Connecticut Chief state medical examiner H. Wayne Carver II said in a press conference Saturday afternoon in Newtown that in his three decades in practice, the shooting is the ‘worst I know of any of my colleagues having seen.’
Dr Carver said that each of the 26 victims was shot between there and 11 times, with two of the victims being shot at incredibly close range. The bullets had pierced everywhere, he said – heads, extremities, and torsos.
Lt. J. Paul Vance, left, of the Connecticut State Police
listens as Dr Carver speaks to reporters Saturday afternoon
Kathy Murdy, left, and her husband Rich Murdy react as
they look at the list of victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school
shooting
‘This is a devastating set of injuries,’ he told reporters in the emotionally-charged news conference.
Dr Carver’s 10 technicians and four doctors in his office worked tirelessly throughout Friday night and on into Saturday to identify and perform autopsies on the 26 dead. They expect to be done by tomorrow morning, the Hartford Courant reports.
He said that 20-year-old shooter Adam Lanza was able to reload extremely quickly during the Friday morning blitz because he taped two magazines together.
The shooter mainly used a military-style assault rifle belonging to his mother, Nancy, to carry out the horrific massacre.
Dr Carver went on to say that most of Lanza’s victims were first graders, between the ages of six and seven.
Parents were allowed to identify their children through pictures, a process intended to minimize shock, he said.
The victims of the shooting were shot multiple times by
semiautomatic rifle, the medical examiner said Saturday, and he called the
injuries 'devastating'
A girl and a woman place angel wings at the Sandy Hook
Elementary School sign in Newtown on Saturday
GONE TOO SOON: VICTIMS OF THE SANDY HOOK SCHOOL MASSACRE
CHILDREN:
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6
ADULTS:
Rachel Davino, 29
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Lauren Russeau, 20
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6
ADULTS:
Rachel Davino, 29
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Lauren Russeau, 20
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Among the dead were popular Principal Dawn Hochsprung, who town officials say tried to stop the rampage and paid with her life; school psychologist Mary Sherlach, who probably would have helped survivors grapple with the tragedy; a teacher thrilled to have been hired this year; and a six-year-old girl who had just moved to Newtown from Canada.
Dr Carver said that he will personally perform an autopsy on the suspected gunman on Sunday, as well as his mother, Nancy, 52, who was shot dead in her upscale Newtown home.
The shooter’s father, Peter Lanza, today issued a statement detailing the grief his family is going through.
It reads: ‘Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured. Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy.
‘No words can truly express how heartbroken we are. We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can.
‘We too are asking why. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so.
'Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired.'
Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy said in a televised address Saturday afternoon that in instances like this, there is little sense to be made.
‘There's precious little anyone can say to the families that will lessen the horror and sense of loss they feel. We could say we feel their pain, but the truth is we can't,’ he said.
Medical Examiner: 'Victims shot more than once'
A man wipes a tear from his eye as he leans over a
makeshift memorial outside Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown,
Connecticut December 15
A woman and a child holding a teddy bear pray over candles
outside Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church a day after a shooting at Sandy
Hook Elementary School
‘When tragedies like this take place, people often look for answers, an explanation of how this could have occurred. But the sad truth is, there are no answers. No good ones, anyway.
‘We have all seen tragedies like this play out in other states and in other countries. Each time, we have wondered how something so horrific could occur, and we have thanked God that it didn't happen here in Connecticut. But now, sadly, it has.’
President Obama plans to travel to the affluent suburb of 27,000 people about 80 miles from New York City on Sunday to meet with victims' families and speak at a vigil at 7 p.m. local time, the White House said in a statement.
Jillian Soto uses a phone to get information about her
sister, Victoria Soto, a teacher at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown
on Friday
Meanwhile, newly released details about the shooting massacre that has
rocked a Connecticut town paint a picture of merciless gunman that spared no
mercy when he shot each of victims multiple times.A list of the 20 children killed on Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, eight boys and 12 girls, was released to the public and showed that all the student victims were between the ages of 6 and 7.
