Sandy Hook School Shooting- Part 1

On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza disrupted the lives of everyone in Newtown, Connecticut when he burst into the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School with an AR-15. In less than 10 minutes, he would kill 6 educators and 20 first grade students before turning a gun on himself.

the day of the shooting

Friday, December 14, 2012, began as a regular Friday for the students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The kids were in their classrooms and just days from Christmas Break. And just like every other day, the front doors locked automatically at 9:30 am. This security measure was installed in 2005. It’s a typical safety measure in most schools. But today, it wouldn’t be enough protection. Around this time, Principal Dawn Hochsprung and the school psychologist, Mary Sherlach were in a meeting with other staff and a parent when they heard an unusual noise. Crashes and loud bangs that sounded like gunshots.

Principal Hochsprung and Mrs. Sherlach both left the conference room to see what was going on. Mrs. Hochsprung was all of 5 feet tall, but took no shit. Crazy things happen at schools sometimes and these two women were used to responding, but when they left the room, followed closely by another staff member, Mrs. Hochsprung yelled to the others to “Stay put!” She then fell to the ground followed by Mary Sherlach.

There was a shooter in the elementary school.

20-year-old Adam Lanza had blown his way through the glass windows at the main entrance and was now in the lobby of Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Dressed in all black, a hat and sunglasses and a military-style vest full of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition, Lanza would say nothing during this short, but deadly ordeal. The other staff member bolted back to the conference room, but was shot in the leg and had to crawl to the room and lock the door behind her. The first 911 call came from this room. The call is recorded at 9:35 am.

Then, seemingly by accident, someone engages the school-wide intercom giving the classes a slight advantage and, unfortunately, allowing the rest of the school to hear everything. The entire school could hear the shots, crashing glass, and screams of pain and terror. Teacher Abbey Clements who survived said that she and her class sat in silence and listened to “154 shots” through the loudspeakers. She remembers some of her kids nervous laughing.

While 911 calls are being made, the shooter fires blindly into the hallway hitting a teacher at the end of the hall in the foot before she is able to duck into her class. He then heads to the front office. The office staff is already hiding and they hear his footsteps enter and then leave when he doesn’t see anyone. As soon as he’s out of the room, they begin calling 911 as well. Teachers throughout the school are also calling 911 with their cellphones. Dispatchers relay messages to the first responders: “Sandy Hook School. Caller indicating she thinks someone is shooting in the building.”

Hearing the loud crashing, another staff member headed toward the sound. When she got closer to the lobby she saw bullet holes and smelled the smoke from the gunpowder. She shuffled backward and called 911 while sending staff and children into classrooms and locking doors. She stayed on the phone with the 911 operator throughout the ordeal and until police arrived.

The shooter fired more shots in the hallway and then made his way to the classrooms. The rest of the incident is known vaguely through crime scene analysis and forensic evidence with some help from survivors…

The first classroom (classroom #12) had construction paper covering the window from a previous lockdown drill. This seems to be the only reason the shooter passed by this classroom walking another 20-40 feet to another classroom door.

Unfortunately, the classroom doors were only able to be locked with a key from the outside so the teachers were unable to lock Lanza out of the classes. It’s not known which classroom he entered first, but Lanza would enter classrooms 8 and 10. In the hallway, classroom 10 was the 2nd classroom and 8 was the 3rd.

The windows in the doors to classrooms 8 and 10 were not covered like the first class. Adam Lanza was able to see that there were people inside without even opening the door and since they couldn’t lock the door, he could walk in without forcing his way through a door.

Once in these classrooms, Lanza shot at everyone inside.

In classroom 10, he shot 27-year-old first-grade teacher, Victoria Soto and 52-year-old, behavioral therapist, Anne Marie Murphy, and 5 more first graders. 11 other students escaped or hid.

In classroom 8, Lanza shot 30-year-old substitute teacher, Lauren Rousseau and 29-year-old behavioral therapist, Rachel D’Avino as well as 15 first grade students. Only one student survived in this class.

First responders arrived on the scene in less than 4 minutes after the 1st call, but by then the damage was done. And Lanza, seemingly hearing the police arrive and knowing this was over, turned one of his guns on himself around 9:40 am.

