The Face of Evil In Newtown Connecticut Elementary Massacre: Adam Lanza Death Toll At 28
Newtown, CT- At approximately 9:40 this morning twenty year old Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, CT.  Lanza With a Glock in one hand and a Sig Sauer in the other he locked-down a classroom of terrified students and by the time it was over had savagely murdered 20 children.   Adam Lanza has no criminal record.
He was also in the possession of a semi automatic rifle, believed to be responsible for the majority of the mortal wounds.
At press time, their is one known injured adult survivor.
Parents were alerted of an emergency via text message and all access point to the school were clogged with hysterical parents and family members desperate for information about their sons and daughters.
The scene reduced hardened SWAT members and emergency responders to open sobs-Â As it almost did during President Obama’s press conference on it earlier this evening.
A parent attending a meeting with the principal and school psychologist, both of which are believed to be among the victims, called 911 from under a desk.
Taken into custody this afternoon was Adam’s older brother Ryan who is currently being questioned in Hoboken, NJ.
It is believed Adam was carrying his older brother’s identification which led to early erroneous reports that Ryan was the shooter.
Peter Lanza, Father and former husband of the late Nancy Lanza was alerted to the tragedy and questioned near his home in Stamford, CT.  Mr. Lanza is a Tax Strategist executive for a division of General Electric.
Two 9 millimeter semi-automatic weapons registered to Adam’s Mother Nancy- a former teacher or volunteer at Sandy Hook who has also been found deceased at the pair’s Yogananda St residence were found with Lanza’s remains.
Adam Lanza ia believed to have taken his life at the scene and early reports suggest no law enforcement officers discharged firearms at the scene.
Lanza was dressed in black and wearing a bullet proof vest.
Today’s mass shooting is the second largest in US history after the Virginia Tech massacre, killing 32 college students.
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ATG – I appreciate your knowledge of firearms. I have none myself having grown up in a state and environment where firearms just aren’t common and we never had one nor discussed having one in our home. So I really know nothing about them. (Grandpa was a cop and was very silent about his job, and you knew not to ask – never saw his weapon or anything). I have a question for you, honest, no snark here – what is the useful purpose of these high-round magazines Lanza had, 30 and 45 rounds? Do hunters use them? Not rhetorical, I’m honestly trying to understand the need for that number of rounds by private citizens.
I just wrote a research paper on familicidal offenders – specifically, men who kill their spouses, children and then themselves. I was trying to apply some of the criminological profile to mass shooters, as one of my profs (Jack Levin) researches mass shootings like family annihilators and also school shooters. Other than the common demo markers (middle class white males), hard to make a motive link.
@ATG: the copycat thing is one thing I can’t understand, even studying criminological motives. I guess I get the whole “this guy went out famously, I will too!” motive, but I think it would be really interesting to study copycats. What is particularly horrifying to me is when there seems to be a one-upsmanship to it. Like the guy in Alabama who went into the hospital the day after Sandy Hook – he was headed for the maternity ward! Is it a competition to be the worst human being on earth, like, “that guy got 6 year olds, so I’m gonna get babies”? This is what makes me doubt mental illness as a motive. Mentally ill people act on their own hallucinations and individual motives, with little planning, they don’t compete with eachother for targets.
(((OSU))) I can’t imagine the love/fear/stress you live with everyday.
–
OT. A couple of my “perfect world” wishes.. I wish that the portion of property taxes allocated for school funding ++ from every county in the United States ++ went into one national fund that was equally distributed to every school in the country, based on head count and level. People who live in affluent neighborhoods could choose private schools; raise huge amounts of money through auctions or donations, to subsidize. I personally believe that all children should have the same basic advantages. I also wish in my imaginary perfect world, that we, as a nation would put our children first, raise taxes to, at the very least, accommodate the basic needs of every child. IMO, basic needs are not only appropriate academics, but also safety, phycology and special needs. It truly blows my mind that in this country of wealth we don’t have stellar procedures and funding in place to enable our children to excel and feel safe.
If it is ever possible to gather enough evidence to understand Adams state of mind, we will have to take into consideration that although he was physically twenty, more than likely his mental age was ten or twelve.
This young man was removed from a family situation of a father in the home every night or most every night in 2001. He would have been eight or close to nine years old. We don’t have actual evidence, but I speculate that we will discover that he was mentally in trouble by the time that he started school.
It has been reported that his father and mother seperated in 2001 and were divorced in 2009. In 2010 his father remarried and Adam had so much difficulty accepting the new wife of his father that he refused to have anything to do with him.
