Connecticut shooting: Search for answers begins after school massacre

As Obama urges US solidarity, world leaders voice grief, sympathy.

CONNECTICUT/ NEWTOWN:

Residents of the small community of Newtown, in Connecticut, were reeling on Saturday from one of the worst mass shootings in America’s history, as police sought answers about what drove a 20-year-old gunman to slaughter 20 children at an elementary school.

The attacker, identified by law enforcement sources as Adam Lanza, opened fire on Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He is suspected of killing 26 people before turning the gun on himself, as well as killing one other person at another nearby site.

Police said another adult was found dead at a related crime scene in the town. Many media outlets reported it may have been the shooter’s mother, Nancy Lanza, who legally owned a Sig Sauer and a Glock, and a military-style Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine. Officials believe Lanza used at least some of those weapons.

Newtown mourns

Trying to get to grips with the tragedy, Newtown was mourning its dead in community vigils.

The church was packed inside and out on Friday night with a crowd estimated at more than 1,000 people. “It was just, it was brutal. I cannot think of a better word. It was just brutal to have to witness the pain today,” Monsignor Robert Weiss said after the service.

Obama calls for national unity

Separately, President Obama urged Americans to join in solidarity as they mourned the victims, saying the hearts of parents across the country were “heavy with hurt”.

The president wiped away tears as he told the nation in a television address on Friday: “Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain,” he said.

World leaders express shock

World leaders expressed shock and horror over the heinous shooting.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon wrote to Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy to give his “deepest condolences at the shocking murders,” a statement said. “The targeting of children is heinous and unthinkable,” he added in condemning the “horrendous” crime.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, said she was shocked and saddened by the terrible tragedy.

Washington’s arch-foe Tehran also offered its sympathies, with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman describing the killings as “tragic.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2012.