adam lanza how classmates remember the 'genius' who turned hear

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How 'ticking time bomb' Adam Lanza went from

'genius' tech geek who grew up in a $1.6millionhome to heartless killer

The shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, described as a ticking time bomb who suffered fromAspergers syndrome and was painfully shy and awkwardPeers remember him as a quiet and extremely intelligent student who kept to himselfand carried black briefcase to classBrother Ryan, 24, an accountant at Ernst and Young, said Adam had personalitydisorder

Gunman killed his mother at home they shared in Newtown, then stole her guns andcarried out massacreReporters broke the news of the massacre to Adam's father, Peter, who is divorced fromthe mother and lives in Stamford, Connecticut with new wifeMoved to tears, President Obama says 'our hearts are broken today'Flags around America being flown at half staff

By Rachel Quigley, Thomas Durante In Newtown, Connecticut, Hayley Peterson and Michael Zennie In Newtown, Connecticut

PUBLISHED: 16:24 EST, 15 December 2012 | UPDATED: 05:41 EST, 16 December 2012

Crazed killer Adam Lanza was a ticking time bomb who suffered from Aspergers syndrome and was painfully shyand awkward, former classmates said yesterday.

Last night, a troubling portrait began to emerge of the Goth loner, who dressed all in black and was obsessed withvideo games.

Others say Lanza used to be a mild-mannered student in high school, making the honor roll, and living with hismother, Nancy Lanza, who in turn loved playing dice games and decorating their upscale home for the holidays.

m Lanza: How classmates remember the 'genius' who turned heartles... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248782/Adam-Lanza-

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Witnesses say Lanza was going from room to room shooting people, after first killing the

principal Dawn Hochsprung and the school psychologist Mary Sherlach execution-stylewhen they confronted him in the hallway


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Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolshooting 26 people including 20 children

Nancy Lanza's home in Newtown, Connecticut, was raided after 2 pm Friday and she wasfound shot dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the face

The 20-year-old who shot dead 27 people in Americas worst-ever school killing began his rampage by shootinghis mother in the face at the familys $1.6million home in Newtown, Connecticut, dubbed Americas safest town.He then then took three of her guns and drove her black Honda Civic to Sandy Hook Elementary School around9.30am, where he killed 20 young children and six adults before shooting himself in the head.


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Lanza used two semi-automatic pistols, a Glock and Sig Sauer, and reportedly wiped out an entire classroom ofyoung children, then shot several in a second class before taking his own life.

'NO CONNECTION'

While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome,experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson,an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Witnesses say Lanza was going from room to room shooting people, after first killing the principal Dawn Hochsprungand the school psychologist Mary Sherlach execution-style when they confronted him in the hallway.

Former classmate Olivia DeVivo said she remembered Lanza talking about blowing things up, but added: I put thatdown to the usual talk of boys. I think he went so unnoticed people didnt stop to think, Theres something going onhere maybe he needs some kind of help?

No one is surprised. He always seemed like he was someone who was capable of that because he didnt reallyconnect with our high school, with our town.

Another former school friend, Jamie Crespo, 19, said: He used to hang with the freaks, guys who dressed in trenchcoats.

Other students remember him walking through school dressed in black, carrying a black briefcase.

Newtown High School's 2010 class president Ben Federman is like the rest of his classmates - he can barelyremember Adam Lanza.

Mr Federman, who was home from attending college at Vanderbilt University, told MailOnline that he had heard frommany graduates from the class of 2010 and none of them can think of a single friend Lanza had.

'The only time I ever saw him was in the hallway and he never seemed to engage anyone. He was just focused onwalking from one class to another,' Mr Federman said.

His only memory of the 20--year-old Lanza was the bizarre way he dressed - always in button-down shirts that weretoo big for him. He also usually had pens in his shirt pocket and usually carried a black leather briefcase.

'You noticed that because it was different. He carried a briefcase and not a backpack,' Mr Federman said.

