Conn. Shooter Had Hundreds of Rounds













Adam Lanza had hundreds of rounds and used multiple high capacity magazines when he went on a rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 first graders and six adults, Connecticut State Police said today.


After shooting at victims in two classrooms and a hallway with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle, he put a bullet into his own head with a handgun.


"The weapon that was utilized most of the time during this horrific crime was identified as a Bushmaster AR-15 assault weapon," Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said. "The trajectory of the shots and all of the ammunition used in the horrible crime will be examined."


Vance said three weapons were found at the scene, while a fourth, a shotgun, was recovered from Lanza's vehicle.


While the shattered community of Newtown awaits President Obama's visit this afternoon, plans for the first funerals were announced.


Noah Pozner, the first grader whose twin sister survived the massacre, and 6-year-old Jack Pinto, will be laid to rest in separate ceremonies Monday afternoon.


The funeral for Jessica Rekos, 6, will be held on Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, where several of the victims' families attend mass.


The community faced a new shock today when parishioners attending the midday service at Rose of Lima were told to evacuate after a church official became aware of a credible threat.


About 1,000 people were gathered inside the church at the time observing one of four memorial services being held there.


Witnesses said police entered the church and told parishioners that a threat had been made against the church and the surrounding area and that everyone had to leave immediately.


More than a dozen state troopers armed with assault rifles entered the church's education center next to the church, but after a short time it was determined that threat was over.


Brian Wallace, director of communications for the Diocese of Bridgeport, said that after massacre on Friday, he felt evacuation was a vital precaution to take.


"I don't think any of us could be surprised about anything after what has happened," Wallace said.


Meanwhile, police are working to understand what set Lanza off on his rampage.










Connecticut Shooting: Churches Services Honor Victims Watch Video









Pastor Explains How Girl Played Dead to Survive Watch Video





ABC News has learned that investigators have seized computers belonging to the 20-year-old from the home he shared with his mother Nancy, the same place he killed her before going to the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he slaughtered students in two first-grade classes and teachers and staff.


CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.


Authorities are forensically investigating those computers and are also examining devices owned by Ryan Lanza, the gunman's older brother, to see if they can learn anything more about Adam and what caused him to snap.


Members of the community gathered today at churches across the small town, seeking comfort, clarity or just a cry.


With intermittent freezing rain falling, the bells tolled at St. Rose of Lima as parishioners came for the morning service.


Little more than a week before Christmas when congregants celebrate the birth of the savior, they instead were mourning the deaths of people they knew.


Many of the victims attended the church and the clergy is preparing for the funerals of eight of the children.


As parishioners arrived at the church for the morning service, many stopped at a makeshift memorial with flowers, teddy bears and candles. On large white boards, people wrote notes that express condolences, hope, and even forgiveness.


One says "Rest in Peace Sweet Angels."


After a man and woman knelt down at the memorial -- the woman overcome by grief crying into her husband's arms -- two police officers opened their cars with a delivery: bouquets of flowers and teddy bears stacked in the back of their vehicles. They delicately placed each one down and then both knelt down at the vigil.


The female officer began crying and her male partner put his arm around her to comfort her. She quickly got up, walking to her car while wiping away tears, and then they pulled away.


READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims


A mother and two young daughters came next. She gripped one while she also wiped away tears. A father and his young daughter also came up, the father kneeling and talking to the girl before they slowly walked into the church.


A state police trooper was also among those dropping flowers at the memorial comprised of candles, stuffed toys and a sign that says "Sleep in heavenly peace."


Police Tracing Guns Used in Shooting


At a news conference this morning, Vance said there are many pieces missing in the investigation and investigators continue to work inside Sandy Hook Elementary School to collect evidence.


Key to the investigation will also be the four firearms found at or near the crime scene, he said.


"We are tracing them historically, all the way back to when they were on the workbench being assembled," Vance said.


Authorities are wrapping up their processing of the exterior crime scene, which included vehicles parked in the school's lot at the time of the shooting, Vance said, and have began to release the cars back to their owners.


Vance declined to say what evidence has or has not been collected.


"We can't take segments of an investigation and discuss that publicly because something taken out of context could be misinterpreted," he said, adding that in the end, the "goal is to answer every single question.






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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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US police seek clues in school shooting






NEWTOWN, Connecticut: US police indicated on Saturday they are homing in on the mystery of what triggered the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school by a young lone gunman.

