Adam Lanza

Mass Murderer

Adam Lanza and the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre

Background

Adam Peter Lanza was a 20-year-old resident of Newtown, Connecticut, who carried out the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Before taking his own life, Lanza killed 27 people: his mother at their home and 20 children and six educators at the school. The attack became one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history and devastated the close-knit Newtown community. Lanza was born on April 22, 1992, in Exeter, New Hampshire. His parents later moved to Connecticut, and he attended several schools in the Newtown area, including Sandy Hook Elementary School. People who encountered him during his childhood and adolescence generally described him as intelligent, quiet, socially withdrawn and increasingly isolated. He experienced serious difficulties with communication, anxiety and ordinary social interaction. Medical and educational records examined after the massacre documented developmental and psychiatric concerns, including severe anxiety, obsessive behavior, sensory difficulties and an autism-spectrum diagnosis. These conditions, however, did not by themselves explain or predict his violence. Investigators found no evidence establishing that autism caused the attack, and experts repeatedly warned against connecting developmental disorders with mass murder.

Increasing Isolation

During his later teenage years, Lanza withdrew almost completely from public life. He communicated with his mother largely through email despite living in the same house and spent much of his time alone with computers. He showed an extensive interest in mass shootings and other acts of mass violence, compiling information about numerous killers and their victims. Lanza lived with his mother, Nancy Lanza, at 36 Yogananda Street in Newtown. Firearms belonging to Nancy were kept in the residence, and Adam had learned to use guns. Authorities found no criminal record that would have prevented him from possessing or accessing firearms. Evidence collected after the massacre showed that he had access to several weapons and a large quantity of ammunition stored in the home. Shortly before the killings, Lanza damaged the hard drive from his computer, making it difficult for investigators to recover some of its contents. Although specialists later examined his writings, computer activity, medical history and personal interests, no document was found that clearly explained why he selected December 14 or Sandy Hook Elementary School for the attack.

Murder of Nancy Lanza

On the morning of Friday, December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza entered his mother's bedroom at their Yogananda Street home. Nancy Lanza, 52, was in bed when he shot her four times in the head with a .22-caliber Savage Mark II bolt-action rifle. She died at the scene. After killing his mother, Lanza took several of her firearms, ammunition and her black Honda Civic. He drove approximately five miles to Sandy Hook Elementary School at 12 Dickinson Drive in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown. School was already in session, and hundreds of children and staff members were inside. ...

Confirmed Victims: (27)

Rachel Davino 29 yr old Female

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting