Adam then proceeded to the first grade wing, where he bypassed one classroom that appeared empty, but the teacher and students were actually hiding inside the classroom bathroom, praying. He ended up in Lauren Russeau classroom where the 1st grade students were huddled together in the back of the classroom, clinging to each other, terrified. Adam shot all 15 of the students with the semi-automatic rifle many times and then shot and killed the teacher, as well as the aide that was in the room at that time. During the commotion, many teachers were trying to hide their students and get them to safety, including, 1st grade teacher Victoria Soto who was next door to Lauren Russeau's classroom. Miss.Soto was trying to get her students hidden in closets in her classroom and what happened next remains fuzzy, but investigators are calling her a hero. Reports say that the gunman entered her room and asked her where the students were and she lied and tried to direct him out of her classroom into the auditorium , however, several of her students fearing for their lives attempted to run out of the classroom. Victoria put herself in front of the students and the gunman, trying to shield them, however, these five students and Miss.Soto, as well as a teacher's aid were all shot and killed by Adam Lanza. At this time, Adam apparently heard the sirens and first responders coming and he shot himself, he was found in the doorway of Victoria Soto's classroom. Once the police entered the building, the remaining 7 children were found inside the closet inside Victoria's classroom, in shock, but alive and un-harmed. Her efforts, as well as the efforts of many teachers, the principle, the school psychologist, and the police saved many lives that day! One report says that there was another student inside the first classroom that played dead and was able to survive, while the other 15 students did not; she apparently was the first student to come running out of the school, covered from head to toe in blood, but not injured. I am still waiting to hear whether this is fact or fiction, but if it is true, it is amazing that this girl survived when no one else in her classroom did.
Ok, as hard as it was to write that (I will include the victims names and ages at the end of this blog), I figured it was a necessary part of this blog post. I wanted to give the timeline of events and then proceed into the aftermath of this tragedy.
Who was Adam Lanza? Investigators have determined that he was a loner, someone disconnected from society and someone who caused his mother many problems throughout his 20 years. Apparently Adam Lanza also enjoyed shooting guns and playing violent computer games. His mother, Nancy Lanza, was divorced from Adam's father for a couple of years now and apparently this caused problems with Adam and he did not talk to his father or brother since 2010. Nancy was unemployed because she spent all her time schooling and trying to raise her troubled son. In addition, as many of you know, Nancy was an avid gun collector, who had an arsenal of weapons and often took her children target practicing. However, recent interviews with family and friends found that Nancy may have had a fear of an apocalypse or the society crumbling. Could this possibly be the reason why she had so many weapons? Maybe, maybe not, but I doubt we will ever really know! It makes you kind of wonder, since this happened one-week before the unnecessary,end-of-the world, hype.
The Aftermath
Where do we go from here? As parents, as a nation, as law makers, this tragedy has hit home in every way possible. In a way we are all victims, victims of this horrific tragedy. A breach of our children's innocence and security and another added worry during an already stressful time! School should be a place our children not only feel safe, but a place where they are safe! So how do we as a community, as a nation, as parents ensure this?
There have been so many debates and arguments and so much frustration following the Sandy Hook school shootings. If we all cannot find common ground, we will never be able to come up with a solution that works! So many people have their own agendas and are using this tragedy to benefit them. These agendas span from trying to make President Obama look bad by making the shooting out to be a conspiracy to some law makers attempting to make stricter gun control laws to who knows what. It has been a complete mess since the school shooting and I feel like we are never going to accomplish what should be, which is not banning all guns or making Obama look bad, it's protecting are children. That is what should be front and center right now and should be the only thing people are discussing right now!
The truth of the matter is, banning assault rifles is not going to solve our violence dilemmas within the schools and out of the school! People are entitled to own guns and this should never be an issue, however, better control over guns ending up in the wrong hands and the number of illegal guns on the streets is definitely part of the solution. At the end of the day, guns do not kill people, people kill people! So our focus needs to be on keeping these guns away from people who shouldn't own them! Guns are an excellent weapon to protect your family from the dangers that we are surrounded with in this world, so taking them away is not a solution. This will leave all law abiding citizens defenseless against the criminals who will obtain guns whether they are illegal or not, I do not see this as a solution! However, I have seen many gun owners complaining about new laws that would require background checks for transfers of shotguns or that all shotguns are to be registered, my question to them is, if you have nothing to hide, what is so horrible about having to register guns you obtain from gun shows? People want solutions to the violence, but when ideas are presented they want to fight them every step of the way, this makes no sense to me! You cannot have change without change, people have to compromise somewhere!! I also believe more needs to be done to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill individuals! The truth of the matter is people without mental disorders don't enter a school and shoot innocent children! So how do we keep guns out of these hands? I am not really sure, but, this is where as a country we need to come together and find a solution! In addition, there are way too many illegal,guns on our streets, we need come together and find a solution to this as well. I don't believe taking away guns or assault rifles is our so,union, however, I do believe better control of the guns being bought and sold is definitely part of the solution! As I mentioned above, if people don't have anything to hide, this shouldn't be a problem, and if they do have something to hide, then perhaps those people shouldn't be allowed to have guns! I whole-heartedly believe a solution to our school violence issues, is having ever school equipped with armed officers. I feel this will reduce the physical violence within school, and at the same time, help prevent school shootings. This will allow our children to feel safer and to be safer within the schools. I understand this isn't going to completely stop the violence and shootings, but someone is less likely to go shoot a school up if they know there are armed officers guarding the school, bottom line!!
So in conclusion, the only way to get solutions to our problems is to come together as a nation. Put aside our differences, such as political difference or upbringings, and work together to come up with a solution that not only makes everyone happy, but a solution that works!! Without a compromise and without the ability to get along long enough to find answers, our children will continue to be in danger of another school shooting!!
In Memory Of:
1. Charlotte Bacon (DOB 2/22/06)
2. Daniel Barden (9/25/05)
3. Rachel Davino (7/17/83)
4. Olivia Engel (7/18/06)
5. Josephine Gay (12/11/05)
6. Ana M. Marquez-Greene (4/4/06)
7. Dylan Hockley (3/8/06)
8. Dawn Hocksprung (6/28/65)
9. Madeleine F. Hsu (7/10/06)
10. Catherine V. Hubbard (6/8/06)
11. Chase Kowalski (10/31/05)
12. Jesse Lewis (6/30/06)
13. James Mattioli (3/22/06)
14. Grace McDonnell (11/04/05)
15. AnneMarie Murphy (07/25/60)
16. Emilie Parker (5/12/06)
17. Jack Pinto (5/6/06)
18. Noah Pozner (11/20/06)
19. Caroline Previdi (9/7/06)
20. Jessica Rekos (5/10/06)
21. Avielle Richman (10/17/06)
22. Lauren Russeau (6/1982)
23. Mary Sherlach (2/11/56)
24. Victoria Soto (11/4/85)
25. Benjamin Wheeler (9/12/06)
26. Allison N. Wyatt (7/3/06)
27. Nancy Lanza
