Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened

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On December 14th, 2012, 20 year old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at an elementary school. Before doing so, he shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home in Newtown, Connecticut. He then took a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and two pistols which belonged to his mother (“Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened”). Once he arrived, the doors to Sandy Hook elementary school were locked due to a new security system which locked the doors at 9:30 am each day. Authorities say he used “assault weapon” to shoot an entrance into the building (“Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened”). Attracted by the sounds of gunshots, principle Dawn Hochsprung, vice principle Natalie Hammond, and school psychologist, Mary Sherlach, went to find out what was going on. Lanza shot all three women, but only Hammond survived. Lanza then made his way to the kindergarten and first grade classrooms. In one classroom, he shot and killed substitute teacher, Lauren Rousseau, and all 14 students. In the next classroom, Lanza shot and killed first grade teacher Victoria Soto and 6 of her students(“Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened”). Adam Lanza also killed a special Ed teacher, Anne Marie Murphy and teacher aide Rachel D'avino (Dolak). Each victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds. When Lanza heard first responders approaching, he shot and killed himself. At that point, 20 students, 6 adults, and the shooter lay dead in the school. Family Background In a series of emails that were acquired from Nancy Lanza, police learned that Adam Lanza had a genetic disorder that had killed his grandfather and nearly killed his mother. Nancy told friends that Adam had been diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, which made him unable to recognize pain and draw away from physical touch. At one point, the disorder was about to claim Nancy's life and she had an estimated 12 months, but then the disease went into remission and didn't resurface until the beginning of 2012. Nancy told her friends that she knew Adam's troubles were “deeper than genetics” but didn't do much to help (“Emails Reportedly Show History of Illness in Adam Lanza's Family”). She found pictures of dead bodies in her son's room two weeks before the devastating shooting but didn't say anything to her son. One of her friends said, “Nancy was disturbed, really disturbed, but didn't confront him... She wanted to think it over” (“Emails Reportedly Showed History of Illness in Adam Lanza's Family”). If only Nancy would've known what was to happen in the following weeks. Personal History From the outside, Adam Lanza's life is by no means rough. He lived in an upper-middle-class neighborhood with his friendly mother who would do anything for her two children. Unlike his mother, Adam was remembered as a quiet, shy kid, but also extremely troubled and dark. Everyone agreed he was incredibly intelligent, but just couldn't connect with people. Maybe it was because his Aspergers syndrome kept him from relating with others and identifying pain. The head of security for the school district told the Associated Press, “If that boy would've burned himself. He would not have known it or felt it physically.” (Pelisek). Or maybe he really was a messed up kid. Although one wouldn't suspect such things if you looked at his criminal history; it was nonexistent. Lanza had committed no prior crimes. Kids who went to high school with him knew him as “the kid who walked around with a briefcase” or “the kid who wore a trench coat.” (Pelisek). Many neighbors were not a fan of Lanza because of his behavior. Classmates of …show more content…
Given that, one could look at the actions of Adam Lanza and determine that something was off with his blood chemistry. Maybe his undiagnosed anorexia contributed to the off balance of homeostasis within his body which caused his thinking to be corrupt. This off balance could have messed with his hormones making dark, twisted thoughts seem okay and the impulse to be destructive stronger. He eventually acted upon this impulse leading to the massacre. His Aspergers also helped with the draw to violence that Adam had because he couldn't feel pain the way a person needs

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