by James F. Tracy, Copyright Memory Hole Blog
January 6, 2013
PART 1 OF 5
[“ALL GOVERNMENTS ARE RUN BY LIARS AND NOTHING THEY SAY SHOULD BE BELIEVED.”
-– I.F. “IZZY” STONE, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST.]
Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
The following timeline of the December 14, 2012 mass killing of 20 children and 8 adults in Newtown Connecticut attempts to demonstrate how the event was presented to the public by corporate news media. The chronological assemblage of coverage is not comprehensive of all reports published on the incident but rather seeks to verify how the storyline was to a substantial degree constructed by federal and state law enforcement authorities and major media around the theory that 20-year-old Adam Lanza was the sole agent in the massacre.
This scenario became an established reality through the news media’s pronounced repetition of the lone gunman narrative and meme. This proposed scenario significantly obscured the fact that police encountered and apprehended two additional shooting suspects on the school’s grounds within minutes of the crime. These suspects remain unaccounted for by authorities but the roles they may have played arguably correlate with the shifting information presented by authorities and major news media on injuries and weapons vis-à-vis the mass carnage meted out in the school. While the certain detainment of additional suspects was pointed to by alternative news media, including Natural News, Infowars, Veterans Today and Global Research in the days following the tragedy, the untenable lone gunman narrative has become firmly established in the public psyche via an overwhelming chorus of corporate media reports and interpretations.
Note: Times of occurrences referenced are Eastern Standard Time and in some instances signify time of publication rather than the specific incident cited. Time of publication does not always correlate with exact time of incident. “n.t.” denotes “no time” of publication referenced.
1955
May 17
First Selectman A. Fenn Dickinson of Newtown, a 42-year-old Democrat serving his third term as Newtown’s foremost public servant, is killed when a truck backs over him at a road project in Sandy Hook. Dickinson Drive, the road leading to Sandy Hook Elementary, is named after the local leader. “Do You Remember?” Newstimes.com, May 22, 2005.
2006
June 26
President George W. Bush signs Executive Order 13407 to establish a Public Alert and Warning System for national emergencies potentially involving the public at large. “It is the policy of the United States,” the EO’s policy summary reads,
to have an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well-being (public alert and warning system), taking appropriate account of the functions, capabilities, and needs of the private sector and of all levels of government in our Federal system, and to ensure that under all conditions the President can communicate with the American people.
The Department of Homeland Security is designated as the government entity for establishment of the integrated mass communication system.“Executive Order 13407 (PDF),” Government Printing Office, June 2006.
December 4
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Wayne E. Bennett, and Connecticut Department of Public Safety (DPS) Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle release a 207-page report chronicling shortcomings in the Connecticut State Police (CSP) internal affairs system and recommending reforms thereof. The investigation was requested by state troopers filing whistleblower complaints with Blumenthal’s office on the DPS internal affairs process. Commissioner Boyle also asked the NYSP to investigate those complaints and others received from state troopers about the internal affairs system. The report caps a 13-month joint investigation by Blumenthal’s office and NYSP involving 262 interviews, 207 of them with current or former sworn DPS employees, thousands of pages of documents, and 112 formal requests for information. “Attorney General-NY State Police Report Finds Shortcomings in CT State Police Internal Affairs System, Calls for Reforms,” State of Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, December 4, 2006.
2010
September 22
8:00AM-5:00PM
US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency and State of Connecticut Division of Emergency Services and Public Protection conduct Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Training Course at Sandy Hook Fire Department. The training consists of “instructor-led course presentations” in addition to “small group activities, videos, and group discussions.” According to the description, “the course also provides overviews of HSEEP-related initiatives such as technology (e.g., the HSEEP Toolkit) and capabilities-based planning (e.g., Target Capabilities List [TCL]). This blended approach will give participants hands-on experience that readily translates to real-world exercise skills. Activities include creating exercise documentation, conducting exercise planning conferences and briefings, and practicing exercise evaluation.” “September 22: The HSEEP Training Course,” Connecticut Division of Emergency Services and Public Protection, n.d.
2011
February 23
n.t.
Connecticut State Senators Steven T. Mikutel, Leonard A. Fasano, Michael A. McLachlan, and Len Suzio introduce SB 1054, a bill “to allow the parents of a child who was a homicide victim to request that the autopsy report not be publicly disclosed.” SB 1054: An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Autopsy Reports, Sunlight Foundation/Open States, retrieved March 1, 2013.
February 25
n.t.
In a memorandum to the state legislature’s judiciary committee Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver II questions the necessity of SB 1054. “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as an institution and I are very concerned about the privacy rights of individuals who are examined through our office and particularly with respect to homicide victims whose family find their privacy and grieving invaded by a curious public. I believe that the proposed legislation is redundant of current statute, regulations, and practices. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner does not now and has never released autopsy reports to the general public, let alone autopsy reports of a pediatric homicide victim.”Dr. H. Wayne Carver II to Chairman Coleman, Fox and Members of the Connecticut State Judiciary Committee, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, February 25.
March 9
State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance, a regional celebrity, announces on WPLR radio that he will try out for the next season of the Survivor television series. Tryouts are next Wednesday at Foxwoods. Vance tells the Connecticut Post that he will “do the interview (with Survivor) and explore the process.” Vance’s son, J. Paul Vance Jr. called WPLR’s “Chaz and A.J.” show earlier to nominate his father as a candidate, and Vance Sr. subsequently called in to say he was up to the “tall order,” of trying out for the show. The show’s hosts said that wardrobe will be important. “Wear your shirt, with the police hat and a grass skirt,” said show co-host Chaz. “State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance to Try Out for ‘Survivor’,” Connecticut Post, March 9, 2011.
August 16
Connecticut Governor Dannell P. Malloy appoints J. Paul Vance Jr. as the state’s new claims commissioner. The Republican politician was appointed to the job with a $114,000 salary, where he will more or less decide who can sue the state.Penelope Overton, “Vance Appointed State’s Claims Commissioner,” August 16, 2011.
October 1
n.t.
Existing law preventing disclosure of autopsies to the press or public is bolstered through passage and enactment of recommendations encompassed in SB 1054 by Connecticut State Senate and General Assembly.
Section 1. Subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 1-210 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof Effective October 1, 2011
(3) Records of law enforcement agencies not otherwise available to the public which records were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of crime, if the disclosure of said records would not be in the public interest because it would result in the disclosure of … “the records of an investigation and examination by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the death of a person under eighteen years of age caused by an apparent homicide, including the autopsy report and other scientific findings.”
SB 1054 An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Autopsy Reports, Sunlight Foundation/Open States, retrieved March 1, 2013.
2012
September
At the start of the 2012-13 academic year Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung announces in a public letter to families the Newtown School District’s new security protocol “in all elementary schools.” Under the newly-announced security regimen, “exterior doors will be locked during the day. Every visitor will be required to ring the doorbell at the front entrance and the office staff will use a visual monitoring system to allow entry. Visitors will still be required to report directly to the office and sign in. If our office staff does not recognize you, you will be required to show identification with a picture id. Please understand that with nearly 700 students and over 1,000 parents representing 500 SHS families, most parents will be asked to show identification. Doors will be locked at approximately 9:30 a.m.”“Principal Outlined New Security Procedures at Sandy Hook Elementary,” Hartford Courant, December 14, 2012, 8:25PM EST.
October 17
9:47AM
Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung Tweets photo of emergency drill held at Sandy Hook fire station with Sandy Hook Elementary faculty and students participating. Esther Zuckerman, “The Sandy Hook Principal’s Twitter Feed is Haunting,” The Atlantic Wire, December 14, 2012.
November 7
n.t.
Following Obama’s reelection Senator Diane Feinstein is believed to be meeting with relevant federal agencies to lay groundwork for reenacting assault weapons ban. “Senator Diane Feinstein Moves to Ban All Assault Rifles, High Capacity Magazines, and Pistol Grips,” Market Daily News, November 7, 2012.
November 27
11:00AM
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announce Project Longevity, a joint venture by the Justice Department and State of Connecticut, at a news conference in New Haven, Connecticut. The endeavor is described by one law enforcement officials as “a statewide approach that targets repeat criminals, creates alternatives for potential gang members and rallies neighborhoods against violence.” Federal money is being directed to engage Connecticut-based agents, academics and social workers who will work for or with the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Dave Ingram, “Project Longevity: Justice Department, Connecticut State Officials Target Gun Violence,” Reuters/Huffington Post, November 27, 2012. See also, Erin Logan, “Attorney General Eric Holder Discussing Gun Violence,” WTNH.com, November, 27, 2012.
December 10
Newtown Schools superintendent Janet Robinson speaks before the Newtown Board of Finance discusses closing one of the town’s schools given the area’s 25-year-low in elementary school enrollment. “When asked about space needs,” the 12-10 meeting minutes read, “school closing declining enrollment Dr. Robinson said that the Ad Hoc Facilities group vetted every option. Their recommendation was when elementary enrollment is projected to be 1500 a study should be commissioned to begin looking at closing a school.” Robinson proposes embarking on a study to determine the feasibility of closure. “Our problem is [that] our parents really cherish their neighborhood schools,” Robinson notes, “even though these are not small neighborhoods. So, we have to prepare the parents for this in advance.” Janet Robinson, “State of Schools Presentation,” in Town of Newtown Board of Finance Meeting Minutes, and 2012-12-10 Board of Finance.wmv (electronic record at 1:18:13) Town of Newtown, Newtown, CT, December 10, 2012.
December 11
n.t.
Adam Lanza reportedly visits a sporting goods store in Danbury and attempts to purchase an assault rifle but was denied NBC reports. Julia Terruso, “Reports: Gunman Had Altercation at School Day Before Shooting,” Star Ledger, December 15, 2012.
December 13
4:13PM
Connecticut State Representative John Frey Tweets his presence at the Sandy Hook Elem. Holiday concert, 4:13pm. “At the Sandy Hook Elementary School concert cheering nieces Joan and Bridget.” http://twitter.com/johnfrey/status/279378604469657601
n.t.
