NEWTOWN, Conn. — Authorities have identified the shooter responsible for the deaths of 27 people – including 20 young children – at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school on Friday morning.
Adam Lanza, 20, of Newtown was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound inside Sandy Hook Elementary School after he had gone on a shooting rampage inside the school.
Related: 27 Dead, Including 20 Children, in Connecticut School Shooting
Authorities say that Lanza had two guns with him inside the school – a Glock and a Sig Sauer – and a third weapon, identified as a .223 Bushmaster, in a nearby car.
Lanza’s mother, Nancy Lanza, was a kindergarten teacher at the school – authorities say that her body was found at Adam Lanza’s residence on Friday afternoon.
Police say that six adults and 18 children were shot and killed inside the school. Two more children later died of their injuries at a nearby hospital. At least one more person was injured in the shooting.
There were broadcast reports earlier that identified Adam Lanza’s older brother – 24-year-old Ryan Lanza of Hoboken, New Jersey – as the shooter. Ryan Lanza was taken into custody for a time by authorities for questioning.
Lanza’s father, Peter Lanza, was divorced from Nancy Lanza in 2009, and lived near Newtown with his new wife. Authorities say that he was questioned by authorities after the shooting as well.
Police have released few details about the gunman, but according to CNN Adam Lanza’s had no known criminal record, and had moved into the quiet, 300-year-old Connecticut community from New Hampshire as a kid, and he enjoyed soccer, skateboarding and video games.Neighbors and former classmates say that he was smart and quiet. Alex Israel, who attended middle school and high school with Lanza, lived just a few doors down from him.”You could definitely tell he was a genius,” Israel told CNN, adding she hadn’t talked with him since middle school. “He was really quiet, he kept to himself.”
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