It has also been reported that Adam’s mother kept her guns and ammunition in a cabinet in the basement where he hung out most of the time playing video games. Was this a secure gun safe? If not, even though the cabinet was locked, he could have breached the lock or removed the hinges on a wooden cabinet to get to the weapons.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Merry Christmas Blink and all,
This is the address of my Christmas card to you:
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=3895352616811&source=jl999
How beautiful, thank you.
B
happy holidays!! to all!!! please stay safe everyone ,take this weather stuff very seriously ,its a new weather game with new names ,–thundersnow–city tornados –. a 9 foot piece of my highschool,went through my sisters bedroom window (from 2 bocks away) ,yesterday ,as they huddled in the hallway.her neighbor has facial injures from blowing glass.
Lindsay
The large magazines are useless to a hunter. They are just extra weight to be carried. My hunting rifles are tubular magazine types with low capacity. My 12 gauge shotgun is a Mossberg 500 series with a tubular magazine and interchangable barrels. This gun is designed for interchangeable parts to move it from a hunting weapon to a defensive weapon. As a defensive weapon, it has a barrel that is 10″ shorter (18″) than the hunting barrel. It can also fire a solid slug that is .73 cal. Compare that to the .223 cal. of the AR-15.
To illustrate the difference between proper training for shooting, I will describe an event that actually happend. All of my young buddies were taught to shoot at age nine or ten. We were taught with single shot 22 rifles with “iron sights”. There were many large farms in our area. A group of us had obtained permission to shoot rabbits on one of these large farms.
A new guy moved into the area when we were 13. He lived with his mother, a thing that was not common in that time. They moved to our area from Delaware. He nor his mother knew anything about guns. In order to make him one of the group, his mother gave him a 22 rifle for Christmas. It was a semi-automatic that cost ten times what our single shot rifles cost.
He wanted to immediately go hunting rabbits with us. Six of us took him to our designated hunting place. The field we used was 200 acres and cotton had been planted that year. The stalks were still up in the field as the cotton had been picked in september.
We went by the owners home to let him know that we would be in that particular field and to be polite by letting him see each of us. We walked to the field and started a sweep across it to stir up a rabbit. About five minutes of walking turned one up and it began to run across the rows. Our new boy said he would shoot it and began to shoot. Ten shots later the rabbit was still running. One of the guys exclaimed that that semi-automatic was worthless and proceeded to get the rabbit with one shot. This is a long way around to show that shooting a rifle or a handgun requires knowledge and practice.
Large magazines were developed for true assault rifles. Studies had shown that most concentrated fire-fights in the military were a 1,000 yards or less. The WWII Thompson sub-machine gun known as the “grease gun” was a true automatic weapon. The Germans had a rifle that was selective fire. It could fire in auto mode or semi-auto mode a shot each time the trigger was pulled. Armys all across the world are always looking for better performing weapons for the troops.
It is possible, with training, for a person to shoot up to thirty shots per minute if the magazine doesn’t have to be changed. Most people cannt accurately place shots at that speed. With practice, a smaller magazine can be changed in three to five seconds and that is depending on the design of the gun. Large magazines are designed to eleminate that pause in shooting.
There are a multitude of reasons that cause evil acts by people. We do not yet have the capability to understand the total function of our brain. We also do not understand all the activities in the body and brain brought about by drugs. Every person is both alike and different due to a lot of factors. All medications are poisons or near poisons to the human body. There are desired affects and those that are undesired commonly called side effects. IMO the side effects of many drugs used to control some behaviors are more dangerous than the original behavior. We have given too many drugs to our population and many of them are very dangerous.
Your study of criminal activity and the “one-upmanship” that is displayed by people who desire to be notorious for doing evil acts against people is IMO brought about by a society that has not taught good values to all. We all make decisions, some good some not good. One has free will and can choose good or noble acts or bad and evil acts. The motivation is probably varied by the shooter. I doubt if society will ever understand the why of such acts.
@Lyndsay,
I wholeheartedly agree with you that stigmatizing mental conditions is not the way to go. I think most of us have been touched by mental conditions in our life time, either first hand or someone close to us, and just as we treat physical illness (although still room for improvement) that is the way we should perceive mental illness, IMO. We are cavemen when it comes to understanding the brain.
There are many people with physical disabilities that ski, climb mountains, ride bikes, etc. There is no reason to think that people with mental challenges would be any different in overcoming, and it is usually when a friend takes us in to confidence that we learn of their struggle, not because it is in any way apparent on the surface.
