In divorce, mom had authority over Conn. shooter

Nancy Lanza, mother of Adam Lanza, 20, who killed his mother before heading to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, where he shot shot 26 people dead before killing himself. / Rex Features via AP Images

Last Updated 11:12 a.m.

NEWTOWN, Conn. When the parents of Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza divorced in 2009, their legal documents offer no hints of an acrimonious split and make no mention of any lingering mental health or medical issues for the then-teenage boy.

Newly-public divorce paperwork shows that Nancy Lanza had the authority to make all decisions regarding her son's upbringing.

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The court papers were made public Monday.

The divorce was finalized in September 2009, when Adam Lanza was 17.

There is no evidence of bitterness in the court file, no exchange of accusations or drawn out custody disputes.

Nancy and Peter Lanza had joint legal custody of Adam but he lived with his mother. The parents agreed to consult and discuss major decisions affecting Adam's best interests. In instances where the parents couldn't agree, Nancy Lanza "shall make the final decision," Judge Stanley Novak wrote on Sept. 24, 2009.

Nancy Lanza, who was once a stockbroker for John Hancock in Boston, married Peter Lanza in Kingston, N.H., in June 1981. The divorce file said the marriage "has broken down irretrievably and there is no possibility of getting back together."

The divorce agreement gave Nancy Lanza $265,000 in alimony last year.

It makes no mention of any mental health issues regarding her son.

As part of the divorce, Nancy Lanza was ordered to attend a parenting education program. The provider, Family Centers Inc., certified that she completed the program on June 3 and June 10, 2009. The document says only that Lanza "satisfactorily completed the program."

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The documents also say Adam Lanza has lived his entire life at the Newtown home where he shot his mother to death, before going to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning and killing 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.

A Connecticut officials said Nancy Lanza was found in bed, in her pajamas, shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

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Adam Lanza is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle in the school attack, a civilian version of the military's M-16 and a model commonly seen at marksmanship competitions. Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in the United States under the 1994 assault weapons ban; that law expired in 2004, and Congress, in a nod to the political power of the gun-rights lobby, did not renew it.

Neighbors told CBS News that Nancy Lanza was a gun enthusiast and often took Adam Lanza target shooting with her; it was her guns Adam used against her and the women and children at Sandy Hook.

CBS News' Pat Milton reports a source briefed on the investigation said that Nancy Lanza was demanding of her children. Even though Adam was highly intelligent, she pressed him to high standards and even pressed her sons to measure up at the shooting range where she taught them to shoot, the source said.

Federal agents have concluded that Adam Lanza had visited an area shooting range, but they do not know whether he practiced shooting there. Agents determined Lanza's mother visited shooting ranges several times, but it's not clear whether she took her son or whether he fired a weapon there, said Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Adam's aunt, Marsha Lanza of Crystal Lake, Ill., said that Nancy Lanza kept guns for own safety, and had something of a survivalist mentality; she was worried about protecting her home if the economy went south.

Money was not an issue for the family. Marsha said her ex-husband left Nancy "well-off . . . She didn't have to work."

However, a friend of Nancy Lanza, local landscaper Dan Holmes, said she evidently still suffered from a bad divorce and could be pretty vocal about her ex-husband ... years afterwards."

Peter Lanza, a tax director who lives in Stamford, Conn., issued a statement relating his own family's anguish in the aftermath.

"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are," he said. "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why. ... Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

[mkt1111]

Petition to help stop this sort of thing from happening (not gun control):
http://wh.gov/nOfr

[grumpas]

It's clear we are a country of fruitcakes...and a large amount of them have commented here!!!

[Type_Z]

I'm angry with this father. I'm making the assumption life was tough so he took the low road of divorce, abandoning his wife and son. She tried and was left with an impossible situation. My anger is directed at the "hands off" father.

[skeezix06]

It does say elsewhere that his dad still had contact with him. I wouldn't have had guns in the house with an autistic child but that would be because of the impulse factor, not fear of violence. We may never know the "why".

[dman6015]

One should never ass-u-me.

[rwsmith29456]

What difference does this make? He's an adult isn't he???

[skeezix06]

Not necessarily.