The alleged gunman at Adam Lanza has an argument with four staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School,officials tell NBC. NBC reports that Lanza went to the school on December 13 and was in an altercation with four staff members, three of whom are killed in the December 14 shooting. The fourth person will not be at the school the day of the shooting, NBC says. Julia Terruso,“Reports: Gunman Had Altercation at School Day Before Shooting,” Star Ledger, December 15, 2012.
December 14
9:00AM
“Planning for the Needs of Children in Disasters” emergency exercise conducted jointly by FEMA and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection commences 14 miles from Newport in Bridgeport Connecticut. “The goal of the course,”the description reads,
is to enable participants to improve their community’s mitigation and emergency operations plan specifically regarding the needs of children. The course will provide them with the information needed to address the unique needs of children prior to, during and following disasters. It will also provide them guidance and direction on how to form coalitions and how to become advocates for the unique needs of children in all aspects of emergency management.
Shepherd Ambellas and Alex Thomas,“Sandy Hook Shooting: Active Shooter Drill Confirmed By Law Enforcement Raises Suspicion of False Flag Operation, [News Analysis]” theintellhub.com, January 12, 2013.
9:00AM [estimate]
“Active shooter drill” exercise commences by Putnam County Emergency Response Team in Carmel Connecticut, 45 miles away from Newtown. “By grim coincidence, even as the terrible events were unfolding in Newtown on Friday morning,” the Southeast Brewster-Patch reports,
the Putnam County Emergency Response Team (“ERT”) happened to be assembled for regular training in Carmel, and team members were at that very moment engaged in a mock scenario of an active-shooter in a school. The ERT is comprised of specially trained and heavily armed officers from the Sheriff’s Office and the Carmel and Kent Police Departments. When news broke of the Newtown shooting, the Putnam County ERT commander called Newtown Police and offered to have the ERT respond to the Sandy Hook school, but that response was not needed because Connecticut police had already secured the scene.
Ashley Tarr,“Sheriff: Putnam Officials to Talk School Safety This Afternoon,” Southeast Brewster-Patch, December 18, 2012.
9:30AM [estimate]
Only 35 minutes away from Newtown an active shooter drill is taking place at a school in Carmel, Putnam County. The operation is conducted by the Putnam County Emergency Response Team (“ERT). “The ERT is comprised of specially trained and heavily armed officers from the Sheriff’s Office and the Carmel and Kent Police Departments,” the Southeast Brewster Patch newspaper reports. “When news broke of the Newtown shooting, the Putnam County ERT commander called Newtown Police and offered to have the ERT respond to the Sandy Hook school, but that response was not needed because Connecticut police had already secured the scene.” “Sheriff: Putnam Officials to Talk School Safety This Afternoon,” Southeast Brewster Patch, December 18, 2012.
(9:30AM [see below])
CNN reports local authorities take the first 911 calls from Sandy Hook Elementary School. “‘Sandy Hook school. Caller is indicating she thinks someone is shooting in the building,’” a dispatcher told fire and medical personnel, according to 911 tapes. “Sandy Hook Shooting: What Happened?” CNN, December 14, 2012.(Recording of fire and law enforcement radio dispatch [below] indicates CNN’s 9:30AM time and account of events is incorrect.)
9:30AM [estimate]
Attorney Joel T. Faxon of Newtown, who serves on the town’s five-member police commission and is a strong advocate of strengthened gun control measures, claims he is taking one of his three children to the local middle school. As he approaches the school’s front doors, he receives a text message that all the town’s schools are on lockdown. This precaution takes place on occasion because of the school’s proximity to a state prison. “I told my son, ‘Okay, something’s going on. Let’s get out of here.” Returning to his vehicle, Faxon sees
the chief of police in his official car, headed to the Sandy Hook school, and I looked at my son and I said,”‘Oh my God, there must have been a shooting.” The chief doesn’t respond to anything other than a very serious incident. Within a minute of that time, I got a news report text from the Hartford Courant, that said police were responding to incident on Dickenson Drive, and I thought, “There’s only one thing on that street. And that’s the school.”
Faxon pulls over to the side of the road. “At that point, literally 50 state police and Newtown police cars went by us, and they all went to Sandy Hook Elementary School. I knew there had been some kind of a catastrophe there,” Faxon recalls. Faxon texts Bridgeport police captain James Viadero, who he works on a the police commission with. “He was filling me in on what was happening, in real time.” As the story took shape in the news only a single death was reported. Yet Faxon said the numbers the Viadero relayed “were just shocking.” Faxon’s other son goes to another elementary school and was at the the doctor’s office for a checkup. His daughter, a student at the high school, also in lockdown, was texting her father, “‘Daddy, what’s going on?’ I knew she was safe.” Faxon observes ambulances heading to the scene. “There were ambulances going down there [to the school], but there were no ambulances coming back to go to the hospital” with survivors, Faxon said. “Just like in 9/11, when the hospitals were all racing to be prepared for the wounded, who never arrived.” Thomas B. Scheffy, “Joel Faxon Has Been Part of the Gun Debate in His Hometown,” Connecticut Law Tribune, December 21, 2013.