Officers entered the building not long after that last shot and found this horror scene. First, they have to clear the building and ensure there are no more shooters, and evacuate the rest of the students, teachers, and faculty. The day before, enrollment was at 489 students. There were 91 staff members on the payroll, but 9 were absent that day. Of those numbers, only 469 kids and 74 staff would walk out of the building on their own.

When the first responders entered classrooms 8 and 10 they saw what could only be the most horrific scene they’d ever attended. 15 children and 2 adults were found in room 8. Only 2 children were still alive. One, 6-year-old Ben Wheeler, was transported to the hospital but was later pronounced dead. The other student was uninjured and evacuated.

In room 10, 2 more adults and 5 children were shot. Ms. Victoria Soto had been found near her keys as though trying to lock or unlock something as a protective measure. Mrs. Anne Marie Murphy, the aide in that class was found partly covering the little body of 6-year-old Dylan Hockley. Only 1 of the children shot was alive as well but was also pronounced dead at the hospital. 9 other children had run out of the room and police found 2 more children uninjured and hiding in the bathroom.

Only 12 students escaped from both classrooms.

The body of Adam Lanza was also in room 10 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. He was dressed in a pale green military-style vest over his all-black clothing: black short-sleeved polo shirt, over a black tee, black cargo pants, black socks, black canvas belt, black shoes, and black fingerless gloves. He had originally had on a black hat and sunglasses as well. The shooter had an empty drop holster strapped to his right thigh. Adam also had yellow earplugs in his ears. He had a Sig Sauer P226 9mm semi-automatic pistol and ammunition on his body and a Glock 20 10 mm pistol nearby that was jammed. This had been the gun he used to commit suicide. Also nearby was a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle that he had used from the beginning of his rampage until his suicide. He had 253 live rounds left on his person.

Students in classrooms 6 and 12 were found with their teachers in the bathrooms. These doors locked from inside.

Officers had to act as though there might be more than one person doing the shooting so multiple innocent people were detained until they were checked out because making sure an active shooter was stopped was the first priority. After that, they could focus on locating victims and getting them help and safely evacuating the rest of the school.

The rest of the students and staff had hidden wherever they were at the time. Some were in closets and bathrooms and teachers had been doing whatever they could to keep the children calm and silent. Kids were reading and coloring or drawing, but others were just sitting in complete silence. Some people were able to escape the school altogether and headed to nearby houses and hopped in cars with parents on their way to the school or even strangers.

Gene Rosen was a neighbor of the school as was his brother. The two men were on the phone when Gene’s brother said he had to go because there were kids on his lawn. Gene got to his brother’s house to find the kids crying, but also very quiet. They were out of breath from running and then the boys just started talking. Gene said that the boys said, “We can’t go back. We can’t go back to that school ‘cause we don’t have a teacher.”

Only after all of that was done could they deal with collecting evidence and treating the school as a crime scene.

At some point, Adam’s 2010 black Honda Civic was secured as it was parked in front of the school next to the “No Parking” zone. There was another weapon, an Izhmash Saiga 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun with 2 magazines with 27 rounds in the passenger seat of the car that was stored in the trunk for safekeeping. The registration showed the police that the car was actually registered to Nancy Lanza, Adam’s mom.

When they discovered the registration with the address of the Lanza home, officers headed to the house at 36 Yogananda St. They evacuated the neighbors and the ATF utilized a robot to clear the first floor of the house ensuring they weren’t walking into a trap. They eventually entered the house to finish their investigation. On the second floor, in the bed in the master bedroom, they found the body of 52-year-old Nancy Lanza. She had been shot 4 times in the head. Adam had shot and killed his mother before moving his violence to the school.

First We’ll Talk about Lanza and How We Got Here….

Adam Lanza was born on April 22, 1992, in New Hampshire. He was the second child of Peter and Nancy Lanza. His older brother, Ryan was born 4 years before him. Nancy and Peter Lanza married in 1981 and, later, after the boys were born and a little older, the family moved to 36 Yogananda Street in the Sandy Hook area of Newtown, Connecticut reportedly because the schools were better. Adam was 6-years-old and Ryan was 10 when they moved in 1998.

By this time, Adam had already begun demonstrating social and emotional challenges as well as difficulties with sensory, communication, and other developmental delays.

Adam was referred to special education services by age 2 and was seen by the Birth to 3 Intervention program in New Hampshire. His social/emotional delays, repetitive behaviors, and his sensory deficits were present throughout the rest of his life in varying degrees. He didn’t speak until he was 3-years-old, which also impacted him in the other areas of development. He began receiving speech/language services in this early intervention program and continued through 4th grade when he “met all of his goals.”