There is the reality that certain physical conditions require caregivers, and I believe that to be true with certain mental conditions. Some people are a danger to themselves and others, and we should look to help them before they escalate. Maybe this is the only place where you and I differ. That said, someone psychotic would certainly not require the same treatment as someone bipolar. (BTW, I am aware that some of our greatest contributions have been made by the bipolar mind.) I just feel a responsibility to someone grievously mentally ill to try to intercede before they end up in the criminal justice system.
I have knowledge that in Germany a person with a mental disorder, say depression for example, can voluntarily check in to a hospital and be treated with medication. They can stay until the right combination and effect is reached. Not “institutionalized” just treated for an illness, as it should be.
As you probably know getting the right medication and dosage is an art, not a science, *yet.* In the US, a person is sent to the drug store with an RX and nobody really knows what the medication will do to that person. They have to tough it out and hope it works. I have seen certain medications with elderly family members put them “out of their minds.” It is said to be finding the right balance for the patient, yet it is the untrained family, or the patient that is left to deal with the issues and effects.
I hope you understand me to say that I do not want things the way of your grandmother’s day. I too want affordable mental health care, and want someone’s need for mental health care to be on the same order as someone needing help for something like diabetes. I don’t claim to have any answers, I just hope we find the right one. Peace.
Lyndsay says:
December 22, 2012 at 7:48 pm
I read in the CT Post that the search warrant affidavits for the Lanza cars and home are to remain sealed for another 90 days. Wow.
http://www.ctpost.com/policereports/article/Sandy-Hook-affidavits-remain-sealed-4150259.php
Joan T. -
Thank you for pointing out that the man who claimed to be Adam’s uncle is a fraud, and the info he gave to a reporter about Adam taking Zanapt is BS.
There seems to be no shortage of crazy! What is wrong with these people?
Did you see the fake aunt of a victim arrested for soliciting donations for a child vic?
I really cannot contain my anger at that.
B
Blink and Phyl,
Yes! No shortage of crazy!
And yes, I saw the coverage of the woman con artist pretending to be an aunt. Outrageous. I’m so glad she was caught!
And then the politics! People have lost their heads.
Blink- No, that is news to me. I Googled and apparently she is a “career” fraudster.
And from the jist of other articles I read, the FBI are investigating others trying the same thing.
i don’t get it. scam a scam artist, fine, but innocent Victims? I was kinda of numb to it until I first saw the pictures of those little angels, and then the grief hit me.
http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/1797927?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
Nouel Alba, 37, of the Bronx is accused of posing as the aunt of a 6-year-old boy slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School and soliciting donations for a fraudulent “funeral fund.” / Nouel Alba via Scrapbook Stamp Society
By USA TODAY
FILED UNDERUSA Today NewsUSA Today NationNEW YORK (AP) –
A woman charged with trying to swindle donors by posing as a relative of a child killed in the Connecticut school massacre had also been soliciting money for Hurricane Sandy relief.Nouel Alba was arrested Thursday and accused of concocting bogus tales about having to identify her nephew’s body in order to raise money for a “funeral fund” for the victims.The New York Post reports that in the days after Sandy struck, Alba also posted Web messages claiming she had founded several charities to assist storm victims.But the postings were filled with false claims, as well as an invalid tax-ID number for one organization.In an interview with CNN before her arrest, Alba denied being involved in any scam.
Another con artist. This one’s ugly.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-newtown-request-to-sue-1229-2-20121228,0,3515178.story
I wonder if these shooters are gamers too. Violent video games are out there and AL could be the type who doesn’t draw the line between reality and unreality. If he had no parental guidance and played the really violent games, then this is the result. Just sayin’……
I would agree if he was much younger or if he is proven to have some sort of compromising condition synonymous with that, however, I am not a promoter of violent games make non-violent now “violent”.
I DO believe that violence in a person who has a predisposition to being influenced by it is a major concern. I am not understanding how a parent or guardian is not seeing the signs for that if they are monitoring correctly, hell, monitoring AT ALL.
Case in point, not going to name the song, but while in the car with Blink Jr the other day he links the ole ipad to the stereo. As you parents of teens know, any time in the ride where they cannot escape to their various outlets, lol we need to just let it roll.
Anyhoooo. He is scrolling through his playlist and passes over a song and says you would hate that. It is very violent toward women. I said, well, I am open to listening to it and giving you my opinion.
He put it on, and YES, was violent toward women ( was the intention) but prompted the conversation where I asked him how he felt that song might effect someone considering violence or who had been violent.
His response was that songs and videos about violence should not be allowed by any kid that would ever use it to act. I did not let him see my pride, I let him see what I expect from him.
I am in no way SuperMom, I am as flawed as anyone, but we need to ask the questions and see the signs if they are to be there.