9:34AM [estimate]
Sandy Hook Elementary School reading consultant Becky Virgalla said she was in a meeting with Principal Dawn Hochsprung, school psychologist Mary Sherlach and other colleagues when the shooter broke into the building. When they heard the commotion Hochsprung, Sherlach and lead teacher Natalie Hammond proceeded into the hall “to check out the noise that we didn’t know [were] gunshots at first,” Virgalla told Reuters Television at a December 23 Newtown memorial. “The three of them were shot and they yelled back ‘shooter, stay put.’ And they saved my life and the life of four others who were at that meeting,” Virgalla said.“Becky Virgalla, Newtown Shooting Survivor, Says Principal, Others Saved Her in Sandy Hook Rampage,” Reuters/Huffington Post, December 23, 2012.
9:34AM [estimate]
Fourth grate teacher Ted Varga arrives for work at Sandy Hook. Moments later, according an the account Varga related to the New York Daily News, he and four colleagues narrowly escaped a hail of bullets. “You hear screams and gunshots, but it is still surreal,” Varga said. “This is an elementary school. … I heard someone say, ‘Oh my God.’ And then you hear shot after shot after shot.” Undaunted, Varga ran down a hallway “filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder,” according to the press account, “to escape through an emergency exit and then returned to help three colleagues flee through a window. An unidentified teacher hid underneath a mound of donated Christmas gifts for the needy, hoping the killer jiggling the door to the conference room would move on. “She heard heavy breathing,” Varga says. “She knew it was him. … It’s a miracle we’re alive, but it’s still such a tragedy. You’re exposed to a myriad of emotions that even now I can’t really understand.” Henrick Karoliszyn, “Five Teachers Escape Death as Massacre Rages in Newtown,” New York Daily News, December 19, 2012.
9:35AM [Estimate]
In the Sandy Hook library three faculty members hear noises and move 15 or so students to a storage closet in the library filled with computer servers. “Hold hands. Be quiet,” one teacher tells the children. One child questions “whether there are pots and pans were clanging. Another thought he heard firecrackers. Another worried an animal was coming to the door,” the Washington Post reports. “They were children in a place built for children, and the teachers didn’t know how to answer them … ‘It’s a drill,’ said a library clerk named Mary Anne Jacobs.”Eli Saslow, “Sandy Hook Massacre: Teachers Sought to Soothe Children in Moments of Terror,” Washington Post, December 15, 2012.
9:35:52AM
Recording of Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates potential of active shooter situation at Sandy Hook Elementary School. “6-7. Sandy Hook School. Caller indicates she thinks there’s someone shooting in the building.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:36:20AM [estimate]
Newtown Bee Associate Editor Shannon Hicks is among the first on the scene at Sandy Hook Elementary. Hicks says she was at the Bee‘s offices about one and one quarter miles from the school when she heard about a possible shooting on the police scanner. A volunteer firefighter, Hicks is “behind the first dozen police officers,” according to John Voket, also associate editor at the weekly. This is because the Sandy Hook firehouse where Hicks is stationed shares a driveway with the school. When Hicks proceeds down the driveway she begins frantically taking photos of the scene “through the windshield of her car, with one hand on the steering wheel and one holding her camera, Voket says. One well-knonw photo featured in news coverage may have been of the first cluster of evacuating students, Voket further notes. Julie Moos,“How the Newtown Bee is Covering Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting,” Poynter.org, December 15, 2012.
9:36:38AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch suggests arrival of law enforcement at scene; “front glass has been broken [unintelligible]. They’re unsure why.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:37:15AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates continuance of gunfire at Sandy Hook school. “All units: The individual that I have on the phone is continuing to hear what she believes to be gunfire.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:37:40AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates law enforcement units and backup continual arrival at Sandy Hook Elementary. RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:38:15AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates “the shooting appears to have stopped. It is silent at this time. The school is in lockdown.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:39:05AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates citing of shooter suspects fleeing crime scene. “Reports that a teacher saw two shadows running past the building–past the gym, which would be rear [inaudible] the shooting.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:39:20AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates officers’ encounter with and apprehension of additional shooter suspects fleeing scene. “Yeah, we got ‘em. He’s comin’ at me down Crestwood Way! Coming [inaudible] up the left side.” RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:40AM
Chris Manfredonia, alleged father of a 6-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary student, claims he is on his way to the school “to help make gingerbread houses with first-graders when he heard popping sounds and smelled sulfur.” Manfredonia runs around the facility in attempt “to reach his daughter and was briefly handcuffed by police. He later found his child, who had been locked in a small room with a teacher. ‘The whole reason we moved here a year ago is because when you drive down the subdivision, it’s a happy place,’ said his wife, Georgeann Manfredonia. “‘There’s a ton of children here and the families are very kind and supportive.’”Richard A. Serrano, Allen Semuals, Tina Susman, “Gunman Kills 20, 6 Adults at Connecticut Elementary School,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2012.
