The gunman who killed more than two dozen people, most of them children, at an elementary school in a quiet Connecticut town forced his way into the building.
Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother Nancy at their home, then drove to the school in her car and opened fire with two semi-automatic handguns and an assault rifle.
Minutes later 28 people were dead - 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and Lanza himself.
Police said yesterday they had found evidence at the school and at the house. "Our investigators did produce some very, very good evidence … that they will be able to use in hopefully painting the complete picture as to how, and more importantly, why, this occurred," said Connecticut state police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance.
He said a woman who survived Friday's shooting will play an important role in the investigation.
The bodies of the dead were removed from the Sandy Hook Elementary School overnight and by early yesterday morning the medical examiner completed the formal identification of the victims.
Police asked the media to allow the families of the victims to "maintain solitude".
Details of the school massacre, the second deadliest in American history, began to emerge yesterday from witnesses.
Victoria Soto, a first-grade teacher in a classroom next to the one where most of the children were killed, hid her pupils in a bathroom. Moments later Lanza entered the room and, finding only Soto, shot her dead.
Brendan Murray, 9, was in the gym with his fourth-grade class when they heard loud bangs. "We thought that someone was knocking something over. And we heard yelling and we heard gunshots. We heard lots of gunshots," the boy said. "We heard someone say, 'Put your hands up!' … I heard, 'Don't shoot!' We had to go into the closet in the gym."
A first-grade teacher who had barricaded her students in her classroom's bathroom said she thought the gunman was coming for them next. "I wanted them to know that someone loved them and I wanted that to be one of the last things they heard, not the gunfire in the hallway," she said.
Police have not been able to identify a motive or even what Lanza's connection to the school was. Reports had identified his mother as a teacher there, but investigators have found no record that Nancy Lanza worked at Sandy Hook.
The weapons used in the shootings are believed to have been registered to Lanza's mother, who was found dead from gunshot wounds to the face. Sources described her as a "gun enthusiast said to be strict and very rigid".
There were reports that Lanza had a history of mental illness and was described by former classmates as a shy young man.
A former classmate, Andrew Lapple, who played Little League baseball with Lanza, said he "never really talked" and was a "tech geek".
"He was always carrying around his laptop holding on to it real tight," Mr Lapple said. "He walked down the halls against the wall almost like he was afraid of people. He was definitely kind of strange but you'd never think he'd do something like this."
Barack Obama addressed the country again yesterday after giving a statement on Friday in which he struggled to maintain his composure and wiped away tears.
"I know there is not a parent in America who does not feel the same overwhelming grief that I do," Mr Obama said.
The president also called for putting aside politics to address the recurring horror of gun violence in America.
While the president did not call for any specific action, the latest tragedy sparked a discussion in the news and social media about reform of America's gun laws. There have been at least 13 mass shootings in the country this year.
"This is America's Dunblane," the CNN host Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter. The March 1996 school shooting in a small Scottish town killed 16 children and their teacher. "We banned handguns in Britain after that appalling tragedy. What will the US do? Inaction not an option."
Statements of grief and disbelief came from around the world yesterday.
In a letter to the Roman Catholic church in Newtown that was read at a vigil there on Friday, the Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI conveyed "his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families".
The British prime minister David Cameron said: "My thoughts are with the injured and those who have lost loved ones. It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them at such a young age, when they had so much life ahead of them."
The Philippines president Benigno Aquino said he and the Filipino people stood beside the United States "with bowed heads, yet in deep admiration over the manner in which the American people have reached out to comfort the afflicted, and to search for answers that will give meaning and hope to this grim event".
In Baghdad, Hassan Sabah, a shop owner, said: "We feel sorry for the victims and their families. This tragic incident shows there is no violence-free society in the world, even in the western and non-Muslim countries."
tkhan@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Dunki
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: India, chose to bat
India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)
Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