Lanza appears to have enjoyed a normal childhood, attending Sandy Hook Elementary and then Newtown HighSchool, in the affluent town 60 miles from New York.

He graduated high school in 2010 and refused to pose for the traditional high school yearbook picture a rite ofpassage in America. Instead, a note on the page under his name states: Camera shy.

In 2007, when he was a freshman, he was pictured along with ten of his classmates for a group photo of the 'TechClub,' which 'allowed students to explore technology and promote events' on student TV.

In two yearbooks from his time in high school - he wasn't even listed in one and his name appeared under 'notpictured' in another.

Richard Novia, the school district's head of security until 2008, who also served as adviser for the school technologyclub, said Lanza clearly 'had some disabilities.

'If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically," Novia told The Associated Pressin a phone interview. "It was my job to pay close attention to that.'

Mr Novia described Lanza as 'a very scared young boy, who was very nervous around people he could trust or herefused to speak with,' Novia said.

'Somewhere along in the last four years, there were significant changes that led to what has happened,' Novia said. 'I


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could never have foreseen him doing that.'

Yesterday reports claimed he had been diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, a form of autism where sufferersexperience difficulties with communication and social skills, which can lead to isolation and emotional problems.

Neighbor Justin Germak, 17, said he knew Lanza had a condition. You definitely noticed it. He was needy. Hestruggled to be social.

'Everyone just assumed he was a smart kid and thats why he didnt like talking to people all the time,' Peter Lalli, 20,who graduated with Lanza in 2010, told theNew York Daily News. 'He hung out with the smart crowd.'

Another former classmate said Adam has been 'a weird kid since we were five years old.'Tim Dalton wrote on Twitter: 'As horrible as this was, I can't say I am surprised...'

Family friends said Lanzas problems started to escalate when his parents divorced in 2008 after 18 years together.

His father Peter, a wealthy executive for General Electric, who is believed to earn $1million a year, moved out of thefamily home in 2006, citing irreconcilable differences.

The 52-year-old married librarian Shelley Cudiner last year, and the couple moved 40 miles away to Stamford,Connecticut..

Father: Peter, a wealthy executive for General Electric, who is believed to earn $1million ayear, moved out of the family home in 2006

However, he continued to provide well for Nancy and their younger son, giving her the family home as well as nearly$325,000 a year.

One of Lanzas former classmates spoke of his noticeable decline after his parents divorce. He was a loner atschool and hyper intelligent, he said. But in recent years he disappeared off the radar.

The word is that he was badly affected when his parents split and that might be what pushed him over the edge.

He was always weird but the divorce affected him. He was arguing with his mother. He was a ticking time bombwaiting to explode.

A relative to the family said that Adam Lanza was obviously not well, adding that he often seemed troubled. Theydescribed Nancy as being rigid and at times, overbearing.


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Dan Holmes, owner of a landscaping firm who worked on the familys home, said she was an avid gun collector: Shetold me she would go target shooting with her kids.

Sources close to the investigation also revealed last night that Nancy had recently stopped hosting monthlyget-togethers for neighbors in order to look after her increasingly troubled son.

The 50-year-old is thought to have worked as a supply teacher at the elementary school where the shootings tookplace.

Last night it also emerged Nancy was a member of the Doomsday Preppers movement, which believes people

should prepare for end of the world.

Her former sister-in-law Marsha said she had turned her home into a fortress. She added: Nancy had a survivalistphilosophy which is why she was stockpiling guns. She had them for defense.

She was stockpiling food. She grew up on a farm in New Hampshire. She was skilled with guns. We talked aboutpreppers and preparing for the economy collapsing.

Marsha added that her nephew had been raised by kind, nurturing parents. She said she last seen Adam in Junebut recalled nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Nancy was a good mother, kind-hearted, she added. She wasnt one to deny reality. She would have soughtpsychiatric help for her son had she felt he needed it.