9:40AM [estimate]
First responders initially believe there may be two gunmen and are unaware of the carnage in the school until they find 18 children and a teacher in a classroom closet, a recording of the police dispatch authenticated by police indicates. Tracy Connor, “Call For Everything: Police Scanner Recording Reveals Early Moments of Newtown Tragedy,” NBC News, December 19, 2012.
9:40:45AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates “one now in room one who [unintelligible] injury to the foot. [unintelligible] call for an ambulance [unintelligible]. RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
9:45:48AM
Newtown and Connecticut emergency fire and law enforcement radio dispatch indicates officers’ discovery of “bodies here” and requests for ambulatory/first responders’ backup. RadioMan911TV, “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown Police/Fire and CT State Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
(9:50AM [see below])
CNN reports police and first responders arrive at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police did not discharge their weapons. The gunman took his own life with a handgun. “Sandy Hook Shooting: What Happened?” CNN, December 14, 2012. (Recording of fire and law enforcement radio dispatch [above] suggests CNN’s 9:50AM time and account of events is incorrect.)
10:14AM
Hartford Courant publishes online Google map of Sandy Hook Elementary School. “Map of Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Hartford Courant, December 14, 2012.
10:15AM [estimate]
Emergency medical technician Peter Houlahan and other EMTs are told their expertise is not needed inside the school or elsewhere on school grounds. “A person who experiences tragic events will inevitably look back and try to identify that last moment where there was still hope,” Houlahan recalls, “that instant before all was lost and their life changed forever. For the EMS teams staged in front of Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, that moment came when the Newtown EMS captain ordered us to stand down, that there was no one left to help, no one left alive.” Peter Houlahan, “Sandy Hook EMT and Former Whittier Resident Reflects on Massacre,” Daily News, December 23, 2012.
[Late Morning]
In a December 14 Newtown Bee article unidentified school personnel are commended for their courage. Among them are school principal Dawn Hochsprung, who recounted to Bee Editor John Voket[5] how “a masked man entered the school with a rifle and started shooting multiple shots – more than she could count – that went ‘on and on.’” The problem with the account was that it conflicted with a subsequent storyline where Hochsprung was the first to be killed by the gunmen.
[Image Deleted]
Original December 14 Newtown Bee story with interview of deceased Sandy Hook Elementary Principal Dawn Hochsprung. Captured by Bing web spider on 12/13/12.
From Bingj.com: “Below is a snapshot of the Web page as it appeared on 12/13/2012 (the last time our crawler visited it). This is the version of the page that was used for ranking your search results. The page may have changed since we last cached it. To see what might have changed (without the highlights), go to the current page.”
Three days later the paper issued a retraction and revised the story further. No additional explanation was provided concerning what party Volkert interviewed and quoted at the crime scene, suggesting a conflicted attempt to establish the storyline.
10:30AM [Estimate]
( Don Emmert, Getty Images / December 14, 2012 )
Two unidentified nuns leave the scene of the aftermath at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. At least 27 people, including 18 children, were killed.
“Two unidentified nuns” are photographed by journalist Don Emmert, apparently departing the crime scene at Sandy Hook Elementary. One of the individuals has what appears to be official identification around her/his neck. The photo is carried by the Chicago Tribune with the title, “Elementary School Shooting.” “Elementary School Shooting,” Chicago Tribune, December 14, 2012.
10:47AM
Connecticut State Police report assisting Newtown police in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. “The Hartford Courant [<-hyperlink is to a different story] reports there are multiple injures [sic] and unconfirmed reports that one of the shooters is dead while the other is still at large. The school superintendent’s office says the district has locked down schools to ensure the safety of students and staff. Crimeside Staff, “Connecticut School Shooting: Police Investigating Reports of a Shooting at Elementary School,” CBS News, December 14, 2012.
10:47AM
[Famous photo taken by Newtown Bee editor Shannon Hicks is distributed via CBS and other national media.]
Shannon Hicks
Connecticut School Shooting: Police Investigating Reports of a Shooting at Elementary School,” CBS News, December 14, 2012, 1047AM EST.
11:11AM
Reuters’ Deputy Social Media Editor Matthew Keys reports that police are questioning a handcuffed suspect in relation to the Sandy Hook School shooting. Matthew Keys Twitter Feed, December 14, 2012.
11:18AM
Reuters’ Deputy Social Media Editor Matthew Keys reports that according to the Hartford Courant’s Dave Altamari there are multiple victims in the school shooting, including children. Parents are now at the scene. Matthew Keys Twitter Feed, December 14, 2012.
11:15, 11:18AM
Reuters’ Deputy Social Media Editor Matthew Keys notes WABC TV live aerial coverage shows “law enforcement at on roof of school at center of shooting.” Matthew Keys Twitter Feed, December 14, 2012.
11:23AM
Reuters’ Deputy Social Media Editor Matthew Keys reports police have told ABC News that two gunman are involved in the elementary school shooting. Matthew Keys Twitter Feed, December 14, 2012.
