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Last updated on Sunday, December 16, 2012
(NEWTOWN, CT) - Authorities have released the names of the 26 people gunned down in a rampage at a Connecticut elementary school.
All six adults killed at the school were women. Of the 20 children who were shot to death, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were ages 6 or 7.
State Police Release Names of Deceased in Newtown School Shooting: Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Rachel Davino, 29; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay, 7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Dawn Hochsprung, 47; Madeleine Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7;Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Lauren Rousseau, 30; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto, 27; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison Wyatt, 6.
Investigators are trying to learn more about 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza, who killed himself after the massacre.
A medical examiner says all the victims of the Connecticut school shooting were killed up close by multiple gunshot wounds.
Dr. H. Wayne Carver said at a news conference Saturday the deaths are classified as homicides. He says he believes "everybody was hit more than once."
Friday's massacre of 26 children and adults at the elementary school has elicited horror and soul-searching around the world.
Investigators are trying to learn more about 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza. They've questioned his older brother, who's not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in prosperous Newtown, 60 miles northeast of New York City.
Hundreds of people in the tight-knit community packed a church Friday in a vigil for the victims, including 20 children. Monsignor Robert Weiss says these were "just beautiful, beautiful children."
Town officials in Connecticut say the principal who died in the rampage at an elementary school was killed while lunging at the gunman as she tried to overtake him.
Dawn Hochsprung was gunned down in Friday's massacre in Newtown. Board of Education chairwoman Debbie Liedlien says administrators were coming out of a meeting when the gunman forced his way into the school and ran toward him.
Jeff Capeci is chairman of the town's Legislative Council. Asked whether Hochsprung is a hero, he says, "From what we know, it's hard to classify her as anything else."
Hochsprung had worked at the school for two years. Both Liedlien and Capeci say she immediately became a beloved figure. Liedlien says "it's so sad to lose somebody like her" and that residents are feeling "a deep sense of loss" over her death.
Connecticut State Police say a gunman who massacred 26 children and adults at an elementary school before committing suicide forced his way into the building.
Lt. Paul Vance said Saturday morning that the suspect was not voluntarily let into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton.
Authorities say 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother on Friday, drove her car to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, and shot 20 children, six adults and himself.
Vance says the medical examiner is still working on identifying the victims.
Twenty children and six adults died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Their families were gathered at a firehouse in Newtown Saturday morning.
(Note: Police have not yet released a list of names, but they will be added to this story when they become available.)
All of the bodies of the victims have been removed from the school.
State police Lt. Paul Vance said Friday night that authorities already had preliminary identities but that "it's a very meticulous process."
Twenty-year-old Adam Lanza is believed to be the gunman who shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Friday, killing 26 children and adults, then himself.
Adam Lanza
Family and friends remember Adam Lanza as many things - intelligent, nerdy, goth, remote, thin.
Now the world will remember him as a mass murderer.
Law enforcement officials say he might have suffered from a personality disorder.
Authorities have not spoken publicly of any possible motive. They've found no note, and Lanza had no criminal history. Witnesses said the shooter didn't utter a word.
Now investigators are trying to learn all they can about Lanza. They've questioned his older brother, Ryan, who is not believed to have any involvement in the rampage and hadn't had contact with Adam Lanza since 2010.
Law enforcement officials initially identified Ryan Lanza as the shooter, leading to a barrage of online attacks against him.
Weapons
A law enforcement official says that Adam Lanza brought three guns to the school and that the weapons were registered to his slain mother.
The official was not authorized to discuss information with reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official says a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle were found in the school after the massacre Friday.
The official says that a fourth weapon was found outside the school and that investigators have been going to shooting ranges and gun stores to see if Lanza had frequented them.
Obama grieves: American hearts 'heavy with hurt'
President Barack Obama has addressed a stunned nation for a second time regarding the Connecticut school massacre, saying the country is "heavy with hurt."
In his weekly media message, Obama said, "We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived. Because as blessed as they are to have their children home, they know that their child's innocence has been torn away far too early."
Obama says he and his wife, Michelle, "are doing what I know every parent is doing - holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them."
Republicans ceded their time so that Obama could speak for the nation.
Obama joined by allied leaders in sympathy over shootings
Leaders of two of the closest longtime allies of the United States have joined the president in sympathy over the horrific incident.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a statement Saturday that her country shares America's shock at what she called "this senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he was "shocked and deeply saddened" and that he found it "heartbreaking" to think of those who lost such young children.
A tearful Obama said that as a father, he's grieving for the victims. During White House remarks, Obama wiped his eyes and had to pause for several seconds to keep his composure. He said, "Our hearts are broken today" over the deaths of "beautiful, little kids" who "had their entire lives ahead of them."
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