told others around her to hide. Then she 'and at least one other teacher went out and actually tried to subdue the killer,' her husband George said.
'I don’t know where that comes from. Dawn was 5’2,' he said. 'Dawn put herself in jeopardy and I have been angry about that, angry -- until just now, when I met two women that she told to go under shelter while she actually confronted the gunman'." -
There are many questions about alleged shooter Adam Lanza's familiarity with guns. Here's what we know: (Via The Associated Press.)
"Federal agents have concluded that Lanza visited an area shooting range, but they do not know whether he practiced shooting there. Agents determined Lanza’s mother visited shooting ranges several times, but it’s not clear whether she took her son or whether he fired a weapon there, said Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives." -
Conservative Democrat Senator Joe Manchin -- an avid hunter and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association -- today became the first prominent gun rights supporter to join the call for action, The Associated Press reports.
"Anybody that's a proud gun owner, a proud member of the NRA, they're also proud parents, they're proud grandparents. They understand this has changed where we go from here," he told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." -
Early this morning in Newtown, the lights were on at a local funeral home and an excavator was at work at the local cemetery.
Click here to read more from a report by The Globe’s Joanna Slater and Patrick White, who are in Newtown reporting on the aftermath of the shootings. -
Although few details are known about the life of alleged gunman Adam Lanza, there has been a lot of commentary in the past few days about the challenges of parenting a child with mental illness.
Among that is a blog post by a mother of a 13-year-old entitled “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother.” To read more, click on this story by The Globe’s Wency Leung. -
-
Here's an update on the lockdown that happened earlier today at schools in a town near Newtown. (Via Agence France-Presse.)
"Schools in a Connecticut town near where a gunman massacred 26 people at another school last week were briefly locked down Monday after security jitters.
Public schools in Ridgefield were 'put in lockdown' and police were deployed at each building after reports of a 'possibly suspicious person,' the school authorities said.
About two hours later, the security blanket was lifted. 'The police have given the all clear. After an extensive police search, no dangerous activity was discovered,' the school system said on its website." -
Local newspapers in Newtown, Conn., are running heart-wrenching obituaries placed by families of the victims.
The Newtown Bee has obituaries for both little boys who will be buried this afternoon.
Jack Pinto’s obituary says he died “in the company of his many friends, classmates, and teachers”. He “was an incredibly loving and vivacious young boy” who loved sports.
Noah Pozner, whose surviving siblings include his twin sister Arielle, “was an impish, larger than life little boy. Everything he did conveyed action and energy through love. He was the light of our family, a little soul devoid of spite and meanness.” -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Lt. Vance: We're "all on edge" about school security in this state. Any incidents will be treated very, very seriously. There was a report this morning and nearby schools went on lockdown. It was investigated and cleared. "The teachers are well trained, the faculty are well trained" and practice for fire drills, for emergencies.
-
-
-
-
-
Carney: I don't have a specific timeline for the President moving forward on guns. Last night, he said he hoped to engage the American public "in coming weeks." What happened at Sandy Hook "shocked the entire nation" and has laid bare the necessity of evaluating what we can and must do as a nation.
-
-
-
-
At a vigil last night in Newtown, Mr. Obama said he will use “whatever power” he has to prevent similar massacres.
“What choice do we have?” he said. “Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?” -
Here's an excerpt from an Associated Press report on the funerals for Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner:
"Six-year-old Jack Pinto was a big New York Giants fan. Noah Pozner was the same age and liked to figure out how things worked mechanically.
Family, friends and townspeople streamed to two funeral homes Monday. In front of one where relatives were mourning Noah, well-wishers placed two teddy bears, a bouquet of white flowers and a single red rose at the base of a maple tree.
At Jack's service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home." -
We're wrapping up our live updates of the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
Follow updates on this developing story at www.globeandmail.com.
