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Newtown probe: Shooting took under 5 minutes
- Prosecutors release new documents related to December's shootings at school in Newtown, Connecticut
- Documents: Investigators found a gun safe in shooter Adam Lanza's room
- Documents: 1,600 rounds of ammunition found in Lanza's home
- Police say Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother, then 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut before killing himself
- People who knew Lanza described him as quiet, smart, socially awkward. Connecticut's medical examiner has said he was told that Lanza had Asperger's syndrome.
- Live updates below. Also, read the full story; and see the documents
[Updated at 1:51 p.m. ET] This live blog is wrapping up, but please check out our full story for the latest about today's document release.
[Updated at 1:48 p.m. ET] One of the warrants released Thursday cites an interview with a person who said that Lanza rarely left his home, that he was a shut-in, "and an avid gamer who plays Call of Duty, amongst other games." "Call of Duty" is a military-style war game.
In the house, according to the documents, were several books - one titled "NRA guide to the basics of pistol shooting," another about Asperger syndrome and one on autism. Both are developmental disorders that are not typically associated with violence.
Police also found a 2008 New York Times article about a shooting at Northern Illinois University. Police took from the house an NRA certificate for Nancy Lanza, a receipt for a shooting range in Oklahoma, a book titled "Train your brain to get happy," and three photographs "of what appears to be a deceased human covered with plastic and what appears to be blood."
As noted below, the NRA issued a statement today saying neither Lanza nor his mother were members.
[Updated at 1:45 p.m. ET] The main details of the shooting have long been known: The carnage began on the morning of December 14, when Lanza fatally shot his 52-year-old mother, Nancy Lanza, with a .22 caliber rifle.
But some of the details are new. "There was no indication of a struggle," according to a statement from Stephen J. Sedensky III, state's attorney for the judicial district of Danbury. The statement came with Thursday's release of five search warrants and related documents.
Lanza shot his mother in the forehead, one of the search warrants says.
Laden with weapons and ammunition, Lanza then went to the elementary school, shooting his way into the building where he killed the 26 victims with a Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15 rifle, according to Sedensky.
The rampage ended when Lanza, using a Glock 10 mm handgun, shot himself.
Attached to the rifle police found a 30-round capacity magazine that still had 14 bullets Sedensky said, and a search of Lanza's body found that he was carrying more ammunition for the handguns as well as three more 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster, each fully loaded.
"Located in the area of the shootings were six additional 30-round magazines," Sedensky said in his statement, three of them empty and the others holding 10, 11, and 13 rounds. Police found 154 spent .223 caliber casings at the school.
All of the guns appear to have been bought by Lanza's mother, the state's attorney said.
[Updated at 12:59 p.m. ET] We've gotten all the documents together in one place. Here are the documents that Connecticut prosecutors released today in the Newtown investigation.
[Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET] Back to today's Newtown document release. The National Rifle Association has issued a statement, apparently reacting to what the papers say about investigators finding NRA certificates for Lanza and his mother, Nancy.
"There is no record of a member relationship between Newtown killer Adam Lanza, nor between Nancy Lanza, A. Lanza or N. Lanza with the National Rifle Association," the NRA statement said. "Reporting to the contrary is reckless, false and defamatory."
This page from one of the search warrants released in the Newtown case Thursday mentions investigators found an "Adam Lanza National Rifle Association certificate."
[Updated at 12:17 p.m. ET] President Obama's pro-gun-control event at the White House has just finished - and he referred to Newtown many times as he tried to fight against waning public support for Senate Democrats' post-Newtown gun-control proposals.
He essentially was arguing that some people are suffering from short attention spans - that people who were persuaded to support ammunition magazine limits and universal background checks immediately after the Newtown shootings might be letting their support slip because Newtown is no longer in the news every day.
"We need everybody to remember how they felt 100 days ago (after the Newtown shooting) and make sure (what we said then) wasn’t just a bunch of platitudes," Obama said.
"Now's the time to turn that heartbreak into something real."
Obama also said that "some powerful voices on the other side" want to delay action on gun legislation. "Their assumption is that people will just forget about it," the president said.