Emergency personnel, parents and teachers swarmed to Sandy Hook Elementary School

after the gunman opened fire


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Map of area surrounding Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut,where a gunman killed at least 26 people, 20 of them small children

Lanza's aunt, Marsha Lanza, said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated toseek mental help for him if he needed it.

The Crystal Lake, Illinois resident told the Associated Press she was close with Adam Lanza's mother and sent her aFacebook message Friday morning asking how she was doing. Nancy Lanza never responded.

Marsha Lanza described Nancy Lanza as a good mother and kind-hearted. If her son had needed counseling, 'Nancywasn't one to deny reality,' she said.

Marsha Lanza said her husband saw Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary about him.

Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, at the upscale suburban home they shared togetherand then took three of her guns and drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School about

9.30am

One neighbor told MailOnline that her daughters had visited the house while trick or treating on Halloween, and thatan older woman answered the door.

A man several houses down, who said he was friends with the couple, declined to give his name, saying only thatthey are 'great people' and 'my heart bleeds for them.'

Pia Conte, 47, who lives in the neighborhood and has two sons in their 20s, said Lanza and his girlfriend kept tothemselves.

Ms Conte called the ordeal 'sad' for Lanza and his family, and suggested that the violence is a portion of a muchlarger situation.

'Guns are easy to point to, but it's really a mental health issue.'

Catherine Urso, who was attending a vigil Friday evening in Newtown said her college-age son knew the killer andremembered him for his alternative style.

'He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths,' she said.

Still, several local news clippings from recent years mention Adam Lanza's name among Newtown High School'shonor roll students.

He belonged to a technology club at Newtown High School that held 'LAN parties' - short for local area network - inwhich students would gather at a member's home, hook up their computers into a small network and play games.

Gloria Milas, whose son Joshua was in the club with Lanza, hosted one of the parties once.


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She recalled a school meeting in 2008 organized by the gunman's mother to try to save the job of the club's adviser.At the meeting, Milas said, Adam Lanza's brother Ryan said a few words in support of the adviser, who he said hadtaken his brother under his wing.

'My brother has always been a nerd,' Ryan Lanza said then, according to Milas. 'He still wears a pocket protector.'

Ryan Lanza, brother of Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting suspect Adam Lanza, isseen being led away by cops, left, and in photos pulled from his Facebook page, right


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Ryan Lanza is escorted to a car outside his home in Hoboken by law enforcement. Policesaid he has been very cooperative during the investigation

Ryan, 24, who was originally thought to have been the shooter, was being questioned by police after he was arrestedat his home in Hoboken, New Jersey.

He was on a bus on his way home from work when he was being named as the gunman and posted on Facebookthat it wasn't him.

Ryan Lanza had been extremely cooperative and was not under arrest or in custody by Saturday morning, butinvestigators were still searching his computers and phone records. He told law enforcement he had not been intouch with his brother since about 2010.

Brett Wilshe, a friend of Ryan Lanza's, said he sent him a Facebook message Friday asking what was going on and ifhe was OK. According to Wilshe, Lanza's reply was something along the lines of: 'It was my brother. I think mymother is dead. Oh my God.'


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Adam Lanza shot his mother at her home before driving in her car to the elementaryschool and shooting dead 26 people before turning the gun on himself

Sandy Hook Elementary School is in Newtown, Connecticut, where Nancy Lanza lived.Son Ryan lives in Hoboken, New Jersey


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Chaotic scenes at the school as police work to secure the area and bodies are carriedout of the school

'IT'S TIME FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION' SAYS MAYOR BLOOMBERG

'We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucsonand Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again.

For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year-olds.

President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to senda bill to Congress to fix this problem.

Calling for "meaningful action" is not enough. We need immediate action.'

-Mayor Bloomberg

Peter Lanza declined to comment after police performed a welfare check on him.

Mr Lanza learned of the tragic and senseless massacre by reporters who had flocked to his home.