Pictures began pouring in of the children whose lives were tragically cut short in the senseless violence that has left the quiet New England community overwhelmed with grief.
Slaughtered: (Clockwise from top left) Catherine V.
Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Ana Marquez-Green, James Mattioli, Olivia Engel, Dylan
Hockley, Charlotte Bacon and Grace McDonnell, all aged six to seven, were
killed
Deaths: (Clockwise from top left) Emilie Parker, Noah
Pozner, Josephine Gay, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos and Jesse Lewis all
perished in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Connecticut
Innocence: Six-year-old Emilie Parker was killed in the
shooting tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School
Lanza murdered 20 school children, all aged 6 and 7,
including Ana Marquez-Green, left, and Jesse Lewis, right
Lost: Six-year-old Noah Pozner (pictured on Nov. 13, 2012)
was one of the victims in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown,
Conn. on Dec. 14
Six-year-olds James Mattioli (left) and Jessica Rekos
(right) were also among the victims
The faces of the innocent victims began to
circulate as the families grapple with the horror that unfolded on Friday, when
gunman Adam Lanza killed 26 in a shooting rampage at the
school. The first parent of a child victim spoke out in an emotional press conference on Saturday.
Robbie Parker, the father of Emilie Parker, 6, addressed the press on Saturday, holding back tears as he remembered the precious six-year-old, the oldest of his three daughters.
The grieving father remembered the beautiful gifts and talents endowed to the little girl by her heavenly father.
In a remarkable act, Mr Parker expressed his condolences to the family of the gunman and thanked friends and strangers for their support and love.
Friends of the Parker family have set up a Facebook page to pay tribute to little Emilie and have established a remembrance fund
Six-year-old Noah Pozner was also killed in the shooting on Friday, with Rabbi Shaul Praver of Adath Israel in Newtown, Conn., saying that the boy was shot execution style.
A six-year-old boy from Britain, Dylan Hockley, was one of
the victims of the school shooting in America
The spiritual leader said he was comforting the mother of the child, who will be laid to rest on Sunday.
Ana Marquez-Greene, six, was killed when the shooter opened fire on children and teachers at 9.30am on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The little girl and her older brother had attended Linden Christian School nearby, before moving with their parents to Newtown in July and enrolling at Sandy Hook. Both children were inside the school when the shooting began.
Ana Marquez-Greene's father is Canadian jazz musician Jimmy Greene. The distraught father told MailOnline today that he couldn't find the words to express the loss of his daughter Ana.
Josephine Gay, 7, was among the causalities in the tragedy
at the school in Connecticut on Friday
The musician took to his Facebook page asking
for prayers as the family works 'through this nightmare.
'We're reminded how much we're loved and
supported on this earth and by our Father in heaven. As much as she’s needed
here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I
love you sweetie girl,' he wrote.
Another victim has been named as six-year-old
Jesse Lewis. His father Neil Heslin told the New York
Post that he dropped his son off at
school that morning and planned to return in the afternoon to join parents in
the holiday tradition of making gingerbread houses.
Grace McDonnell, six, who was also killed, has
been described as 'utterly adorable' and 'full of life'. She had blue eyes and
hair that was so blonde that friends thought she looked like a 'little
doll'.
Her parents are going through 'indescribable'
pain, MailOnline has learned.
In a chilling twist, Lynn McDonnell, 45, a
housewife, and Christopher, 49, a business executive, live in a $500,000
detached home in Sandy Hook, Connecticut that is just one street away from where
alleged shooter Adam Lanza lived.
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6, was killed in the shooting
rampage
Six-year-olds Charlotte Bacon (left) and Olivia Engel
(right) were among those killed at the shooting on Friday
A six-year-old boy from Britain was also one
of the victims of the school shooting. It is believed the boy moved with his
parents from Hampshire to the U.S. two years ago.
Little Olivia Engel, was killed on Friday - a
day that began with excitement as the six-year-old looked forward to making a
gingerbread house after school.
A friend of the girl's family, Dan Merton,
told the Associated Press how Olivia ‘loved attention…she had perfect manners,
perfect table manners. She was the teacher's pet, the line
leader.’