Earlier this month, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said background checks of firearms purchases won't stop gun violence, but would serve agendas of people "bent on destroying the Second Amendment." In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he said expanded background checks would be a first step toward a liberal desire to create a national gun registry.
"In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners - to tax them or to take them," LaPierre said on March 15. Supporters of expanded checks deny the legislation would create such a registry.
[Updated at 12:07 p.m. ET] President Obama, at his pro-gun-control event at the White House, says the anguish is still fresh in Newtown, and that thousands of Americans' lives have been "stolen by bullets" in recent months. (WATCH LIVE)
Some background on the legislation that Obama is backing: Proposed by Senate Democrats, the package includes expanded background checks, tougher laws against gun trafficking and straw purchases, and efforts to improve school security.
He said moments ago: "This is our best chance in more than a decade" to pass what Obama believes is "common-sense gun control legislation."
Obama recalls that when he visited Newtown after the shooting, he told people there that if there's a step that Washington can take to save just one child, Washington should do it.
"None of these ideas should be controversial," Obama says.
Recent polls show support for new gun legislation on the wane, and Obama appears to be reacting to that.
"Shame on us if we've forgotten" the horrors of Newtown, Obama said. "I haven't forgotten those kids."
[Updated at 11:58 a.m. ET] President Obama's pro-gun-control event at the White House has begun. We're listening to see if he mentions Newtown. (WATCH LIVE)
Introducing Obama is Katerina Rodgaard, a Maryland dance instructor who knew one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Rodgaard, representing Moms Demand Action: For Gun Sense in America, says her heart breaks for the relatives of the Newtown victims.
[Updated at 11:47 a.m. ET] An update to one of the entries below: The documents released today say that investigators found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition - not 1,400 - in the home of Nancy Lanza and her son, Adam.
[Updated at 11:43 a.m. ET] Speaking of gun control and Newtown: Pro-gun-control television ads featuring relatives of the Newtown massacre victims were released today. They're the first such ads featuring Newtown relatives.
In the spots - one is 60 seconds, the other is 90 seconds - family members talk about their loved ones and call on political leaders to embrace tougher gun laws.
[Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET] President Barack Obama in a few minutes is scheduled to make another push for stricter gun controls at an event at the White House. We'll see if he mentions any of today's Newtown developments.
The White House event comes on what advocates of tougher gun laws call a national day of action, with rallies and other gatherings planned in cities across the country.
[Updated at 11:17 a.m. ET] Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy just released this statement:
"I want to thank the Office of the Chief State's Attorney for providing this information today. In some cases, the facts really do speak for themselves, and in this case they only add starker detail to what we already knew.
“We knew that a disturbed individual entered a school and fired 154 rounds in less than 5 minutes, killing 20 innocent children and 6 dedicated educators. We knew that he had ready access to weapons that he should not have had access to. We knew that these weapons were legally purchased under our current laws. We knew he used 30-round magazines to do it, and that they allowed him to do maximum damage in a very short period of time. And we now know that he left the lower capacity magazines at home.
"This is exactly why we need to ban high capacity magazines and why we need to tighten our assault weapons ban. I don't know what more we can need to know before we take decisive action to prevent gun violence. The time to act is now."
[Updated at 11:11 a.m. ET] We just got this information about the shooting timeline - investigators estimate that it all took less than 300 seconds, a Connecticut state attorney said Thursday.
In a statement released with the documents that came out today, state attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III says that from the time that shooter Adam Lanza forced his way into the building to the moment he took his own life, less than five minutes elapsed.
[Updated at 11 a.m. ET] For a review of what we already knew about the December 14 shooting, see this timeline.
[Updated at 10:43 a.m. ET] A little bit on what we already knew about Lanza: Connecticut's medical examiner said he was told that Lanza, 20, had Asperger's syndrome. Research has not shown a link between that condition and violence.
A profile of Lanza and his mother by CNN's Ashley Fantz describes him as a quiet, smart, socially awkward young man. Nancy Lanza kept a lot of weapons, from assault rifles to handguns, at her home - people described her as a responsible gun owner who had the weapons for self-defense. The two had frequented several gun ranges over the past several years.