Police have yet to make public the identities of the dead or almost any of the details of what happened inside Sandy Hook Elementary School just after classes started Friday.

The motives of the shooter, identified by US media as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, were the biggest mystery.

But Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance said detectives in Newtown, a picturesque small town north-east of New York City, had begun to "peel back the onion."

Asked whether any suicide note, emails or other clues to the killer's mind had been found, he said the crime scene "did produce some very - very good evidence in our investigation."

"Investigators will be able to use (this) in hopefully painting the complete picture as to how and more importantly why this occurred," he told a news conference.

Bodies were removed from the blood-soaked school overnight Saturday and relatives were privately given formal identification of the dead.

In addition to the dead in the school, police found a woman's body in the house where Lanza and his mother were believed to have lived.

News reports quoted police saying she was Lanza's mother and that he'd shot her in the face before heading to the school, armed at least with two semi-automatic pistols and a military grade rifle - all registered in his mother's name.

At the school, where a black-clad Lanza concentrated his fire on just two rooms, the child victims were aged between five and 10. Among the dead adults were the school principal.

A new security system had been recently installed, but Vance said the shooter forced his way in to the school.

Police then entered from several points, breaking "many windows" as they frantically tried to get survivors out and to locate the gunman.

Mary Ann Jacob, who works in the school library, told reporters Saturday that she had sheltered 18 children during the mayhem.

"We were locked in our room," she said. "It was hard to keep them quiet. We told them it was a joke. I think they didn't really know what was going on."

Amid a flurry of rumours about how the murders played out, NBC reported that Lanza may have had an altercation earlier with four school staff, and that three of them were among the slain.

Late Friday, as darkness fell over the town, locals gathered for a church vigil, spilling onto the street in large numbers.

"This is a kind of community, when things like that happen, they really pull together," the priest, Robert Weiss, said during the Roman Catholic Mass.

A letter from Pope Benedict XVI was also read during the service.

The pope "has asked me to convey his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families, and to all affected by the shocking event," Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said.

"Our faith is tested," state Governor Dan Malloy told the congregants. "Not just necessarily our faith in God, but our faith in community, and who we are, and what we collectively are."

President Barack Obama, wiping away tears and struggling to maintain his composure, said Friday he was aghast over the tragedy.

There were similar statements of grief and shock around the world.

The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, spoke of his "deep shock and horror," Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sent a message to Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened," and French President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences to Obama, saying the news "horrified me."

Of all US campus shootings, the toll was second only to the 32 murders in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech university.

The latest number far exceeded the 15 killed in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which triggered a fierce but inconclusive debate about the United States' relaxed gun control laws.

However, the White House on Friday scotched any suggestion that the politically explosive subject would be quickly reopened.

- AFP/de



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Why three Hurriyats are better than one

SRINAGAR: The winter winds blowing in Kashmir are at odds with the heat generated by the impending visit of Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan. To the average onlooker, it's the timing of the visit that inspires curiosity. The Zardari government is in its final lap, and the Hurriyat leaders are strangely at pains to emphasize that there is no agenda or roadmap they expect from their visit to Pakistan. But this rather insipid declaration of intent disguises a very significant development. The Hurriyat has split once again.

While Syed Ali Geelani-led hardline Hurriyat (G) has existed along with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led moderate Hurriyat (M), there is now a third faction, of "outcastes", which may be called Hurriyat (O). It comprises leaders like Yasin Malik, Nayeem Khan and Shabir Shah. Although not formally announced, the Pakistan visit is the first public display of a serious chasm in ideologies — only the Mirwaiz has confirmed his visit.

For mandarins in North Block, this marks another triumph in their policy to divide and weaken the political component of the separatist cause. For New Delhi, while militant violence is an irritant, the real challenge has always been the political force of the separatists. After the elections in 1996 that saw the return of National Conference to power, there was a realization that resentment over bijli-sadak-pani translated into support for the then United Hurriyat. Thus, it was with the generous financial support and encouragement from North Block that PDP was born. The mainstream now had two poles to even things out. That's when work began on the Hurriyat.

By 2004, Geelani was forced into a corner of Islamist 'Kashmir banega Pakistan' agenda. The moderates, in turn, were courted. Central funding, armed guards and prominent displays in newspapers upped their profiles and respectability, the aim being to encourage them to contest elections. The carrot was also accompanied with a subtle stick: both the NC and PDP were encouraged to air their own stream of soft separatism. Omar Abdullah's full autonomy and Mehbooba Mufti's self-rule are very similar to the deal Hurriyat moderates hoped to cut with New Delhi.

