The Incident On December 14th, 2012, 20 year old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at a 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” CNN). 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” CNN). Attracted by the sounds of gunshots, principle Dawn Hochsprung, vice principle Natalie Hammond, and school …show more content…
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, Christine “Details Emerge of Adam Lanza's Life at School and Home” The Daily Beast). 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, Christine “Details Emerge of Adam Lanza's Life at School and Home” The Daily Beast). Many neighbors were not a fan of Lanza because of his behavior. Classmates of his even said they were not surprised he did this. Many people said he didn't talk but enjoyed video games so he was written off as a brainiac who was too smart for everyone else (Pelisek, Christine “Details Emerge of Adam Lanza's Life at School and Home” The Daily Beast ). Although most people got a …show more content…
Known for being an awkward loner who put as much distant from himself and other people as he could, Lanza wasn't well known around town. Of course people had seen him here and there but he was described as being “one of those kids that blended in.” (Pelisek, Christine “Details Emerge of Adam Lanza's Life at School and Home” The Daily Beast). Lanza didn't leave the house much. Why would he? With all the video games he wanted and online shopping for more, there weren't many reasons to leave the sanctuary of home. Most video games he owned were violent and gory, some suspect this only added ideas to his messed up mind. Some would say that if you put the fact that he couldn't recognize pain and violent video games where the object was to kill together, this could prove as an answer as to what made him snap. Others may come to his defense and say he couldn't possibly understand that once someone is dead, they don't come back like in the games. But some might blame his mother for essentially feeding into his monstrous ways by allowing him to play these games and not interact with others or seek help for her son (Pelisek, Christine “Details Emerge of Adam Lanza's Life at School and Home” The Daily Beast ). All in all, Adam Lanza didn't go out much but rather stayed locked away in his own world. Memories of him are not fond but who would've thought he was capable of