11:30AM
A Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps dispatcher says a Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher was taken to hospital after being shot in the foot. “There are reports of multiple injuries,” CBS notes. The Newton Bee reports a student with apparently serious wounds was carried out of the facility by a police officer. The school superintendent’s office says all schools in the district remain in lockdown. Crimesider Staff, “Connecticut School Shooting Update: One Gunman Dead, One Teacher Injured at Elementary School,” CBS News, December 14, 2012.
11:34AM
Police say the shooter is dead and two weapons were recovered from him. “The source says one weapon recovered is a Glock and the other is a Sig Sauer.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
12:29PM
Hartford Courant mysteriously publishes online Googlemap of neighborhood where Nancy and Adam Lanza reside, which is 36 Yogananda St. “Map of 46 Yogananda St. Sandy Hook, CT,” Hartford Courant, December 14, 2012.
12:27PM
Anonymous witness and parent of student says that while attending a meeting with faculty regarding her child she heard “at least 100 rounds” being fired when the shooting began about 9:30 to 9:35AM. “There was a ‘pop pop pop’ in the hall outside the room. Three people went out of the room into the hall where the sounds had come from. ‘Only one person came back.’” The same witness says “she then called 911. She said she never saw the shooter but she later was escorted outside the room past two bodies lying in blood.” “Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
1:35PM
Peter Lanza drives up to his home to encounter Stamford Advocate reporter Maggie Gordon in his driveway. Lanza rolls his window down after stopping his blue Mini Cooper in his driveway. “Is there something I can do for you?” he asks. Gordon tells him she is a reporter for the Stamford Advocate, and explains that she was informed that someone at his address had been linked to the shootings in Newtown. “His expression twisted from patient, to surprise to horror,” Gordon writes. “[I]t was obvious that this moment, shortly after 1:30 p.m. Friday, was the first time he had considered his family could have been involved. He quickly declined to comment, rolled up the window, parked in the right side of the two-car garage and closed the door.” Maggie Gordon, “Reporter Broke News to Father of Suspect,” Stamford Advocate, December 14, 2012.
1:57PM
An anonymous federal law enforcement source informs news media the death toll is closer to 30 than 20, with most of those killed being children. The source, who says he is in contact with authorities on the scene, says the suspected gunman had a connection to the school but would not elaborate. Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
2:09PM
CNN is “told that 18 to 20 of the dead are children.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
2:11PM
An anonymous law enforcement official tells CNN that the suspect’s name is Ryan Lanza and he is in his 20s. Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
2:39PM
Anonymous federal law enforcement authorities say “the shooting happened quickly and happened in a concentrated area.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
2:52PM
Father of Sandy Hook Elementary School third grade student Stephen Delgiudice describes to CBS News what his daughter heard over the loudspeaker from the principal’s office. This prompted the teacher to lock the classroom door. “We have a pretty good program in Newtown,” Delgiudice says. “where basically a code red reverse 911 type of a call, and a, came through. [It said] there’s a shooting at the school and naturally I obeyed the speed limit and drove immediately to the school. And ah, y’know it was just mass-mass chaos. I finally got to my daughter—a friend of mine led me to my daughter. I wanted to see her face and hold her, which I did, and once I did that there was a sense of relief, but, uhm, it was just chaos.” Crimesider Staff, “Connecticut School Shooting: Father Says Student Heard Commotion Over Loudspeaker,” CBS News, December 14, 2012.
3:05PM
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy explains to the nation that he and his administration had been advised in advance that an event of Sandy Hook’s magnitude may soon take place in their state. “Earlier today a tragedy of unspeakable terms played itself out in this community. Lieutenant Governor and I have been spoken to in an attempt that we might be prepared for something like this playing itself out in our state.” The remark may be in reference to “Project Longevity,” a joint effort of the US Department of Justice and Connecticut announced on November 27 “to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities … To accomplish this, law enforcement, social service providers and community members are recruited, assembled and trained to engage in a sustained relationship with violent groups.” “Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy: ‘You Can Never Be Prepared,” ABC News, December 14, 2012.
3:16PM
President Obama addresses nation. “As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago – these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
3:45PM
There were a total of 27 people dead at the school, Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police tells assembled reporters. “Eighteen students were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others died at the hospital.” In addition, six adults were pronounced dead at the scene. Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
3:51PM
A federal law enforcement official informs CNN that “shooter arrived and headed directly toward and to his mother’s classroom. That and the other information now emerging – another family member killed, police interviews – lead them to believe his mother was the primary target. But they note he also came armed with clear intention of mass killing.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
3:54PM
CNN now reports “three guns found at the scene … the third weapon found on the scene was a .223 Bushmaster. The other weapons, previously reported, are a Glock, and a Sig-Sauer. No word on the models of Glock or Sig-Sauer.” Children and Adults Gunned Down in School Massacre,” CNN, December 14, 2012.