Sources say the strategy seems to be working. For the past two years, there have been intense efforts through track two to ease the moderates into contesting the 2014 elections. This time, though, the moderates' repeated diffidence in doing so openly has been factored in. The solution for them is to field proxy candidates from select constituencies. So, while the Lone brothers have patched up with Sajjad fronting for brother Bilal in their family backyard of North Kashmir, the Mirwaiz will place proxy candidates from his stronghold: downtown Srinagar.

The IB's plan focuses on steadily diluting the 50 shades of grey in the separatist spectrum until one reaches white. When a senior moderate leader recently accused Geelani of representing forces of darkness, he perhaps didn't realise how closely he was reflecting New Delhi's thinking.

This plan is the reason why since 2011 all these leaders are suddenly singing a different tune. Prof Abdul Ghani Bhatt set the ball rolling, saying openly what most Kashmiris knew: that militants murdered Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, father of the current Mirwaiz, and advocate Ghani Lone of the People's Conference. Bhatt then questioned the relevance of UN resolutions, calling for a plebiscite. The Mirwaiz, too, suddenly discovered civic issues. From urging people to pay electricity bills on time to criticizing the Omar government for graft in central schemes like NREGA.

Meanwhile, the Lone brothers are on a recruiting spree in North Kashmir, trying to revive the old cadre of their father's People's conference. This year has also been marked with skirmishes between the two factions of moderates, culminating in an attack on Shabir Shah by Mirwaiz's supporters in the aftermath of the Dastgeer Shrine fire in Srinagar.

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Adam Lanza Shot Victims at Close Range with Rifle












Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic rifle at close range to kill children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.


"I believe everybody was hit more than once," said Dr. H. Wayne Carver, the state of Connecticut's Chief Medical Examiner.


He said the bullets were uniquely damaging and that Lanza's victims died almost immediately.


"The bullets are designed in such a fashion the energy is deposited in the tissue so the bullet stays in," Carver said. He described the wounds as a "very devastating set of injuries."


Two handguns were also found at the scene, but Carver described the Bushmaster as the killer's primary weapon. A fourth weapon was found nearby. The weapons discovered at the school apparently belonged to a family member, possibly his mother, according to authorities.


Lanza, 20, forced his way into Sandy Hook on Friday morning and killed 20 children and six adults before committing suicide. He drove to the school after shooting his mother in the face at their home.




The weapons that police recovered from the scene included a Glock 9-mm handgun, a Sig Sauer 9-mm handgun and a Bushmaster rifle. Police also found .223 shell casings. Lanza was wearing a bullet-proof vest.


The shooter's mother, 52-year-old Nancy Lanza, had five weapons registered to her, including a Glock, a Sig Sauer, and a Bushmaster rifle.


Police said the Glock, the Sig Sauer and the Bushmaster at the school appeared to be registered to a family member. Authorities are currently completing their checks to see which weapons were used in the slayings, to whom they were registered and how they were obtained.


Federal agents are canvassing area gun ranges and gun stories to see if Adam Lanza had visited them for any reason.


The Glock and Sig Sauer are popular with law enforcement officers and the military, and are quickly and easily reloaded.


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Football: Runaway Bayern go 12 clear despite Gladbach draw






BERLIN: Runaway leaders Bayern Munich needed a second-half equaliser to snatch a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday in their final Bundesliga match of 2012.

The draw left Bayern 12 points clear of the chasing pack, who are all in action during the rest of the weekend's programme, while 'Gladbach move up to sixth.

"The team fought hard, they gave everything and we're happy to take that point at home," said Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer.

Having already opened the season with a record eight straight wins, Bayern are hoping to finish the weekend with another achievement as they look to break Borussia Dortmund's record 10-point lead at the halfway stage.

Bayern hammered 'Gladbach's goal, enjoying 65 percent ball possession, and finished with 25 shots on goal, compared to their guests' five.

After Gladbach claimed a half-time lead through a Thorben Marx penalty, Bayern battered their visitors' goal and the torrent of chances finally paid off when Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri equalised with half an hour left.

Gladbach took the lead when Bayern defender Jerome Boateng leapt to block a cross from midfielder Tolga Cigerci and the ball struck his hand.