He arrived shortly after police left and asked what the problem was.

The Stamford Advocatesaid his expression shifted from patient to surprise to horror.

Newtown was once named one of the safest places to live in America and before this morning, there had been onemurder in a decade.

After the names of the murdered children were released publicly, the families of the victims - along with their friendsand neighbors - closed ranks while they mourned.


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Authorities asked reporters not to approach the grieving families.

Connecticut state troopers were posted outside many of their homes. Throughout Sandy Hook and Newyown, squadcars idling in driveways or on the streets in front of house became a sure sign that the inhabitants inside weremourning a terrible loss.

The President addressed a stunned nation five hours after the shooting and openly wept as he spoke of the mindlessshooting saying: 'Our hearts are broken today.'

Play Video

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Seldom has a head of state expressed greater public emotion in modern times.

Obama struggled for words, pausing several times as he wiped away tears saying, 'This evening, Michelle and Iwill...hug our children a little tighter, and we'll tell them that we love them.'

Speaking inside the St Rose of Lima church in Newtown tonight, Governor of Connecticut Dan Malloy said: 'In thecoming days and in the coming weeks, I will pray that you all embrace one another that you lift one another up, that

you understand the difficulties that you collectively will undergo.

'Keep in your prayers the children who lost their lives today, keep in your prayers the adults who lost their lives today.'

VIDEO: The nation tries to come to terms with the tragedy

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Paramedics push stretchers toward Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, afterthe mass shooting this morning


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Families grieve, left, and a man carries a child away from the area of a shooting at the

elementary school, right

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: AMERICA'S WORST SCHOOL MASSACRES

1. Virginia Tech - 32 dead plus the shooter, 16 April 2007, Blacksburg, Virginia

Student Seung Hui Cho, 23, killed two stuidents in a dorm and then went through building of classrooms armed withtwo handguns, shooting at random before killing himself.


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2. University of Texas - 16 dead plus shooter, 1 August 1966, Austin, Texas

Former Marine sniper Charles Whitman, 25, armed with an arsenal of weapons shot victims from the observationdeck of the campus tower.

3. Columbine High School - 13 dead plus two shooters, 20 April 1999, Littleton, Colorado

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire outside the school killing students and one teacherbefore shooting themselves in the library.

4. Red Lake High School - 9 dead plus shooter, 21 March 2005, Red Lake, Minnesota

Jeffrey Weise, 17, goes on a shooting spree at Red Lake High School killing nine people, including his grandfather,before shooting himself.

5. University of Iowa - five dead plus shooter, 1 November 1991, University of Iowa

Gang Lu, 27, a graduate student from China killed five with a .38-caliber revolver. He was apparently angry becausehis doctoral dissertation had not been nominated for an academic award.

6. Amish schoolhouse massacre - six dead plus shooter, 2 October 2, 2006, Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania

Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, executes five girls aged 7 to 13 before killing himself in a small Amish schoolhouse

7. Jonesboro, Arkansas - five dead, 24 March 1998, Jonesboro, Arkansas

Mitchell Johnson, 10, and Andrew Golden, 8, took seven guns to school and pulled the fire alarm and shot studentsas they headed for the exits. Four died plus a teacher. The pair were sent to a juvenile detention center and releasedin 2005.

8. Cleveland Elementary School - five dead plus shooter, 17 January 1989, in Stockton, California

Patrick Edward Purdy entered a schoolyard and opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle at Cleveland ElementarySchool. Five children died and 30 others were wounded including one teacher. He then shot himself.

9. University of Arizona three dead plus shooter, 28 October 2002, University of Arizona

Robert Flores, 40, a nursing student shot an instructor in her office before entering a classroom and killing two moreteachers before committing suicide.

10. Kent State University four dead, 4 May 1970, Kent State University in Ohio

National Guard troops killed four students who took part in anti-war protests on the campus of Kent State Universityin Ohio.