B
Also – In some of the games, if you ‘shoot’ yourself, you get to come back re-invented as another persona.
If only all parents were wise enough to ask those questions and discuss them with their children and teens. This child is wise beyond his years and I think it is because he has parents with the right attitudes and are not afraid to confront bad behavior or poor choices.
The thrill of success must have been difficult to conlceal. YEA Blink and Mr. Blink!
I honestly am not sure if it is about being “wise” or “scared” anymore. I think either works as long as we ask.
Again, a ridiculous analogy on my part, but I was sifting sugar while making Blink Jr. cake icing the other night and I remembered my own Mother and my Grandmother, respectively, teaching me cake related recipe techniques as a child- complete with my field of vision just above the countertop. It might be the dumbest thing ever to some, but for home celebrations, I bake my children’s birthday cakes since they were born.
Blinkette will humor me, and she will of course help when I need her to, but with the iphone and ipad and time off from school, I am competing for the same imagery for my daughter. It is a different time, and we as parents need to adapt, imo. I suspect also the cooking thing was a bond she shared with her Mom Mom as well. Not ready for me so much, lol.
Let’s just take the opportunities to interact- whatever and whenever they are.
B
Hi Blink,
Long time – hope you are well and happy new year to you and your family
Just wanted to point out something. I am from this area and actually knew 3 kids at the school (all in third grade, thankfully).
I don’t know how much weight this holds for everyone, but this area is very old money, conservative and generations deep in hunting for sport. There are a lot of country clubs that hold hunting tournaments and clubs, and you will still find hunting stores with European clothes, etc. on the main avenues of all the surrounding towns. A plaid shirt at one of these hunting stores costs like $250.
I am not pro-gun, but I do know quite a few well established families who hunt for pleasure and sport, and you really dont think much of it if someone has a gun or rifle.
However, I heard the guns used are NOT hunting weapons. Mrs. Lanza was a survivalist with a fascination for guns, but not in a delusional or creepy way. More like the “art” of the gun, the way it is made, etc. etc. That is also quite normal. So it’s not like she was stockpiling it, or going to use them for harm. She was a collector. I do think she was lax in keeping them under lock and key, and hindsight is always 20/20 when you think that she knew she had a mentally disturbed child and still kept guns in the house. But for the most part, her high number of guns was simply a wealthy woman’s collection.
There are also rumours that Adam Lanza specifically targeted the principal and psychotherapist because he had a personal conflict with them.
That’s really all I know. If I hear anything, I will fill you in.
Much love to everyone. xx
Blink said above: (In regards to a conversation with her son) “His response was that songs and videos about violence should not be allowed by any kid that would ever use it to act. I did not let him see my pride, I let him see what I expect from him.”
He is absolutely right in his observations. The problem lies with the parent(s) or other influential people in a child’s life who are in complete denial of their disordered child and who FAIL to act in a manner to be disciplined enough to keep close tabs on their child’s activities, and disciplined and interested enough to assess their child’s risk for acting out in society. Denial is the curse.
Agreed. Austin Sigg to name another.
B
Agreed, DENIAL is the curse in many facets of life.
@Lyndsay – Q: “what is the useful purpose of these high-round magazines Lanza had, 30 and 45 rounds? Do hunters use them?”
[Full disclosure: I am not a hunter, not from a family of hunters, and have no experience w/ or knowledge of guns whatsoever; just sharing something I heard]
The Diane Rehm Show (broadcast by WAMU in D.C. & syndicated by NPR) dedicated several shows following the shooting at Sandy Hook to discussing various related issues. One caller (from North Carolina?) said that these high-round/ automatic/assault style guns are used by wild boar hunters in his area. He said that when one goes out hunting these animals, one must expect to encounter an entire herd of them at once and must also plan on killing the entire herd at one time [I take this to mean that they are very aggressive?].
I don’t know this information to be true, nor do I know if this is the only or “best” way of hunting wild boar. This was, however, the only explanation I’ve heard that sounds even remotely acceptable. Still, if the boar population does need to be controlled, I would much rather have a team of state/county sanctioned animal control officers do the hunting if it would mean thatbthese types of weapons were not accessible to the general public. No need, imo.
I think there is an argument to be made for a militia to be successful against a government, it would have to be made up of equal force. Force would include both manpower and weaponry. Does that mean I like assault rifles? No, but do we ban them? If the government were to use assault rifles against it’s citizens, then by what means would the citizen’s defend themselves if necessary? BB guns? Just curious.
Agreed.
B
erose
The success of such an engagement of an untrained group against an army would depend on the tactics used by the untrained group. During the revolutionary war a group of “Green mountain men” took on a large British army and beat them. They did it because of some superior rifles and the tactics employed. Could it be done today? Perhaps,but it would not be easy.