[Updated at 10:04 a.m. ET] Authorities found in Lanza's home a holiday card with a check made out to him "for the purchase of a C183 (firearm), authored by (his mother) Nancy Lanza," documents released today show.
[Updated at 10:03 a.m. ET] Another detail from today's document release: A search warrant of the home of Lanza's mother, Nancy, shows that investigators found more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition at the house.
[Posted at 10:01 a.m. ET] Police released new documents related to December's shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but a motive for the attack remained elusive.
Included in the new information is the report that a gun safe was found in the bedroom of 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who took guns belonging to his mother, Nancy, and shot her in her forehead in her bed. Then he went to the school in Newtown, where he gunned down 20 children and six staff members before killing himself.
Relatives of the victims were briefed Wednesday about the documents, which were released Thursday morning.
Some of the documents, released by state prosecutors, have been redacted at the prosecutors' request, said Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police.
The documents may contain new information but perhaps no big surprises, Vance said before the documents' release.
State police are continuing their investigation, which is not expected to be completed until June, he said.
Read more the full story about the documents here.
On Twitter
Criminals will not submit to background checks, criminals will not refrain from using "high capacity magazines" and the criminally insane will not refrain from getting guns. The existing laws we have can't keep regular guns out of criminal's hands let alone assault weapons because criminals don't abide by the law regardless of what they are.
I am a responsible gun owner, I would NEVER buy or sell guns to people I know to be criminals or mentally instable. I won't go on a killing spree with my 15 round magazine hand gun nor with my 6 round hunting rifle. Nor will I give up my rights to HAVE a 15 round handgun or a 6 round hunting rifle or infringe on someones rights to own a 30+ round magazine for their weapon.
Our government needs to focus on better policing its existing laws as opposed to creating more that still won't prevent crimes like these from happening.
Funny how in the US, with only legitimate gun manufacturers and private sales by responsible gun owners and/or dealers, that there are now millions of illegal guns in the hands of criminals.
And you don't drive over the speed limit so let's get rid of all traffic cops.
In respect to the implication this has anything to do with Asperger's Syndrome, It's a complete falshood. All three of my kids are in the autisim spectrum with 2 having Asperger's and one Pervasive development disorder. I have both a rifle and a shotgun in my home as well as a couple boxes of ammo. I introduced my children to guns and told them how they would be disciplined if they ever touched them without me saying they could. They have not yet touched those guns. If they ever did, they wouldn't work as the firing pins are removed. I have no gun case. Instead of harping on Asperger's syndrome as if it's the reason for this person went postal and bad parenting of this child was not, you should be focusing on the bad parenting, or some other psychological defect that caused him to do this.
And we should leave all our B52 Bombers unlocked and ready to go on their runways, and just use good parentimg skills to prevent anyone from just jumping in and bombing the heck out of a nearby city.
Is this the part where the NRA says the kid was addicted to CoD and Left4Dead, and say that he was disturbingly agressive because of that? Or will they finally acknowledge that people who have been arrested for assault or attempted murder can buy guns, and that there should be very tight background checks, and severe penalties for trying to buy a gun after being convicted for this? Or at least a required guns license, and not a concealed weapons lisence. But a lisence for assault weapons, and one with strict guidelines? I am a republican, and one who does not support an assault weapons ban, but COME ON! It is ridiculously easy to buy any type of weapon you want here in 'Merica!
They actually did mention that he was "an avid gamer who plays Call of Duty" on the television broadcast. Am I the only one that finds this irrelevant? Should I consider it so? I would like to hear a number of opinions on this.
The NRA is at war. How can we believe anything they say?
And the liberals are at war, how can we beleive anything they say. Did not a Liberal Democrat in New York just take money away from Breast Cancer screening, teen tobacco awarness and disability services to raise money to create a gun registry? Look in the mirror hypocrite.
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I find it odd that not one single picture has been leaked from the crime scene. I don't need to see the people, but not a shell casing or a hole in a wall or anything. Very odd.
You are a conspiracy theorist.
But have you ever seen a similar situation?
This was organized by the government to take away our second ammendment. Can't you see it people?
Reason it was in an all white school is to have greatest impact. Would it have blown up this way if the "massacre" happend in a black neighborhood?