5:12PM
WUSA 9 News correspondent Andrea McCarren reports of her encounter with Sandy Hook Elementary School nurse’s encounter with the gunman as he walked into her office. According to the nurse the two make eye contact before the gunman exited the office to begin his murderous rampage. “And as I walked down the streets of Newtown to get to this location not far from Sandy Hook Elementary,” McCarren reports, “I happened to run across a woman who had tears in her eyes and she was being led by two younger women and I asked if she was OK. It turns out she was the school nurse at Sandy Hook Elementary and was for fifteen years. She describes the gunman coming into her office. They met eyes [sic]. She jumped under her desk, and he inexplicably just walked out.”Andrea McCarren, “Aftermath of School Shooting,” WUSA 9 News, December 14, 2012.
6:34PM
Witnesses attest to seeing bloodied children, hearing as many as 100 shots, and “loud booms.” “It was horrendous,” parent Brenda Lebinski said, who rushed to the school where her daughter is a third grade student. “Everyone was in hysterics – parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don’t know if they were shot, but they were bloodied.” Lebinski said another parent in the school “during the shooting told her a ‘masked man’ entered the principal’s office and may have shot the principal. Lebinski, who is friends with the mother who was at the school, said the principal was “’severely injured.’” Lebinski’s daughter’s teacher “immediately locked the door to the classroom and put all the kids in the corner of the room.” Nearby resident Melissa Murphy listened to events unfold on a police scanner. “’I kept hearing them call for the mass casualty kit and scream, “Send everybody! Send everybody!” Murphy said. ‘It doesn’t seem like it can be really happening. I feel like I’m in shock.’” An unidentified girl interviewed by an NBC Connecticut affiliate says she heard seven loud “booms” while in gym class. “A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did.” Dan Burns and Chris Kaufman, “Connecticut Gun Rampage: 28 Dead, Including 20 Children,” Reuters, December 14, 2012.
6:34PM
Photo slide show of Sandy Hook massacre aftermath posted by Reuters includes shots taken by Reuters-commissioned photographer Michelle L. McLoughlin. This includes an especially famous photo by McLoughlin, “Young children wait outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after a shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, December 14, 2012.” McLoughlin is located in New Haven, 49 minutes away from Newtown. Dan Burns and Chris Kaufman, “Connecticut Gun Rampage: 28 Dead, Including 20 Children: Slideshow,” Reuters, December 14, 2012.
6:34PM
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls for greater gun control measures. “We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress,” Bloomberg said. “That must end today.” Dan Burns and Chris Kaufman, “Connecticut Gun Rampage: 28 Dead, Including 20 Children: Slideshow,” Reuters, December 14, 2012.
6:44PM
US officials representing three different lettered agencies separately identify the suspected shooter as Adam Lanza, in contrast to what investigators said earlier in the day. No explanation is given regarding what prompted confusion among investigators. Lanza’s older brother, Ryan, was taken into custody for general questioning in Hoboken, New Jersey but was not labeled a suspect.Dan Burns and Chris Kaufman, “Connecticut Gun Rampage: 28 Dead, Including 20 Children: Slideshow,” Reuters, December 14, 2012.
7:13PM
Fox News presents “newly released police dispatch audio” of exchange between 911 dispatcher and Newtown Police and Connecticut State Police encountering two shooting suspects on school grounds. “I have reports that the teacher saw two shadows running past the building, past the gym which would be rear [inaudible].” “Yeah, we got him. He’s coming at me, down [inaudible].” “911 Call Dispatch Audio Reveals Police Response to Sandy Hook School Shooting,” Fox News, December 14, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16AfZXH33eQ
8:00PM
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° reports on the Sandy Hook tragedy using video footage from an apparently unrelated event. “At 0:06 in and at 1:02 into the following video on CNN’s website,” the alternative news outlet Intellhub observes, “[y]ou will notice the police running through a cross walk area that simply does not exist at Sandy Hook Elementary. Take note of the rounded curb area that leads into a grassy area of some sort with a tree present in the center of the grassy area. This area does not exist on Sandy Hook Elementary Schools property.” CNN, “Tragedy Strikes at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Anderson Cooper 360°, December 14, 2012.
[Night]
Police recover long gun from automobile in Sandy Hook parking lot. “Police Find Long Gun in Trunk of Car in Sandy Hook Parking Lot, Newtown Connecticut,” NBC News, December 14, 2012.
[Night]
Unexpurgated NBC News video coverage of Connecticut State Police press conference reveals (at 2:32) forensics team recovering two long guns from vehicle Adam Lanza’s allegedly drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School. NBC News, “Connecticut School Massacre Briefing from Local Police,” Youtube, December 14, 2012.