Adam demonstrated difficulty with being sensitive to touch and his parents had to remove all the tags from his shirts and warn people ahead of time not to touch him. This affected him to the point that when he got haircuts, he sat with his head down and responded with 1-word answers to the barber who was not allowed to use the clippers because of the noise (this was only noted as a problem when he was an adult). By the time they moved to Connecticut, Adam had been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder which used to be called Sensory Integration Disorder, and is still not a medical diagnosis. It’s considered a “controversial condition.”

People with this disorder are reportedly overly sensitive to touch, sounds, smells, light, and tastes. They can also be under reactive and not feel pain or extremes in temperature the same way that neuro-typical children do. They can be exceptionally clumsy and often have weakness or delay in the development of gross and fine motor skills.

Since it’s not a medical diagnosis, Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is “diagnosed” (or identified) typically by occupational therapists when the collection of symptoms present consistently and in a way that negatively impacts the daily life of the person. It doesn’t have diagnostic criteria because doctors see it as more of a comorbid condition or group of symptoms that are more aligned with and sometimes masking autism and other disorders like OCD, ADHD, or anxiety. SPD was even submitted to the American Psychiatric Association to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-V), but was rejected. Since it’s not officially a diagnosed “disorder,” therapies are not covered by insurance so must be paid for out of pocket.

Adam’s parents, specifically his mom were described as “devoted, but perhaps misguided.” They, like many parents of children with disabilities, struggled to figure out how to help their child. Adam was described as quiet from a young age, but the severity of his social awkwardness and disruptive behaviors increased as he got older.

In Pre-K, Adam engaged in repetitive behaviors and tantrums. He would have instances of smelling things that others didn’t. He compulsively washed his hands and had numerous food sensitivities and “eating idiosyncrasies.” It was later said that he was a vegetarian and then a vegan and was particular about the placement of things on his plate and felt like certain foods shouldn’t be on certain dishes.

Adam attended Sandy Hook Elementary from 1st-5th grade (never in the classrooms he attacked). This was between 1998 and 2003. When he first moved to Connecticut, Adam was slightly more social. People remember him participating in playgroups and parties as a young child. He was still somewhat withdrawn, but he was nice. His dad said he was “just a normal little weird kid.”

At some point during the late 90s, Adam was evaluated for special education at school and it was determined that he qualified as a student with disabilities under the category of Speech-Language Impairment. It was also reported that he was followed by his doctor due to seizure activity. However, this is literally the only mention of this.

In 2001, Adam’s parents separated and the boys stayed with their mom in the family home. Adam would stay there with Nancy for the rest of their lives.

As he got older, Adam became more of a loner. By 5th grade, he was more reluctant to be social. He was still considered bright, but not very confident. No one could really recall him being bullied (despite his parents’ memories). During this school year, Adam wrote a story called “The Big Book of Granny.” In this story, Adam wrote about a main character who had a gun in her cane and shot people, including children. There is not proof or evidence that the writing was turned into the principal or school psychologist or that any action was taken.

In 5th and 6th grade, Adam was part of the band and participated in school concerts playing his saxophone. Teachers and students don’t remember him being bullied at this time either. He was an average student in 6th-grade achieving As and Bs and turning in his homework consistently. He wasn’t a troublemaker and no one (even doctors) thought of him as violent.

He was still quiet in middle school and shy, but he participated in class and listened to the lessons. He was remembered as respectful and cooperative but didn’t seem to have any extreme emotions one way or the other. He wasn’t super happy or excited but similarly wasn’t sad or angry. They recalled him as “neutral. He was considered intelligent, but normally intelligent in 7th grade. There are very differing opinions about Adam’s intelligence. Sometimes he was referred to as above average intelligence and then other times he was described as below average and still other times, he was just average.

In 7th grade, he was more antisocial and barely spoke to anyone and his classroom participation was nonexistent now. His writings were only about battles and war, not unlike other boys, but his were at a whole other level of disturbing.

