UPDATED Connecticut elementary school shooting - 20+ dead (incl gunman)

[kittyjake5]

This is just Heartbreaking. What the f... is going on? It seems like any nut can get a weapon in the US
and kill. Something needs to be done. I feel just terrible and am in shock at the number fatalities especially the
children.

[genevieve]

Aargh, sign of the times - it's hard to find updates that aren't videos or tweets (can't watch vids at work, loathe reading tweets)

Sorry for the misinformation, the shooter apparently was really 20. Jesus - that the same age as my niece, from whom I learned about the shooting (she grew up in CT).

Some info on Connecticut's gun laws:

Connecticut's gun laws are tougher than the national average. Consumers need permits to buy handguns. Assault-style weapons are banned as is the possession of bullet-proof vests. Another law, adopted about 10 years ago, lets neighbors who are suspicious of the activities of other neighbors to file police reports. Also, people with protective orders filed against them are prohibited from owning firearms.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/S...wn-4118505.php

Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/news/articl...#ixzz2F3VwoH5k

[Sylvia]

Associated Press and other news updates are being added here: http://www.wtnh.com/

[pat c]

This is a tragedy. My heart goes out the parents, the children, the community.........I can't begin to imagine what this feels like.
Devastating.

[Kasey]

Will almost 100% guarantee to you that he has no criminal history, no documented psych history, and all of the neighbors will say "oh, he seemed like such a nice guy". It effing sucks, and seriously, when these things almost always end up with the gunman dying of a self-inflicted wound, why not just teach crazy ass people to just kill themselves in private somewhere? Sorry, but this is just not a "sign of the times", or if it is, feck it, let's go back to the 1800s or some time when school kids of 5-6 years old were pretty damn safe to not be shot up in their classrooms.

[Angelskates]

Guns aren't the only issue. Someone with a knife attacked 20 children in a Chinese school today. People who want to harm don't have to rely on guns. Perhaps the greater question is why there is an increase in attempts to inflict mass injuries on strangers seems to have increased in the last 20 years or so.

Guns aren't the only issue, but they are the main one. No one was seriously injured in the knife attack, and the attacker was caught abd will face trial, whereas many are dead from the shooting, and the attacker is also dead, so many questions will remain unanswered.

May the families affected be surrounded by loved ones, and the souls of those dead, RIP. Such senseless loss.

[AYS]

This is one of the worst shootings in terms of numbers of victims in history, so many children. Unspeakably tragic. As so many are saying, I just can't imagine.

[skatingfan5]

Whereas the Portland mall shooting saddened, but didn't shock me because these sorts of senseless shootings are reported all too frequently, this large-scale deadly attack on small children in their classroom, does. It is simply horrific and I can't comprehend what those poor families are going through now, or any of the children who survived but witnessed their classmates being brutally murdered.

Unfortunately, it seems as long as gun lobbyists have such great influence in Washington, nothing will happen. Yeah, people kill people, but guns sure as hell help.

Guns make it a lot easier to kill a lot more people in a shorter amount of time. And for those who argue that a bomb would be just as easy and far more deadly, well making a bomb takes some forethought and planning, whereas if one has easy access to a gun, one can do something truly awful in a violent, unpremeditated rage. And as was reported above, none of those in the Chinese knife attack have died (as of last report).

I was not at all happy when my state just became the final 50th state to allow conceal/carry. I don't want to carry a gun in my purse or briefcase, and it certainly doesn't make me feel any safer at the thought that any number of fellow bus riders might be doing so, especially on a Friday night when they have been out TGIFing.

[topaz]

This whole incident is simply DEMONIC. I heart goes out to the victims, especially the families of the deceased children. I know what they are going through and it's just NO WORDS to describe the sadness in their hearts.

All of these people will be included in my prayers.

The excuses regarding gun laws and the accessibility to guns in this country HAS TO STOP. The idea that so many people in this country think that gun violence won't effect you and your life due to where you live or work or shop; It's time to stop deluding ourselves.

[WildRose]

There are already idiots saying that if the teachers all had guns this wouldn't happen. Guns in a kindergarten class - it's beyond belief. The US needs to join the rest of the civilized world and put a responsible gun control program in place. My heart breaks for the children and families affected by this.

[duane]

Young children who were all excited about the toys they'd be receiving in 10 days. So heartbreaking, and each time I look up, the number of those dead keeps increasing.

[Jenny]

I feel bad for all the surviving kids too - how do you get over something like this when you are so young?

[genevieve]

shooter identified:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2301764.html

Ryan Lanza, 24

[skatefan]

A truly horrific tragedy
Those poor parents

[Vash01]

The killer has been identified as 24 year old Ryan Lanza whose mother taught kindergarten at that school. They don't know why he targeted his mother and her school. Apparently the earlier information was incorrect.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbcnews.c...0805/#50200805

[Mayra]

Some info on Connecticut's gun laws:
Connecticut's gun laws are tougher than the national average. Consumers need permits to buy handguns. Assault-style weapons are banned as is the possession of bullet-proof vests. Another law, adopted about 10 years ago, lets neighbors who are suspicious of the activities of other neighbors to file police reports. Also, people with protective orders filed against them are prohibited from owning firearms.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/S...wn-4118505.php

Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/news/articl...#ixzz2F3VwoH5k

Which just goes to show how we need consistent gun control laws across each state and the nation as a whole. As tough as Connecticut may or may not have been, the shooter was allegedly from New Jersey and could have gotten his guns from any of the surrounding areas.

What a tragedy.

[ilovesalchows]

Here's the a-hole facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/rlanza

[rfisher]

Will almost 100% guarantee to you that he has no criminal history, no documented psych history, and all of the neighbors will say "oh, he seemed like such a nice guy". It effing sucks, and seriously, when these things almost always end up with the gunman dying of a self-inflicted wound, why not just teach crazy ass people to just kill themselves in private somewhere? Sorry, but this is just not a "sign of the times", or if it is, feck it, let's go back to the 1800s or some time when school kids of 5-6 years old were pretty damn safe to not be shot up in their classrooms.

Almost every single time this is the case. The shooter would most likely have passed any "testing" required to buy a gun. When the police do a forensic exam of his life, things will turn up, but none of them would during any routine examination. Will we require a forensic examination of every body's computers? We recently had a nursing student killed by her husband. No history of violence, no criminal record, but they were getting a divorce and he killed her. The kids who killed their classmates in Jonesboro, AR in the early 90s were 11 and got the guns from their grandparent's gun safes. I don't know the answers, but the first cries are stop selling guns. We need to look for the commonalities between mass killers and see what can be done. It's easy to use hindsight into the perpetrator of these events, but not so easy to predict who they will be before hand and intervene.

[Carmen Ovsiannikov]

topaz, I agree with your use of the word demonic. Ryan Lanza was an evil human being. Apparently he murdered his father in NJ earlier this morning then drove to CT and was allowed into the school where his mother worked. She was murdered as well.

I'm just horrified and disgusted. It actually made me cry. I just don't understand the kind of person who could gun down babies. I just can't understand. My heart breaks for all the families who have been destroyed today. It's unreal. Each time the news is updated it just gets worse.

[Angelskates]

Is it true that it was the shooter's mum's class he fired on?