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Newtown shooter acted alone, investigation concludes

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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The man who shot 20 elementary school students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School last year acted alone, a report by the Danbury State’s Attorney released Monday concluded, but the report was unable to identify any motive for why he took the actions that he did.

The investigation examined the physical evidence at the scene and spoke to shooter Adam Lanza’s friends, family, and others who knew him or had come into contact with him.

“It is the conclusion of this State’s Attorney that the shooter acted alone and was solely criminally responsible for his actions of that day,” the report reads. “Moreover, none of the evidence developed to date demonstrates probable cause to believe that any other person conspired with the shooter to commit these crimes or aided and abetted him in doing so.”

That being the case, the investigation is now considered closed, and no criminal charges will be filed, as the perpetrator killed himself after committing the massacre.

But the report could not provide closure on why Lanza did what he did.

“The obvious question that remains is: ‘Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people, including twenty children?’ Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively, despite the collection of extensive background information on the shooter through a multitude of interviews and other sources. The evidence clearly shows that the shooter planned his actions, including the taking of his own life, but there is no clear indication why he did so, or why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School,” the report says.

The report points to “significant mental health issues that affected [Lanza’s] ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close.”

“As an adult he did not recognize or help himself deal with those issues,” according to the report, which also says that it is unclear how those issues might have affected his actions last year.

Lanza also had an “obsession with mass murders, in particular the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado,” the report says. Items found in the search of Lanza’s house included an article from the New York Times on the 2008 shooting at Northern Illinois University; “Three photographs of what appear to be a dead human, covered in blood and wrapped in plastic;” “photocopied newspaper articles from 1891 pertaining to the shooting of school children;” “Commercial movies depicting mass shootings;” “The computer game titled “School Shooting” where the player controls a character who enters a school and shoots at students;” “Two videos showing suicide by gunshot;” “Five-second video (dramatization) depicting children being shot;” “A document written showing the prerequisites for a mass murder spreadsheet;” “A spreadsheet listing mass murders by name and information about the incident;” “Materials regarding the topic of pedophilia and advocating for rights for pedophiles (not child pornography);” “Large amount of materials relating to Columbine shootings and documents on mass
murders.”

But, in the investigation, no evidence was found of Lanza suggesting that he himself planned to commit a mass murder.

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Alexis Levinson