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Sandy Hook students and staff relate their experiences of gunman Adam Lanza’s rampage to journalists. The New York Post reports Lanza arrived on December 14th “with high-powered handguns shortly after 9:30AM.” A student tells WCBS-TV, “I saw some of the bullets [sic] going down the hall, and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom.” Newtown resident Brad Tefft says very young children sped past horrific bloodshed to safety. “My neighbor’s daughter is in kindergarten at the school,” Tefft tells The Post. “She was in the classroom when the shooter came in and shot the teacher. She ran out past a couple of bleeding bodies.” The Post claims “roughly 100 shots rang out.” “It was horrendous,” parent Brenda Lebinski, whose daughter is in the third grade, says to NBC. “Everyone was in hysterics, parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don’t know if they were shot, but they were bloodied.” Lebinski informs The Post a classmate of her daughter, Sofia, could hear a man in the hallway yelling “f–k you” while her and her classmates huddled closely in a locked classroom. Someone gained control of the school’s intercom system and Gunfire could be heard in the background of an announcement. “It really started when she heard gunshots and screams on the intercoms,” a relative of a Sandy Hook student tells MSNBC. A female student says she was in the gym when the attack began, telling WVIT-TV: “The gym teachers told us to go into the corner. I kept hearing these booming noises. We all started crying, so all the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us.” Music teacher Maryrose Kristopik shelters 15 children by barricading the music classroom door as Lanza pounded on it in a fury. “The shooter kept banging on the door screaming, ‘Let me in! Let me in!’ But he didn’t get in,” a parent informs the Daily Mail. First-grade teacher Kaitlin Roig speaks to ABC, claiming she hid her 14 students in the class lavatory, placing some on the toilet so they all could fit, and moving a storage unit to block the door. The 29-year-old Roig says she locked the door and told the kids, ages 6 and 7, “to be absolutely quiet. If they started crying, I would take their face and tell them, ‘It’s going to be OK,’ ” she said. “I wanted that to be the last thing they heard, not the gunfire in the hall.” The sizable law enforcement response from law enforcement arrives on the scene in minutes and officers begin leading children out, holding hands. Officers tried to shield them from the tragedy by telling them to close their eyes. A 9-year-old boy says to ABC News Radio that a cop entered his classroom asking: “Is he in here? Then he ran out and then our teacher, somebody, yelled, ‘Get to a safe place.’ So we went to the closet in the gym,” the boy recalls. “The police were like knocking on the door and they’re like, ‘We’re evacuating people, we’re evacuating people,’ so we ran out.” Alexis Wasik, a third-grader at the school, claims she saw her former nursery school teacher taken out on a stretcher. “We had to walk with a partner,’ the 8-year-old tells media. Natalie O’Neill, Mel Gray, and Todd Venezia, “A Scene of Blood, Horror, and Heroism at Tragic Sandy Hook School,” New York Post, December 15, 2013.
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CBS correspondent notes how police have a second shooting suspect in custody who they are interrogating. “Well, they have an individual in custody, who they’re talking to. I am told they’re looking into the person as possibly a second shooter. Now that changes the dynamics here a little bit which goes from—if in fact this turns out to be confirmed—it goes from a lone gunman scenario where somebody has this argument with society and wants to take revenge with the most defenseless people in society to a team of individuals who’ve gotten together and conspired to do something like this.” “School Shooting: Possible Second Gunman in Custody,” CBS News Online, December 14, 2012.
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The Associated Press interviews an unidentified Sandy Hook Elementary student who describes seeing a shooting suspect prone on the ground in the school’s parking lot. Unidentified student: “And then the police like were knocking on the door, and they’re like, ‘We’re evacuating people! We’re evacuating people!’ So we ran out. There’s police about at every door. They’re leading us, ‘Down this way. Down this way. Quick! Quick! Come on!’ Then we ran down to the firehouse. There’s a man pinned down to the ground with handcuffs on. And we thought that was the victim [sic]. We really didn’t get a good glance at him because there was a car blocking it. Plus we were running really quick.” “Raw: Student Describes Scene at School Shooting,” Associated Press, December 14, 2012.
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Newtown residents who knew the Lanzas and relatives speak to Hartford Courant reporters. Andrew Lapple was in homeroom with Lanza, describing the boy as a skinny, somewhat timid kid “who never really talked at all.” “Lapple said he played Little League baseball with Lanza,” the Courant reports, “and remembers he wasn’t very good. Instead, Lanza was more of a ‘tech-geek,’ he said. ‘He was always carrying around his laptop holding onto it real tight,” 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.’” Another classmate recalled Lanza as being especially reserved. Kateleen Soy said she was in Lanza’s seventh-grade class at St. Rose of Lima School in Newtown. She recalled Lanza entered the class after the school year was underway and departed before the spring term ended. “He was really shy, really painfully shy,” Soy said.”He was a little hard to talk to.” Soy then recalled seeing him in the hallway when they were both students at Newtown High School. “I wanted people to know he wasn’t always a monster,” Soy said. “He became one, but he wasn’t always that way.” Former bus driver Marsha Moskowitz recalled the Lanza brothers. “You know the trouble kids, and you figure, ‘Pfft, that one’s going to be trouble.’ But I never would have thought that about them,” she said. Moskowitz encountered Nancy Lanza a few weeks prior and “exchanged pleasantries,” the report says. Adam Lanza’s grandmother, Dorothy Hanson, 78, told The Associated Press she was too distraught to speak when reached by phone at her home in Brooksville, Fla. “I just don’t know, and I can’t make a comment right now,” Hanson said in a shaky voice as she started to cry. She declined to comment further and hung up. Matthew Kauffman, “Gunman Kills 26 at Sandy Hook School in Newtown,” Hartford Courant, December 14, 2012.