In Korea, the chinese overran US military positions by sheer force of manpower. Most of the chinese did not have weapons. They were trained to pick up a weapon dropped by someone in front of them and continue the attack on the objective.
Blackpearl
The hunter mentioning wild boars and hunting them with a .223 cartridge from an AR-15 is somewhat true. It is feral hogs that they are hunting. The boar is the male and will reach between 400 to 500 lbs. or more as an adult. The females are a little smaller.
Hogs are very aggressive and will eat most anything, including humans, if the opportunity arises. Pig skin is tough and the high velocity .223 copper jacketed bullet will penetrate that tough skin making it a good choice for such hunting.
Feral pigs often travel in herds and if attacked, they will rush to the aid of one of the herd that has been shot or otherwise attacked. This is the dangerous part of hunting them.
Texas has a major problem with these animals. The parks and wildlife department actually pays a bounty for each hog tail turned in of two dollars. They will completely destroy a corn or potato crop in a field.
In the Texas hill oountry we have the true feral european pig and the South American Javilina that are much smaller. Both are aggressive and should be treated with respect by getting out of their way if encountered.
I suspect that the North Carolina caller was referring to the ability to fire a large number of rounds without pause as an effective method of getting more kills as well as protectubg themselves.
The following article is most informative and thought provoking – not only does it address media responsibility, but that of law enforcement, and the regards of misinformation and how it leads sometimes rightfully or wrongfully public reaction.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340113
Thanks for sharing Cindy.
Everyone sees the world through the lense of their experience and education. Often the media reporters are called upon to report on something they have zero experience with or knowledge thereof. They then depend on statements of others to try and get the information. This leads to confusion on the part of the public.
Newtown probably never had a crime anywhere close to the magnitude or horror of this shooting. Police are people too with families of small children. It takes a lot of training and experience to follow good procedures in the heat of such an event. They probably made a lot of mistakes. This one was a tough learning experience for everyone.
What are your thoughts on this:
That I dont want that link on my site, lol.
There is a youtube link floating around as some sort of re-enactment of Sandy Hook.
I learned recently that a former colleague of mine’s god-daughter was one of the victims.
B
I hope that some have watched the Sean Hannity show on Fox this evening. He has a world class competative female shooter demonstrating the various weapons from rifles, shotguns and pistols and the type and size of hole made in a target.
The little bitty .223 bullet that all the control people want to eliminate makes the smallest hole in the target. Anyone who watches will see that the 12 gauge shotgun slug or the combination slug and 00 buckshot leave the largest holes.
If I were a company commander of a rifle platoon who were given the M-16 to assault an enemy position, I would think the field commander had lost his mind.
Mr. Hervness and I bought an Xbox this past year and eagerly went home to hook it up and play some games (we both grew up in the age of the old school Atari). We put in a game that came with it and immediately went on our mission. It wasn’t until the game literally timed us out that we realized that we weren’t working as a team to find a common enemy, we were supposed to be shooting each other.
It’s different times.
Thanks for sharing hervness. This is exactly the reason that caring parents and grandparents need to assert themselves and tell the children that they will not purchase or tollerate games of these types in their home.
Blink I am very sorry to hear of your colleagues loss.
hervness and TGF-
The times have not changed
Atari had games where the object of the game was to kill one another
For instance
Outlaw
Combat
Warlords
Demons to Diamonds
Air Sea Battle
and Kids played lazer tag and paint ball and
before that
kids played cowboys & indians
or war or
deer
and during all of these times kids went target shooting or played with sling shots or went hunting with their famiy
and school shootings happened then too
Its not the games that we play- its not the # of weapons in the home
its not that times have changed when it comes to these things-
Its that we so desperately want to find an easy fix or an easy blame one where we can obsolve ourselves or sigh in relief because that can never be us
My kids are okay
we dont allow these games in our house
My kids are okay they have grown up with guns and respect them
My kids are okay they are not suffering from mental health issues
We point our fingers at everyone and everything to deflect from our fears
it can happen to us
to our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, our students
and it could be our child- our student,
our neighbor
AJMO
Peace
Hi Blink,
It will be two months this week. I’m wondering if you’ve seen the results of the toxicology report yet? All I’ve found on the internet is that the results haven’t been made public yet. I’m wondering if politics are at work here or if I’m turning into a conspiracy theorist. LOL I’m just frustrated, because from the first week, I’ve been wanting to know if Adam Lanza was prescribed drugs. I don’t feel we can even discuss prevention until we have all the facts. Until we know what we’re talking about. Everyone seems to CERTAIN that gun laaws are the one and only answer. CT already has VERY strict gun laws, so I’m afraid more laws won’t help prevent more tragedies.