‘Her only crime,’ he said, was 'being a
wiggly, smiley 6-year-old.’
Caroline Previdi, 6, lost her life in the tragic
shooting
7-year-old Chase Kowalski, left, and Grace McDonnell, 6,
were killed in the tragedy
Other victims that have been pictured include
six-year-olds James Mattioli, Jessica Rekos and Charlotte Bacon and
seven-year-old Chase Kowalski.
Outside Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic
Church in Newtown, Connecticut, mourners left teddy bears, flowers and lit
candles for victims.
Newtown was ranked the fifth safest city in
America by the website NeighborhoodScout.com based on 2011 crime
statistics.
'This wonderful town that we all love for its
peace, beauty, the great schools - all of that - has become Columbine,' said
Julie Maxwell Shull, a sixth-grade teacher at Reed Intermediate School,
referring to the high school that was site of a 1999 shooting in
Colorado.
Many people who live in the wealthy, wooded
town commute to New York City, about 80 miles away were trying to come to gripes
with the unthinkable incident.
'We came here because it was going to be a
good, safe community for our kids,' said Catherine Hunyadi, as she and her
husband wiped tears from their eyes. 'You don't send your kids to school
thinking something like this might happen.'
Adam Lanza, circled in red, in a photograph of his high
school science club taken five years ago when the murderer was 15 years
old
Adam Lanza, left, and his mother Nancy who taught him how
to use a gun and who was found murdered at home
The shooter's father, 52-year-old Peter Lanza, released a
statement on Saturday saying the family was 'in a state of disbelief.' Lanza was
divorced from the 20-year-old's mother, Nancy
Lanza reportedly got into an altercation with members of
staff including Principal Dawn Hochsprung, left, and teacher Victoria
Soto
School psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, and teacher Lauren
Rousseau, 30, were shot dead by Adam Lanza while trying to save their
students
The fourth teacher - and only survivor of the altercation - wasn't at school yesterday and is currently being interviewed by investigators. It hasn't been revealed what the argument was over or if it was reported to authorities.
Anne Marie Murphy, 52, was also killed in the shooting.
The mother-of-four was a teacher's aide
While initial reports had suggested school principal Mrs Hochsprung buzzed Lanza into the building - bypassing the newly-installed security system - police have confirmed that the shooter forced his way in.
Adam Lanza opened fire on Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which teaches children aged 5 to 10. He murdered 26 people at the school before turning the gun on himself, as well as killing one other person - his mother - at another nearby site.
Investigators said they have found 'some very good evidence' to explain what drove gunman Adam Lanza, 20, to slaughter 20 children all aged six and seven and six adults at the Connecticut elementary school.
Four teachers, who all died heroes trying to save their students, have been named as Principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, first grade teacher Victoria Soto, 27, and Lauren Rousseau, 30.
Anne Marie Murphy, 52, was also killed in the shooting. The mother-of-four served as a teacher's aide.
'It was a terrible tragedy,' her husband Mike Murphy said.
'She just tried to protect her kids.'
Rachel Davino, 29, was also among the teachers killed.
'Our investigators at the crime scene ... did produce some very good evidence in this investigation that our investigators will be able to use in, hopefully, painting the complete picture as to how - and more importantly why - this occurred,' Connecticut State Police Lieutenant Paul Vance told a news conference Saturday morning.
'We're hopeful it will paint a complete picture,' he said.
All the bodies were removed from the school overnight and the medical examiner released the names of the victims on Saturday.
A sign and a U.S. national flag are seen near Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Sandy Hook
Broken: Mourners place flowers at a makeshift memorial
near the Sandy Hook Elementary school for the victims of the Sandy Hook
Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut
A young woman places flowers at a memorial near the Sandy
Hook Elementary School following Friday's shooting that has left 20 young
children dead
Police have assigned a trooper to support each
victim's family in the days ahead. Vance asked reporters to respect the
families' grief and privacy.
'This is an extremely heartbreaking thing for
them to endure,' said Vance.
