Bodies of the victims removed from Sandy Hook Elementary school

posted 15 Dec 2012, 10:41 by Sam Mbale [ updated 15 Dec 2012, 10:41 ]

Police find 'good evidence' on motive for Connecticut school massacre.

NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 15, 2012) (NBC) - Investigators assembled "some very good evidence" to explain what drove a 20-year-old gunman to slaughter 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, police said on Saturday (December 15), a day after one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history shattered a small Connecticut town.

The attacker, identified by law enforcement sources as Adam Lanza, opened fire on Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, which teaches children aged 5 to 10. The shooter killed 26 people before turning the gun on himself, and was suspected of killing another person before the massacre.

The shooting has tormented the town of Newtown, once listed as the fifth-safest city in the America but now in crisis.

"We want to take care of people. And uh, it's about the kids. (Long pause) It's about the kids. It's about the adults. Our teachers take care of little kids. And it's unbelievable. I can't imagine anyone would hurt little children, and these were first graders. These were people that work with little kids. They're dedicated. And the principal. She was just one of those phenomenal principals. This was a fabulous school. It's one of those schools you walk into, and it's a kid place. Everyone felt secure. It's nurturing. It's a wonderful environment. So this shatters the kind of feeling of safety that we all had," Newton Public Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson said.

Yale-New Haven Hospital opened a crisis-intervention center in the wealthy suburb of 27,000 people about 80 miles (130 km) from New York City. By mid-morning about 50 cars were parked outside. A sign warned media to stay away.

Vance, the police spokesman, declined to describe the evidence gathered about the shooter's motives but did say the gunman forced his way into the school, as opposed to being let in.

Crime-scene investigators worked through the night and moved the bodies to the state medical examiner's office for autopsies, police said in a statement. Victims' names had yet to be released.

The death toll exceeded that of one of the most notorious U.S. school shootings, the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two teenagers murdered 13 students and staff before killing themselves

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