I’m wondering if you’ve heard anything about the toxicology report?
*so CERTAIN
This is an old thread, but I wanted to alert all that there is an indepth article published in the Hartford Current about Adam Lanza and his mother.
Be forewarned, the Current writer is sympathetic towards the Lanza family. For instance she thinks that having hypoglycemia is something that made it hard for the mother to do an adequate job of caring for the child and that it made it possible for Adam to be born a dammaged child.
This is pure nonsense. My wife has hypoglycemia and has had it since a teen. She had six children and no ill effects in a time when medicine was much more primative than today. What is required is proper diet.
This is a disease that is heredity transferable usually through the mother. The only thing with hypoglycemia is making certain that children are observed carefully. Low blood sugar in children can cause angry behavior. If the mother has it, the children need to be watched for too many carbs.
Next the writer of the article looks for a poor Adam reason for going to school in first grade with a big class of 20 students. Yes, some children that have not been properly prepared for school by parents have a problem.
Today, 20 is a load for a primary teacher. My first grade class had five rows of seven desks all attached to the floor and every seat was occupied. The difference between then and now is that children are not being parented prior to school. There are rules that teachers cannot touch a child in discipline processes. Too many lawsuits by an army of trial lawers looking for a way to make a living is the cause of this situation.
The other thing is we have teachers that do not understand the nature and behavior of little boys. They want them to all be “sugar and spice and everything nice” like little girls. And when they are not, they have zero tools to handle the situation. We need experienced mothers to teach the primary grades.
The link to the piece ATG is referring:
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-raising-adam-lanza-20130217,0,857900.story
Sensory Processing Disorder is not linked to mass killings that I am aware of.
I have to say, after reading that, I am not sure Nancy Lanza did not suffer some issues of her own.
B
TGF. thank you for sharing the article-I agree with much of what you wrote I have not had the chance to read it all yet but from what ive read-
I would have to agree with you Blink-
Sensory Processing Disorder, part of it is that you hate hate loud noises—so the mom thought it the best place to bond with him a gun range?
The reason i visited this thread was to share this link-
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/photos-details-emerge-newtown-mass-shooter-adam-lanza-124951161.html
I thought it amazing that the first mention is to violent video games as what police to point to as his “inspiration”…
and then the courant article is mentioned and this quote;
“Adam may have felt that he was in direct competition with Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, based on news articles about Breivik’s 2011 crime they found in the Lanzas’ home.”
Seems to me games may have been a factor just as gun ranges were- add to that Adams early moves in school which may have led him to focus on childhood traumas and the hate grew over his cont isolation…- then enters his idolation of Anfers- which I can only see as his true inspiration and he begins to fantasize it all as a way to get back at his hurt..
Peace AJMO
Exactly. What he was allegedly diagnosed with would preclude him from enjoying the experience of the very games he had hundreds of. Furthermore, the sound quality is intensified by the various turtle beach headsets enabled to game live.
I tried Blink Jr’s headset he got for Christmas and let me say- I check it regularly to make sure he keeps it at the volume setting I agreed to. I was not there, but from the outside I am having a difficult time understanding how the severity of Adam’s mental decline was not responded to more seriously.
Anyone with his prior and current issues should be made to understand that it was Mom’s obligation to review his belongings, reading materials, etc, etc. Both my children know that their rooms in my home are their sanctuary, but they belong to us and if at anytime we felt the need to look through it for some reason based on a conversation with them or incident that triggered same, we will. Same goes with all electronic activity, period. I have to believe this should be an elevated standard when one is dealing with a special needs ADULT.
As much as I hate to sound speculative, it is my experience if one with Nancy’s educated background is willing to share current trials about her son with friends, there was things she was not, imo.
We have an obligation to know what those are and hopefully implement better coping mechanisms to teach parents and kids in this situation to avoid this heinous outcome. This is only the first ripple of this “ocean” people, what the families, first responders, educators, mental health providers will be facing in the months and years to come will additionally define this tragedy in ways that will break our hearts even more.
Think about the stigma this could create for special needs children both peer and outward social cues- doesn’t this have the capacity to further the bully cycle?
What went wrong in his care MUST ultimately be a part of this coverage, and then distill that down to how it effects gun ownership in that individual’s reach. I want to know how Nancy reconciled what she perceived his issues were, and his access.
Is someone really going to tell me that a 19 year old has the capacity to never stimulate a thought that he could ever do something like this, or even on a minor violent scale? I simply do not believe that. I do not.