Around this time, in 2005, Adam was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome on the Autism Spectrum (but there’s no information on who actually diagnosed him – school, doctor…mom?). However, Asperger’s, Rhett’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and Autistic disorder are no longer diagnoses in the DSM-V and now people are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and there are tiered levels of functionality. It’s all on one spectrum with no distinction in different names. Kids are usually diagnosed with ASD around the age of 2 or 3, but older children, adolescents, and even adults can be diagnosed with ASD. It’s more difficult to diagnose as people get older because many of the symptoms are similar to anxiety, ADHD, OCD, and even other mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

When he began his decline around 7th grade, Nancy withdrew Adam from his public school and enrolled him in Catholic school, but not for a long time. It was reported that she did this because he was being bullied, but there are numerous reports that he wasn’t actually bullied.

Then he entered high school at Newtown High School, but he struggled with the level of noise and confusion during class switches was upsetting for Adam. Instead of PE, Adam did a journaling assignment. Adam’s social skills were almost nonexistent by this point and he was not willing to talk. He didn’t demonstrate any violent behaviors, but when he would meltdown, it was focused on himself. Sometimes these meltdowns would last for about 15 minutes and require that Nancy get called to come to the school. He began a modified school program where he would take some classes at Newtown Elementary and the others through Western Connecticut State University. He was in the special education classes at Newtown High School.

Adam wore the same clothing on repeat and would pull his sleeves over his hands to touch things. His advisor reportedly looked out for him and tried to help him, but again, it was reported that Adam wasn’t bullied.

In 2006, Adam’s overall IQ was evaluated, and determined he had an average intelligence with no learning disability. However, the testing elements that required him to touch things couldn’t be completed. This could have changed the outcome of his overall IQ. This was also around the time that Nancy began to notice “marked changes” to Adam’s behavior. Before this, Adam did things like ride his bike and climb trees and mountains. He stopped playing the saxophone and dropped out of the band. He also quit soccer and baseball saying that he didn’t enjoy them.

In October of 2006, Adam was seen at Yale Child Study Center by a clinical psychiatrist though he was not happy about it. A Yale Advanced Practice Registered Nurse said of Adam that he, “may not have Autism Spectrum Disorder, but instead crippling anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Yale also didn’t think that Adam was gifted or unique. They felt he had “average cognitive abilities.” They also noted that Adam’s parents, specifically Nancy, “may have had greater than average difficulty with accepting the extent of Adam’s disabilities.”

One source said that Adam “reacted badly to the whole world and didn’t want to be part of it.”

By 9th and 10th grade, Adam was reclusive. He spent most of his time shut in his bedroom playing video games. By this time, Adam was being “homeschooled.” This took away any opportunity for peer interaction and access to school therapists. Now he’s even more isolated. During his time in his room, Adam was using his computer skills to hack into a government computer system. He was said to have been able to make it through the 2nd level of security and when he tried to breach the 3rd, his computer shut off and authorities showed up at 36 Yogananda Street. Nancy would tell friends that either the FBI or CIA showed up and she had to convince them that her son was just super intelligent and he was challenging himself and his skills to see if he could hack into a government computer. She said the authorities told her that if he’s that smart he could have a job with them someday.

Despite being diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder AND struggling with OCD, anxiety, probably depression, and other things, Adam refused to take prescription medication and participate in any therapies. It also appears that neither Peter nor Nancy Lanza sought out mental health treatment for Adam after 2008. He probably would have refused to participate, but there wasn’t an attempt.

Nancy had books on autism in the house and mentioned to friends that Adam was unable to make eye contact, had a sensitivity to light, and couldn’t stand to be touched, but hadn’t confided in friends that Adam had this ASD diagnosis until the last couple years. Adam also had multiple perseverative behaviors he engaged in daily or multiple times daily like the handwashing, but he also changed his clothes multiple times a day creating a great deal of laundry. Adam reportedly wore a self made uniform- at this point it was a blue shirt and pants and later a green shirt or vice versa- but he wore the same thing over and over and over.

However, that wasn’t a problem for Adam because that was Nancy’s job. Nancy took care of Adam’s every need and want. She did his laundry, cooked his food, paid for his video games and his car, and pretty much anything else. Adam only briefly had a job one summer fixing computers, but otherwise, he never held down a job. Nancy did his shopping and chores, but she was never allowed in his room. No one was allowed in his room. Adam was never appreciative of Nancy’s help and once she asked him if he’d be sad if something happened to her; he said, “No.”

