Lanza, Mom Didn't Speak for 3 Months Before Shooting

State's attorney releases Sandy Hook report that closes investigation
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2013 3:31 PM CST
Sandy Hook Report: Lanza Had No Motive
This undated identification file photo released Wednesday, April 3, 2013 by Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., shows former student Adam Lanza.   (AP Photo/Western Connecticut State University, File)

Adam Lanza apparently planned the Sandy Hook massacre by himself and left no evidence of why he killed 27 people at a Connecticut elementary school last year, according to a report released today. "Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people, including twenty children?" wrote Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky in the report, which closed an 11-month police investigation. "Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively." The report does say Lanza planned all his actions, including his suicide, and even wore ear buds during the assault, the Hartford Courant reports. Also from the report:

  • A blow-by-blow of Lanza's carnage. The 20-year-old fired 154 shots, mostly in the classroom of substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau, where Lanza murdered her and 14 of her 15 students.
  • He killed six more in the classroom of Victoria Soto, where student Jesse Lewis told kids to run when Lanza's gun jammed. Six safely got past Lanza, but Lewis was killed.
  • The Courant is posting interesting points from the report, including the fact that Lanza didn't like holidays and birthdays, communicated with Nancy only by email for 3 months before the shooting, and had expressed an interest in serial murders and mass killings.
  • Lanza was very interested in the Columbine shootings and posted a blog about them, NBC News reports.
  • His mother Nancy stayed home to take care of him, saying he had Asperger's Syndrome, but Lanza refused to take medication or behavioral therapy. He also felt no connection to Nancy and wouldn't care if anything happened to her, according to a witness (Lanza killed her with a gunshot to the forehead).
  • Lanza left his bed made at home and sealed his windows with duct tape. He had carefully taken apart his hard drive and scratched a "W" on the disks before trying to destroy them with a dumbbell.
  • He changed the seven magazines he had on him so often that in some cases he fired off only half of a magazine's 30 rounds before removing it; the Courant notes investigators see this as a sign he approached the school shooting like a video game, as typical gaming practice is to enter a new room with a full magazine.
(More Adam Lanza stories.)

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