B
Thank you Mom3.0 and Blink for your remarks.
This is the type of discussion I wanted to occur. We need to know as much truth as possible about what happened in that home between mother, father, and sons so that a better understanding of how to deal with those problems will emerge.
Perhaps the writer of the article had intentions to accomplish some truthful exposure. However, I think that she did not have enough experience to keep her personal attachments out of the piece.
I have always thought that Adam’s mother had mental issues of her own that may have appeared after the birth of the boys. Did she have a dangerous medication given to her during the time? Only investigation would reveal this.
A kneejerk reaction to blaming guns for the death of the teachers and children is what politicians do who want to be seen as doing something. This is not about that subject. It is about a family that had issues that were not adequately identified and given proper attention.
Blinks paragraph about the responsible parent monitoring behavior and possessions in the home is right on target. Parents that do not do this are allowing children who have little experience with life to look after themselves with big opportunities to make dangerous mistakes.
What is the time frame of when Nancy filed for conservatorship of her son Adam? Or was she still working with attorneys to file paperwork? Was there a holdup in the court system? Was a court date established?
I have seen no evidence she filed for a conservatorship. What I would like to know is if Adam was declared disabled via an application to SS?
B
I’m just a person who is fascinated by all the information that I absorb when I read through the posts left on this site.
I am also bi-polar..very rapid cycler. I can tell you that society is ill equipped to deal with the mentally ill..there is still such a stigma attatched to mental illness that it is almost impossible to get the necessary treatment.
From personal experience and observations, I can say that without a doubt whether Adam’s mother was fully aware of the extent of his illness or not..wouldn’t really have changed much..just my opinion.
This opinion is based on the numerous times that I have been homeless and hospitalized. I’ve known people who recognized very early on that their child had issues..getting help was impossible…too young to place anywhere..not many doctors deal with kids that young…clinics have waiting lists…lack of support systems..
I sometimes believe that there is a whole segment of society that truly believes that there is a program for everything and that they all work perfectly…hence when something like this happens they are all like why didn’t the mother do this, call that one…place him somewhere etc…
People need to wake up..if there was a way to perform an experiment..create a “fake” individual…create a mental health treatment history…put them in system..have computer figure out the statistics of likely hood that they get the treatment they need..or better yet have people make the calls to these agencies and see what kind of help they get…
Sorry for the ranting but people really need to wake up and pay attention…these are not really “random” incidents anymore…people are complacent..they pay high taxes and think that there are all these programs in place that will take care of people like Adam…
I’m sure that my personal experiences have “colored” my opinions but that doesn’t make them anyless true…
tiberious- I appreciate your honesty. I know that you are right because as an investigative criminal analyst, I chronically see the situations you reference. It is frightening. It is reality.
That said, The Lanza family had significant means over average folks dealing with early onset pediatric neuro or psych issues. On the surface, and I admittedly and emphatically say there is more we do not know than that we do, but Nancy was in constant “battle” with the educational and overall care needs of Adam for many years. I think it would be a fair statement to say that Adam was not in a position to manage his issues, and Nancy was ultimately in some denial of same.
The reality is this person, with access to lethal firearms gunned down 27 people with a carefully planned strategy, and he warned other gamers (vaguely) whom he was online with the day before (that we know of, there has been no public investigative report released). As a society whose Presiden’t first response was to draft legislation about gun control in the face of this, I think it is safe to say that unless we a re very vocal about the mental health contributors here, that will continue to be status quo as you state.
B
Thank you for your honest reply to my comment. I am in agreement with everything you said…society is in denial about what is going on with the mentally ill..and continues to tell themselves that “someone” should have gotten “them” help..that there is help available if only one would seek it out..
Sadly,I don’t know what it will take to change the stigma that society attatches to a mental illness diagnosis. Until such time,we will continue to see these tragedies play out over and over again.
Regarding the mental health system with some personal knowledge, I too, know how difficult it is to enter someone into the system who is an adult with lack of funds. The government mental health agencies are the only game in town and the waiting list is long and the care sub-par. No agency will see you if you don’t have cash and/or insurance coverage, at least around here. I know a specific incident where the person tried to get an appointment (other than scheduled) to get their medication updated/changed and could not get an appointment for over two weeks. So, patients linger in despair on the wrong med, or quit taking it altogether because they have lost hope in “being fixed”. It’s at BEST a very dysfunctional mental health system.
Adam was almost 20. His mother may have been trying to get Social Security disability for him. However, that usually requires a wait for a hearing date that can be two or more months long depending on the load on the system.
