Adam Lanza Not Ryan Lanza the Newtown, Connecticut Elementary School Shooter
It has now been reported that Adam Lanza, not Ryan Lanza, was the shooter in the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting on Friday. Initially media agencies including CNN and the Associated Press were carrying Ryan's name in their reports, but later reports changed to indicate 24 year old Adam Lanza was the man behind the tragic massacre. Although police have still not officially named the suspected shooter.
Lanza is alleged to have killed his mother as well as a number of other adults, and as many as 20 children aged between five and 10 years old.
According to police, Lanza burst into the elementary school on Friday morning sometime after 9 a.m., armed with four firearms and wearing a bullet-proof vest.
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The shooter is now dead on the school premises, although police have not yet confirmed whether he took his own life in a suicide, or whether he was killed.
"The shooter is deceased inside the building," Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said at a press conference. "The public is not in danger."
Once he arrived at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, he is said to have unloaded more than 100 rounds with his guns, killing at least 27, including his own mother, who was a kindergarten teacher at the school.
Various reports have claimed Adam Lanza entered the school via the front entrance and immediately opened fire. He then reportedly made his way to his mother's classroom and opened fire; killing her and a number of her kindergarten class children.
According to The Huffington Post, a neighbor of Adam Lanza's parent's in Sandy Hook have said that police had shown up at the Lanza residence, and were conducting a search of the house.
Earlier in the day, reports had suggested that there was a second suspect in the shootings, however, since then no other information has been released or confirmed about a second suspect.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama addressed the nation briefly just after 3.15 p.m. ET. He told reporters at a press conference: "Our hearts are broken today. Each time I learn the news I react not as a president, but as anyone else would -- as a parent. And that was especially true today."
He went on, saying, "They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own."
Although Obama did not make a direct reference to future gun control legislation, he did say: "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action."
The president, who shares two daughters with the first lady, also pointed to the importance of Scripture during such tragic times, specifically quoting Psalm 147:3: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