How about CNN post the same type of stats for predator drone strikes? Oh wait, those are ok because the government is at the trigger.....
The govt. was at the trigger for this one too
How many children did the Obama administration kill using drone strikes around the world again? Where is the speech to stop that?
Less than Bush.
So far...
If this killer had only a nife then at most he coud only kill 2. If he had a machine gun then 100 might be killed . Civilized sociaty should not allow civillized people own a gun. Only law enforcement police and millitary personel carry a gun. If we have 2nd amendment then why we can not make another amendment? When we made the 2nd amendment we did not have even semi-automatic gun yet.
When the 1st amendment was written the internet TV, radio and the internet didn't exist. So should free speech not be protected on those?
Well in this particular case the victims were small children and teachers – it could easily have been just as many and possibly more since taking your own life with a knife is a lot harder than with a gun
Why are lawn darts and kinder eggs too dangerous for Americans to own but not AR15?
So the DemandAction organization for weeks now has been telling its supporters to mark their calendars for 3/28 and to call Senators who are at home for the recess and to push them for more gun-control.
Then, coincidentally, places like CNN, Huffington Post, etc write articles such as this today detailing "breaking new information" about what happened.
Oh, which by the way is on the same day the President speaks publicly.
Come on people, wake up! I'm don't think the government had anything to do with the actual shooting, but it's pretty obvious the coordination effort in place to try to "shame people" into voting for gun-control.
And you should be ashamed for being against all gun legislation.
If the talking heads in Washington really had REAL concern to make our schools safer, they would pony up the money to raise the level of quality and training of security guards that ALREADY EXIST in all of our schools - and they would properly ARM them so that these one-off lunatics could be stopped at the door. But, instead, they choose to embroil the nation in yet another endless debate about gun rights vs. gun control - and in the end, will do nothing to keep our schools safer. Shame on Obama! I know he's a smart man – but he's a POLITICIAN before anything else. Disgusting.
Indisputable facts.
Only a gun can quickly kill several people trying to run away.
Only a gun can kill a victim trying to stay safe in a locked car.
Only a gun can kill someone driving by or fleeing in a car.
Only a gun can kill at a distance many times arm's length.
Only the NRA and their disciples think those are good attributes for a consumer product.
Only guns can force American citizens to live under martial law if they wanted to confine us when we have zero guns to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government.
and only a gun can stop all those things from occuring.
Volunteer for Syria, or Palestine, or Afghanistan
When and where did Joe Carrier stop a violent crime from occurring.
I'd love to know how having a gun would stop you being shot by sniper while driving on the freeway.
And I will take the infinitesimal chance that our government becomes tyrannical over the guarantee that another mass murder involving a firearm will occur again in the next 12 months. The tyranny argument is flawed and outdated.
only a gun? seriously lay this argument to rest. people that want to kill will kill. what dont you get about that? are you not getting it?
The mall shooter in Washington state was confronted by "Joe Carrier", shooter retreated to a stairwell instead of fighting it out...then took his own life.
"an unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it"
-Jeff Cooper-
Did Joe Carrier need an AR-15 and 100 rounds to stop the mall shooter?
I have never seen a gun kill people that did'nt have an idiot pulling the trigger. Guns do not kill people stupid people kill people. Maybe we should outlaw stupid people.
Why do you people hide behind your guns like a child with it's blanket?? Come out from behind your blanket and greet the world and it's people. The guy walking towards you on the sidewalk is not out to kill you.
I dispute your facts because bombs, cars, arrows, and poisons all fit each criteria you pointed out, except for the last one about the NRA of course.
I dont know what "Joe Carrier" had, but the fact remains that he saved lives.....the 20 minutes that the newtown shooter had was not there for the mall shooter. That is undeniable unless you simply choose to ignore the facts.
What's funny is the same is true in countries where gun ownership is illegal... somehow people still manage to find ways to shoot each other.
But let's not forget that the Roman empire managed to "off" 75 million people (men, women, and children) with small sharp pieces of metal.
Indisputable facts.
A military drone can quickly kill several people trying to run away.
A military drone can kill a victim trying to stay safe in a locked car.
A military drone can kill someone driving by or fleeing in a car.
A military drone can kill at a distance many times arm's length.