The photo of Adam with the big hair and the spaced out look of his eyes made me question his behavior age. Was he twenty going on twelve or fourteen? Few young men of that age would have that appearance.
The thing about medication for a specific disorder and particular person is a balancing act. This is the same for all medications that must be taken over a period of time. Unless there is a willing knowledgable person monitoring daily behavior, the medication can be a cause for problems.
I receive Social Security disability for my mental illness..bi-polar disorder. It took a total of four years to get my award. There was a long waiting period for the inital hearing.
I used a legal aid lawyer as I was indigent at the time..She put a lot of work into the case but it took less than five minutes for my denial to be issued.
The reason for the denial was that since I received unemployment that meant I was ready, willing, and able to work..end of story. I applied for unemployment on the advise of social worker..alas not a smart move.
My point for this mini-rant is that one of the “musts” of getting an approval decision is that you need a history of both treatment and compliance with meds/therapy. After hiring a private lawyer I learned that a Social Securtity lawyer doe not collect a fee if you do not receive an approval decision. Also it is a set fee approved by the ALJ.
Okay so now I will finally get to the real point here…If Adam’s mother was attempting to get him Social Security then a history of treatment is a must..along with compliance with said treatment.
I guess what I’m wondering is if there is such a history of treatment/compliance…
I don’t know tiberious- to my knowledge I was the only one posing the question as to whether or not that was a factor here.
B
It is now being reported that this crime was planned for a very long time, probably years. AL did not snap. LE has found a very thorough listing of murders that AL compiled and referred to be done as though it was a “doctoral thesis”. Additionally, they believe that he was trained via gaming and took his gamer training into into the real world. This is a very frightening finding. How on earth do we find the AL’s of the world before anyone else is harmed? And for those who say gaming isn’t dangerous, we need to rethink how young people are affected by it. No different than porn, etc. How we talk to each other and relate to each other greatly affects how children and even adults mimic that behavior. Off my soapbox, MOO.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-lanza-plotted-massacre-years-article-1.1291408
1. Hat tip to Mike Lupica- excellent piece.
2. I want to hurl. I knew this was coming, but I hoped it was wrong. Seems Mrs. Lanza purchased these weapons directly for Adam’s use and did not employ any precautions to his access to them at all. I really wanted to believe he killed her to access them because then I would not feel such anger toward a victim of his, but I do. I am so sick of preventable crimes when it comes to subjects where the writing is not on the wall, it is really on metaphoric billboards to everyone but the people tasked with seeing it and doing something about it.
The only way to prevent is to learn what we don’t know from this, and use it to educate parents in a similar situation as well as empower our health care providers to intervene. If Nancy Lanza was oblivious to this side of her son it is because she wanted to be.
B
The 90 day waiting period for release of LE information has expired and it is now being reported that a gun safe was found in Adam’s bedroom. This means that he had easy access to guns rather than having to access his mother’s safe.
There will be additional information forthcoming soon. What we are going to discover, I believe, is a very disturbed mother being responsible for caring for an even more mentally disturbed child.
The father should have been doing more to keep the situation from becoming what it has. Dads when out of the home often are pushed back by mom or a combination of mom, family and courts. This brings up another area of how to help prevent events like this one in the future.
ATG, not sure if you saw an update from Mike Lupica link on this thread recently, but it was learned that Nancy Lanza was making gun straw man purchases for him. It is going to be as bad and as preventable as everyone feared.
B
Here’s a little more on the gun cache, from 3/28 AP article:
http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CDA5AA91G2%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1018
Sick people cannot make quality value judgements. Mike Lupica did a good job with the article. Nancy Lanza did not do what a good parent does in shutting down such behavior. She aided this sick child in his quest as a “glory killer”. This to me means she was a sick as the child and no one knew or if they did, they chose to remain silent.
Gun control laws ten million deep would have no effect on such a quest.
Youths have been fascinated with guns for as long as they have been in society. Boys played with toy guns, then cap pistols, air rifles, paint guns, guns designed to shoot rubber bands. As a 10 year old, I designed and built a gun that could fire fifteen rubber bands cut from an old auto inner tube. These could travel fifty feet and leave a red mark on skin when hit. None who did this every thought of actually shooting someone. Life was too precious to even consider such an act.
My first exposure to a real pistol was a Colt model 1851, a cap and ball revolver that belonged to one of my friends. It had belonged to his great grandfather. We had no ammunition for it and the firing pin was removed. This revolver had an 8″ octagon barrel and weighed over three lbs. We learned how to take it apart and put it back together again removing anything that could be removed.
We have a sick section of our society and we all need to be aware of what children and adults do regarding ugly choices that destroy lives.
Took care of it, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
B