Nancy and Peter’s divorce became official in 2009 and around this time, Adam goes off the grid. He dropped out of his classes at Western Connecticut State University and was pretty much only at home. He had never been interested in social media and he had a cellphone that he didn’t use. It always went to voicemail. He had an email address that was really the only way he communicated with family and that was even sporadic. When the search warrant was executed after his rampage, it would be discovered that Adam had thousands of dollars in video games, computers, and weapons.

Adam’s brother, Ryan moved away after college and became estranged from Adam. He didn’t see Ryan in the years before the Sandy Hook shooting.

Nancy didn’t work anymore – reportedly she felt she couldn’t because she had to care for Adam – and lived on her alimony. (While she had worked in the past, she had never worked at Sandy Hook Elementary School meaning that wasn’t a connection to explain Adam’s rampage.) She reportedly had all of her clothes custom made by a woman in Newtown. She also had season tickets to the Boston Red Sox and attended a lot of games. Her email address also ended in 1918 for the 1918 World Championship the Sox won. She was dedicated.

She loved guns and reportedly said she “loved the feeling and power of a gun in her hand.” In fact, all the weapons that Adam used in his rampage were legally purchased and registered to Nancy. She was described as a “gun nut” and a little paranoid. A neighbor told investigators that she used to have dinner parties at her house and would put invitations in the mailboxes of the neighbors. Nancy never responded to the invitations and when asked, Nancy told her she didn’t respond “because there was no return address on the envelope and [she] thought there was anthrax in it.”

Despite incidents like that, Nancy was far more social than her son. She loved to travel and often left Adam alone at home for long stretches “to promote independence.” She would cook him some food before leaving and if he ran out he’d make something for himself. He wasn’t completely helpless.

Adam had previously liked to hike and write, he liked poetry and video games. He was very interested in mass shootings and serial killers. Specifically, Columbine. On his computer, Adam had spreadsheets with serial killers and mass murderers with their information. With Nancy’s interest in guns, she took Adam shooting at a range a couple of times and they took an NRA safety class. Nancy had her permit, but Adam didn’t. His interest in firearms peaked not long after his brother left for college and he briefly considered going into the military.

Adam pretty much had everything he could ever want and need and if he didn’t, Nancy would probably buy it for him. When the search warrant was executed later, they discovered that Adam had 2 XBoxes and a Playstation, plus the thousands in video games, a laptop, 2 cellphones (LG and an iPhone), guns, a car, a desktop computer, hard drives, and a fax machine among his things.

After his parent’s divorce, Adam’s dad had tried to maintain a relationship with his youngest son, but Adam didn’t use his cellphone and around 2010 Adam stopped responding to any of his emails. Peter kept trying and sending emails, but Adam didn’t respond.

Nancy would give Peter updates on Adam, but they weren’t usually promising. She told him that she was worried about Adam because he hadn’t left the house in 3 months. He had become so withdrawn that he only talked to his mom through email. His mom, who lived in the same house…

Before this, it was reported that Adam at least left the house on weekends when he would go to the movie theater where they had an arcade-sized Dance Dance Revolution game. He would go there and play for hours. Someone told the investigators that he would go and play for 4-10 hours. Then, he just stopped going.

In 2011, Adam’s dad remarried.

Nancy had expressed to someone (redacted in the reports) that she was planning to move, with Adam, to either Washington state or North Carolina. The plan was to buy an RV they could live in while the house was up for sale and then use it to drive to their new home. This would ensure that Adam didn’t have to spend any time in a hotel. He had fully refused to do that before when Hurricane Sandy knocked out their power for an extended time. He stayed in the house without power, refusing to go to a hotel so there was no way he’d do it multiple times for a trip to a new state.

Nancy had told this friend that she had shared this idea with Adam and he had chosen Washington. They intended for him to attend a special school in Washington. It didn’t seem like this was a point of contention for them or that Adam was at all upset about the idea of moving. Adam had very strong opinions and feelings that he required Nancy to adhere to. He hated Christmas, birthdays, and all other holidays. He refused to allow Nancy to put up any Christmas decorations.

When people were working around the house they were not allowed in the house. They could only speak with Nancy outside the house and were forbidden to ring the doorbell. If the workers planned to use power equipment, they had to give prior notice because Adam couldn’t handle the noise. Nancy had some friends that she’d known for years who had never been in her house.

It was also mentioned that Nancy had turned down a marriage proposal from a man she had been dating because she would have to move and leave Adam. She didn’t think he could survive on his own.

For part two, click here!