Don Emmert/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Connecticut State Police stood guard outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Saturday morning.
A gunman who killed 26 people in a shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., before committing suicide forced his way into the building, the authorities said on Saturday morning.
The medical examiner’s office was still finalizing its work before the authorities could make public the names of the victims in the mass shooting on Friday, Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police., said at a news conference Saturday morning.
Lieutenant Vance said investigators had found valuable information at the home of the gunman that may help explain why he began his assault, but declined to give details.
“We are hopeful it will paint a complete picture of how and why,” Lieutenant Vance said of the evidence.
Only one of the shooting victims survived. That person, who was shot in the foot, remained in a hospital and was to be interviewed by the police on Saturday.
“She will be instrumental in this investigation,” Lieutenant Vance said.
The gunman, identified by law enforcement officials as Adam Lanza, started his killing spree at his home near the school, where he shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, in the face, the authorities said.
Mr. Lanza, 20, then drove his mother’s car to Sandy Hook Elementary School. Outfitted in combat gear and armed with semiautomatic pistols and a semiautomatic rifle, Mr. Lanza forced his way into the building and then chose his victims with a brutal efficiency, according to law enforcement officials.
As children hid in closets, barricaded themselves in bathrooms and huddled in classroom corners, Mr. Lanza shot child after child. A janitor ran through the halls alerting others to the shooting, and someone switched on the school intercom, providing more warning and perhaps saving lives, the authorities said.
When the principal and teachers tried to intervene, they, too, were shot dead.
The shooting spree lasted only minutes, but it was enough time to leave a nation stunned and a community shattered.
Even as bodies were removed from the school overnight Friday and investigators continued to work the crime scene, the town began to mourn the dead.
Across Newtown, a picture-perfect New England town where neighbors are a quick with a friendly hello and know one another by name, the Christmas lights and decorations were overwhelmed by memorials. With words so hard to come by, several people hung up signs that simply read, “Pray.”
On Friday night, thousands of people flocked to local churches, attending candlelight vigils and seeking comfort in community.
“These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children,” Msgr. Robert Weiss of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church told reporters. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have.”
A letter from Pope Benedict XVI was read at one of the vigils.
"I ask God our father to console all those who mourn and to sustain the entire community with the spiritual strength which triumphs over violence by the power of forgiveness, hope and reconciling love," the pope wrote.
At the White House, President Obama struggled to choke back his own emotions as he read a statement on Friday. More than once, he dabbed his eyes.
“Our hearts are broken,” Mr. Obama said, adding that his first reaction was not as a president, but as a parent.
“I know there is not a parent in America who does not feel the same overwhelming grief that I do,” he said.
“They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own,” he said. Then the president reached up to the corner of one eye.
In his Saturday morning weekly address to the nation, Mr. Obama reiterated his call to take “meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this. Regardless of the politics.”
Gunman Kills 20 Children at School in Connecticut; 28 Dead in All
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Gunman Kills 20 Children at School in Connecticut; 28 Dead in All
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Gunman Kills 20 Children at School in Connecticut; 28 Dead in All