Referee Tobias Welz immediately pointed to the spot, despite furious protestations from Germany star Boateng, and Marx slammed home the 21st-minute penalty.

"I don't know how the referee could class that as a penalty," fumed Boateng.

"I seriously don't think it was justified.

"I think we deserved to win."

The goal came against the run of play and took the wind out of Bayern's sails and it looked like history was about to repeat itself after Gladbach had poached a 1-0 win in Munich on their previous visit in August 2011.

Things refused to go the hosts' way in the first-half as defender Dante headed over while winger Franck Ribery had a shot saved.

Adding injury to insult, defensive midfielder Javi Martinez went off with a facial injury from a stray elbow as Gladbach goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen pulled off a string of superb saves.

Bayern attacked in waves in the first-half with 11 shots on target compared to the guests' single attempt.

Only another fine ter Stegen save denied Bastian Schweinsteiger early in the second-half, but the Gladbach defence was finally beaten following a mistake by Cigerci.

His badly-timed pass was snapped up by Shaqiri, who levelled on 59 minutes.

Bayern kept up the pressure as the minutes ticked down, but Gladbach's defence held firm, despite Bayern's 14 corners, to leave Lucien Favre's team unbeaten in their last seven games.

Leverkusen can trim Bayern's lead back to nine points if they win at home to Hamburg on Saturday.

-AFP/ac



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Jailed Zee executive files libel suit against BEA for suspension

NEW DELHI: Jailed Zee executive Sudhir Chaudhary has filed a defamation case against the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) seeking an unconditional apology and declaring his suspension from the industry body as invalid.

BEA had suspended Zee News editor Sudhir Choudhary from its Association in October. The Association came to a unanimous conclusion that Chaudhary was found acting in a manner ``prejudicial'' to the interests and objects of BEA.

Chaudhary's name has been embroiled in controversy with Congress MP Naveen Jindal lodging a police complaint accusing the channel of seeking Rs 100 crore in advertising commitments for dropping an ``expose'' regarding irregular allocation of coal blocks to the politician.

Responding to TOI queries, BEA president Shazi Zaman said, ``BEA stands by the steps it has taken and we will give an appropriate response in the court of law.'' The Association is expected to appear in the Delhi High Court on January 4.

Chaudhary's demands include declaring the ethics committee enquiry as null and void, declaring his removal from membership as invalid and illegal and an unconditional apology from the Association. The BEA's ethics committee had decided on Chaudhary's expulsion.

Chaudhary and Zee business head Samir Ahluwalia were arrested on November 27, and are in judicial custody till December 22. A Delhi court will hear arguments on the third bail plea of the two arrested Zee editors. The duo has given their consent for voice sample tests as sought by the police.

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

Read More..

20 Children Killed at Conn. Grade School, 7 Adults













Twenty children died today when a heavily armed man invaded a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, killing his mother and spraying the school with bullets.


The gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, 20, was killed inside of the school.


Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children died in the school and two more died later in a hospital. Six adults were also slain, bringing the total to 26.


In addition to the casualties at the school, a body was also found in the shooter's home, officials said.


In the early confusion surrounding the investigation, federal sources initially identified the suspect as Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24.


LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting


Sources said the shooter was armed with a Glock semi automatic handgun and a Sig Sauer semi automatic handgun, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Additionally, .223 caliber shell casings--a rifle caliber--were also found at the scene. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he opened fire in the elementary school.


Among the dead in the school was the gunman's mother, who was a kindergarten teacher, sources told ABC News. Many of the students slain were in class with her when she was killed.


First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.


"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."


She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."






Shannon Hicks/The Newtown Bee











Connecticut Shooting: 27 Dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School Watch Video









Connecticut School Shooting: White House Response Watch Video









Connecticut School Shooting: Student Describes Scene Watch Video





A tearful President Obama said there's "not a parent in America who doesn't feel the overwhelming grief that I do."


The president had to pause to compose himself after saying these were "beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10." As he continued with his statement, Obama wiped away tears from each eye.


He has ordered flags flown as half staff.


The alert at the school ended when Vance announced, "The shooter is deceased inside the building. The public is not in danger."


The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school, but authorities do not appear to be looking for another gunman.


It's unclear how many people have been shot, but 27 people, mostly children, are dead, multiple federal and state sources tell ABC News. That number could rise, officials said.


CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.


It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.


The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.


Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury.


State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.


Lt. Paul Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.


A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.


Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.






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