Saturday, December 15, 2012

In Connecticut: Prayers, Grief, Questions ... And Stories Of Heroism

Hanging on to each other: Two people at one of the prayer services Friday night in Newtown, Conn.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Hanging on to each other: Two people at one of the prayer services Friday night in Newtown, Conn.

Hanging on to each other: Two people at one of the prayer services Friday night in Newtown, Conn.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The day after one of the worst mass murders in the nation's history, Americans will learn more about Friday's horrific attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults lying dead.

The man police have identified as the killer â€" 20-year-old Adam Lanza â€" also died at the scene, possibly from a self-inflicted gunshot. One other person was found dead at a home in Newtown. Authorities have told news outlets they believe that person was Lanza's mother.

We followed the story as it developed on Friday. Today, we'll update the news in this post and look for related stories. State police are expected to hold their first news briefing at 8 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, as the day dawns in Newtown, here's a look at some of the overnight headlines and developments:

â€" Stories of heroism: A custodian "ran through the school halls making sure classroom doors were locked from the inside." Library staffers rushed students into a storage closet and barricaded the door with file cabinets. Principal Dawn Hochsprung "warned several colleagues who were about to step into the hallway behind her, and into the shooter's direct line of fire" before being shot herself. (The Newtown Bee)

â€" "The shootings took place in two first-grade classrooms." (The Hartford Courant)

â€" "No motive known." (The New York Times)

â€" "Police say it's clear that the gunman who opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday was on a mission to kill as many people as possible." (CBS News)

â€" Adam Lanza was a "quite, shy" boy growing up, says school bus driver and neighbor. (The Boston Herald)

â€" "Two federal sources told ABC News that identification belonging to Ryan Lanza [Adam's brother] was found at the scene of the mass shooting." That may be why some officials initially said the gunman's name was Ryan. (ABC News)

â€" In Newtown, "the peace and quiet has been shattered, and residents are trying to make sense of what's happened." (Weekend Edition Saturday)

 
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