Newtown massacre
| Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting | |
|---|---|
Police arrive in front of the elementary school after the shooting.
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| Location | Sandy Hook Elementary School Newtown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°25′12″N 73°16′43″W / 41.42000°N 73.27861°WCoordinates: 41°25′12″N 73°16′43″W / 41.42000°N 73.27861°W |
| Date | December 14, 2012 9:35 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.EST (UTC−05:00) |
| Target | Students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School |
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Attack type
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School shooting, murder–suicide, matricide, spree shooting |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 28 total; 27 at the school (including the perpetrator) and the perpetrator's mother at home |
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Non-fatal injuries
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2 |
| Perpetrator | Adam Lanza |
| Adam Lanza | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Adam Peter Lanza April 22, 1992 Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 2012 (aged 20) Newtown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Self-inflicted gunshot wound |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Western Connecticut State University |
| Occupation | None |
| Parent(s) | Peter Lanza (father) Nancy Lanza (mother) |
| Motive | Inconclusive |
| Killings | |
| Date | December 14, 2012 c. 9:35 a.m. – c. 9:40 a.m. |
| Location(s) | Newtown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Target(s) | Students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School |
| Killed | 27 |
| Injured | 2 |
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members. Prior to driving to the school, he shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the scene, Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
This was the deadliest mass shooting at either a high school or grade school in U.S. history and the third-deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history. The shooting prompted renewed debate about gun control in the United States, including proposals for making the background-check system universal, and for new federal and state gun legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain types of semi-automatic firearms and magazines with more than ten rounds of ammunition. A November 2013 report issued by the Connecticut State Attorney's office concluded that Lanza acted alone and planned his actions, but no evidence collected provided any indication as to why he did so, or why he targeted the school.
As of November 30, 2012, 456 children were enrolled in kindergarten through fourth grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The school's security protocols had recently been upgraded, requiring visitors to be individually admitted after visual and identification review by video monitor. Doors to the school were locked at 9:30 a.m. each day, after morning arrivals.
Newtown is located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, about 60 miles (100 km) outside New York City. Violent crime had been rare in the town of 28,000 residents; there was only one homicide in the town in the ten years prior to the school shooting.
Wounded:
Some time before 9:30 a.m. EST on Friday, December 14, 2012, Lanza shot and killed his mother Nancy Lanza, aged 52, at their Newtown home with a .22-caliber Savage MK II-F bolt action rifle. Investigators later found her body clad in pajamas, in her bed, with four gunshot wounds to her head. Lanza then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School in his mother's car.
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Wikipedia