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Comments (224)

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What I've noticed by many of the commenters here is that the mindset outside of the US assumes that we're all a bunch of gun toting AnnieOakley's/Jesse James rootin tootin shoot up like minded people & I can assure you this is NOT the case. Guns scare me and nobody in myimmediate family nor friends owns one. I've lived in 4 states in this country and again, no one owned a gun in my inner-circle. Seems thegeneral mindset amongst so many in other countries assumes we all have have access to guns like we can go to the corner & purchase oneon a whim. My household isn't any different than yours. Yes, maybe regulations should be made about gun control but the point here is:

Someone with EVIL intent whether mentally ill or just truly messed up will figure out a way to kill & destroy & rob people of life and fingerpointing about guns being the issue doesn't solve what is really at hand. Address the mental mindset of this generation. My heart along withthe World grieves for Newtown, CT.

- Lisa , Colorado, United States, 16/12/2012 07:35

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"no connection between the disorder and violence" Whaaat? The guy was a mental case who killed his mom to steal her guns but that hadnothing to do with the massacre????? - memememe, la, 16/12/2012 5:08------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The is no proven link between Aspergers and violence. Tryingreading it again, but take in the information this time.

- Steffi , Hampshire, 16/12/2012 07:33


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- Jay King , Spokane, United States, 16/12/2012 05:54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What makesyou think that all people with Aspergers are psychopaths?!

- Steffi , Hampshire, 16/12/2012 07:30


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The Boy lived to play violent video games...More than likely where he got the idea for the massacre.....

- Sandy Carrington , Florida USA, United States, 16/12/2012 07:19


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Clearly, the common link behind all the mass killings listed in the article are schools, not guns. The liberal run school system is creatingmental illness, so ban all liberals from the schools before it's too late! Mike Savage is right, "liberalism is a mental disorder...

- Mark2012 , Ocean Shores, 16/12/2012 07:07


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Seems like quite a few people noticed the odd behavior over the years and nobody did anything about it. Why? Because he is from a wealthyfamily?

- Val , Cleveland OH, United States, 16/12/2012 07:03


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Say what you will, our youth are being bombarded with violent movies that glorify the killers, and then they spend hours playing violent videogames programming their minds that total destruction is the only way to win. Instead of always targeting the gun industry, we need to targetthe industries (movies & video games) which promote spree killings, violence, and which programs the mind from a very early age to get that"high" you have to kill. Soon the video games aren't enough, they have to seek a bigger experience to get the same "high". I don't know ofanyone who religiously plays the violent games that doesn't suffer bouts of deep depression and/or are cruel to people in their lives - whetherit is verbally or physically. If just one person in that school had a gun themselves (and was trained how to use it), they could have stoppedthis kid before he murdered those beautiful angels and wonderful school personnel. If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.

- Rhoda , Ashland, 16/12/2012 07:01


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I wish people would stop the nonsense that guns are not the problem. The shooter was armed with an assault rifle he had been trained touse by his survivalist mother, and was able to fire multiple rounds with one clip. If he had a knife or a crossbow, he would never have beenable to get into the school in the first place, never mind kill as many people as quickly as he did. People should be able to keep hand guns forprotection, but semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles do not belong in the hands of private citizens. They were meant for war, not homeprotection. I'm so sick and tired of the NRA propaganda machine, and a lot the comments here reflecting their talking points. The NRA is anorganization that has little to no use for even the slightest types of sensible checks and balances for gun ownership.

- Susan , Avon CT. USA, 16/12/2012 07:01


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Obama administration let school security funds lapse... Drudge

- Zcat , GA, 16/12/2012 06:46


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Although having one armed guard at every school might be attractive, it would be far better to have several teachers in the school, deputized,if need be, armed and trained in defense. This would have reduced the carnage greatly.

- Steve , Augusta, United States, 16/12/2012 06:28



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Find this story at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248782/Adam-Lanza-How-classmates-remember-genius-turned-heartless-killer.html

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