Only the president and his disciples think its okay to use that power on targets that "might" be associated with terrorism.
Only a liberal belives that gun legislation will stop gun violence when history and data has showen the specific and exact opposite. A liberal would think that a Gazzel being chased by a predetor thinks that removing the Gazzels horns will stop the predators from attacking.
Why dont liberals ban alcohol? They kill 100x more people than assault weapons. Hospital Malractice kills 1000x more people and High School sports kills 10x more kids than guns. Are we going to ban sports? Cars that go over 65mph? LImit the sizes of booze, register people who drink alcohol so we can track who could become violent?
Only guns can save me from idiots like this. The police certainly didn't They would rather asphixiate a Downs Syndrom peron like in in Ftrederick MD for not paying firr a second ticket while his care taker was getting the car to take him home.
Other facts you should consider Tony:
A gun can quickly stop a psycho with gun from going on a murderous rampage (note that Adam Lanza chose a place where there would not be other people with guns). Look up "Oregon Mall Shooter" and note that the shooter was stopped when confronted by a citizen legally carrying a pistol.
A gun can quickly stop multiple people from attacking you or others.
More people are killed each year with fists and hammers than with guns.
An armed citizenry is a strong deterrent to foreign invasion and domestic tyranny.
Timothy McVeigh did not use a gun to kill 168 people in Oklahoma City (including dozens of children). Mass murderers will just find other ways to kill people.
Check out Switzerland where nearly every adult male is required to keep an automatic weapon and ammunition in their homes and they have extremely low rates of gun violence.
We have a cultural and mental illness problem, not a gun problem and taking away our rights is not the way to fix it.
The Bill of Rights gives you and I the ability to possess the same tools as the average military soldier, which can be central to the defense or our homes or our country. If you choose not use exercise that right then that's fine, but leave my rights alone.
One more fun fact: When seconds count... the police are 8 minutes away.
Yeah, Tony, and I didn't see any single shot sniper rifles on the list of banned firearms, either. These laws would do nothing to prevent your example, either. You know what? Sometimes people just think of clever ways to kill other people, and there isn't a heck of a lot you can do about it. Think 9/11/01 if you need some help imagining one. The world has some awful people in it. Shouldn't we avoid becoming sitting ducks, at least whenever possible?
Steven, the example you present is unlikely to happen only because we continue to guard against it.... with our 2nd Amendment. Think however you want, but imagine our government sending even a million troops out to confiscate guns. Do you think they'd get them all? Of course they wouldn't. Do you think word would get out pretty quickly that this was happening and people would hide them, or start defending their property, even to the point of harming the soldiers? My guess is yes, because to allow it to happen and turn a blind eye would be allowing the exact scenario you claim to be impossible.
Funny, 3 times i have posted comments chastizing this news network for shotty reporting and for once again putting this killers face on the front page.....3 times it has been removed.
seems they are also censoring thier critics....especially if they have a valid point.
Shame
FOX News has this same story on their website right now, and they do not allow ANY comments on it.
"Shotty reporting?" That's either a bad pun or you don't know how to spell "shoddy."
Shoddy – not Shotty ... unless that was some sort of pun.
The fact of the matter is 100 years from now people in America will look back at us like we are, collectively, a bunch of idiots.
No Gun Control, No gay Marriage....they will probably wonder if they were even related to some us because of the stupidity of it all. You Gun and 2nd amendment people can fight all you want, in the end it's a losing battle, there will be universal background checks, there will be a limit to the amount of guns you can own, and their will be a ban on certain types of weapons...its just common sense. If the founders knew about the weapons of the 21st century, pretty sure they would in agreement as well...instead they had muskets that took 30-60 seconds to reload, big difference.
Not all rifles were the muskets that you think of. There was an Austrian made .65 rifle with a 20 round capacity. It worked much like a paintball gun and was fast and deadly. Louis and Clark were known to demonstrate this rifle.
They founding fathers also had cannons, capable of incredible destruction, but the Second Amendment doesn't say anything about "except cannons".
I also love the "common sense" argument, implying that those who have a differing view don't have common sense. . .it's a standing political tactic used mainly by the left to shame people into becoming their sheeple.