On a cold December morning in 2012, Rachel Marie Davino, a 29-year-old female, went to work for the last time. It was Friday, December 14, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a place that would soon become the scene of an unimaginable tragedy. Rachel, a dedicated and compassionate behavioral therapist, had only recently begun working at the school, passionately applying her skills to help children with autism.
She had just completed the final requirements to become a board-certified behavior analyst and was pursuing her doctorate, her future bright with promise.
That morning, a 20-year-old man named Adam Lanza, after fatally shooting his mother at their home, drove to the elementary school armed with multiple firearms. He shot his way into the locked school building shortly after 9:30 a.m. and began a horrific rampage. Lanza moved through the school, targeting two first-grade classrooms near the entrance. In the ensuing chaos and terror, Rachel acted instinctively to shield the students she was dedicated to helping. She was killed in the fusillade of bullets, one of six educators and twenty young children who lost their lives in the massacre.
The perpetrator, Adam Lanza, acted alone in planning and carrying out the attack. As law enforcement officers arrived at the school, Lanza turned one of his guns on himself, ending his own life. Because the sole suspect committed suicide at the scene, no arrests were made in connection with the mass shooting. Investigators were ultimately unable to determine a clear motive for his devastating actions. In the wake of the tragedy, Rachel was remembered as a hero who died protecting the children in her care. Her family and friends recalled her infectious smile and her unwavering dedication to her students, whom she treated like her own family. Her boyfriend had planned to propose to her on Christmas Eve, a future that was stolen in a few terrifying moments of senseless violence.