It is expected that investigators will take
another two days to process the school crime scene where it is believed Lanza
fired as many as 100 rounds from his guns.
'It's going to be a slow, painstaking
process,' said Vance.
The adult woman found at the secondary crime
scene was the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza.
Nancy Lanza legally owned a Sig Sauer and a
Glock, both handguns of models commonly used by police, and a military-style
Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine, according to law enforcement officials who also
believe Adam Lanza used at least some of those weapons.
Connecticut State Police Lieutenant Paul Vance said all
the bodies were removed from the school overnight and the names of the victims
are expected to be released Saturday
Nancy Lanza was an avid gun collector who once
showed him a 'really nice, high-end rifle' that she had purchased, said Dan
Holmes, owner of a landscaping business who recently decorated her yard with
Christmas garlands and lights. 'She said she would often go target shooting with
her kids.'
Grief-stricken members of the community tied
white balloons to the sign for Sandy Hook school today in honor of all those who
lost their lives.
The gunman's father, Peter Lanza, issued a
statement late Saturday, saying the family was 'in a state of disbelief.'
'Our family is grieving along with all those
who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how
heartbroken we are.'
'We too are asking why. We have cooperated
fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so. Like so many of you, we
are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired,' the
statement said.
Crime scene: Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook
Elementary School on Friday morning
Distraught: Jazz musician Jimmy Greene could not put into
words the loss of his daughter Ana at the school shooting in Connecticut on
Friday
Isabella Jimenez, 12, who has done volunteer work with
small children, reacts while talking to reporters about Friday's shooting
rampage
President Barack Obama urged Americans on
Saturday to join in solidarity as they mourned the victims, saying the hearts of
parents across the country were 'heavy with hurt.'
Obama, in his weekly radio and Internet
address, called for 'meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this,' but
stopped short of specifically calling for tighter gun-control laws.
The president wiped away tears in a television
address on Friday, telling the nation, 'Our hearts are broken.'
The president will be traveling to the
Connecticut town on Sunday at 7pm at an interfaith vigil for families of the
victims and other students from Sandy Hook Elementary School,
The holiday season tragedy was the second
shooting rampage in the United States this week and the latest in a series of
mass killings this year.
It revived a debate about gun-control in a
country with a flourishing firearms culture and a strong lobby that has
discouraged most politicians from any major efforts to address the easy
availability of guns and ammunition.
People in Newtown mourned the dead in
community vigils on Friday night, including one at St. Rose of Lima Catholic
Church, which was packed with an overflow crowd outside.
'We opened the windows (of the church) so
people could just hear and feel they could be part of it,' Monsignor Robert
Weiss told MSNBC on Saturday, adding, 'the worst days are ahead.'
Horror: Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver
speaks to reporters on Saturday, overcome as he reports on the tragedy
'I'm sure this morning when they woke up and
realized there was an empty bed in their house, it's becoming more and more real
to them,' Weiss said of the parents of the young victims.
The chaos struck as children gathered in their
classrooms for morning events. The shootings took place in two rooms, police
said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots; some said as many as 100
rounds.
Former classmates of the shooter remembered
him as a quiet loner - someone who dressed more formally than other students,
often wearing khaki pants, button-down shirts and at times, a pocket
protector.
'(His mother) pushed him really hard to be
smarter and work harder in school,' said Tim Arnone, 20, who first met Lanza at
Sandy Hook.
Another former classmate, who declined to be
identified, described Lanza as smart but without many friends.
He said he met Lanza when both boys joined the
local Boy Scout troop.
At that time, he said Lanza was a big fan of
Japanese culture, collecting Pokemon cards and playing the PlayStation video
game Dynasty Warriors, a weapons-based animated fighting game released in the
late 1990s.
'He was a very quiet kid,' the friend said. 'I
remember being his only friend in elementary school. He was always a really nice
kid, very polite.'
The death toll exceeded that of one of the
most notorious U.S. school shootings, the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School
in Littleton, Colorado, where two teenagers murdered 13 students and staff
before killing themselves.
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