[PaisleyRain]

Let's find Solutions instead of pointing to fingers and trying to strip one another of their rights.... Here are a couple solutions I came up with and have to offer :

1) I think schools should have panic buttons in the rooms like banks have at the bank teller counters. We go through all of this to protect money why not our children? So if someone in a school hears something like this or something horrible starts to happen. The Teacher can hit the panic/emergency button and the door to the classroom they are in closes and locks. This could also be made to close and lock the door to each classroom in a wing, hall or the entire school at the same time while sounding an alarm. It could also close/lock doors in the hallways-sections of the school. All this while calling/dispatching law enforcement immediately. This puts obstacles between the Psycho and their escape and anymore victims. Let's implement this ASAP. In addition, Bullet proof doors to all classrooms and all doors in the school. Bullet proof glass on at least the first floor rooms/areas.



2) I think we should consider utilizing the current assets we already have to save tax payers money and provide a deterrent for this type of activity.... Why don't we make Police station hubs on the same property with the schools? It's already government land. Instead of paying an ineffective rent a police to walk the halls (no offense but we need the real deal in this day and age) have that Police hub service/ provide an officer or two to the school as well. We need to strategically place our law enforcement like we would military these days. Use current assets we already have to save tax payers money and provide a deterrent for this type of activity. Comments, suggestions, improvement, different ideas?



3) The reason schools are targeted is because there aren't any deterrents. Children are the least likely to be able to fight back. You have one adult to every child. It's a cowardly thing but is fact. It's instinctual for animals to pick off the weakest in a pack when hunting... it's disgusting humans are doing this but it is the world we live in now.

There are way too many guns now days and even if you were to implement a law to eradicate guns, only the law abiding citizens would hand them over making them sitting ducks and future victims for the bad guys. I look forward to hearing real solutions instead of fear mongering to try and
strip the rights of others away.

Concerned Parent and Citizen

[kbbpll]

How about just keeping assault weapons with virtually unlimited ammunition out of the hands of lunatics?

[dman6015]

Can you define 'lunatic'? I'm guessing you mean the standard definition, so just to let you know, he wouldn't have qualified.

[kenodenis]

"I get the impression you've never owned a firearm or target practiced in any degree what so ever. And your stereotype of a target practicing gun owner is way off base. I bet you just upset every gun loving female coast to coast. There are females out there that are so good at drawing and firing a weapons they could shoot your balls off at 20 feet from the hip and probably want to right about now. We have world class female shooters that compete in the Olympics and win medals. Females shooters are one of the fastest growing shooting groups in the country."

You are scarey. No wonder you don't have a name.

[TerryJJJ]

Hmm ...is this typical in divorces?
"As part of the divorce, Nancy Lanza was ordered to attend a parenting education program. The provider, Family Centers Inc., certified that she completed the program on June 3 and June 10, 2009. The document says only that Lanza "satisfactorily completed the program."

[kenodenis]

A female definitely does NOT fit the public stereotype of a target practice-loving gun owner. Beyond that, why would any shootist want a semi automatic for target practice? Weren't the other guns she owned acceptable for that type of sport? Makes you wonder if members of shooting clubs should check their guns in and out at the club, rather than taking them home with them.

[tmittelstaed]

Oh yeah, I love target shooting with my semi automatic at the gun range. Put a target up, pull the trigger, blam blam blam blam in 15 seconds I've blown off $50 in rounds, and completely eliminated the target and backboard the target is on - and boy do I feel like I have a big dick doing that. Everyone is so impressed they all say "man your a crack shot you always hit the bulls eye, how do you do that?" I tell them heck, we don't need no steenking gunsights with a semi, just point and shoot, man!

It's great for hunting too - I just have to bring a lot of pickle buckets with me to put the pieces of the deer in when I get done blowing 'em away!

[jgnv]

Your suggestion that shooting clubs store the guns at their facilitdy for members to use sounds like an excellent suggestion and would eliminate family members or children having access to them. I still question whether anyone outside of the military should be allowed to purchase any assault type weapon as it's only purpose is to harm another individual, not for target practice. We also can no longer turn away from signs of mental illness and pretend that it doesn't exist, even in close knit communities such as Newtown.

[marie29100]

stop showing this woman's photo. I turn on google home page and there she is instead of the babies. What a complete moron she was. Teaching a mentally disabled child to shoot assault guns and not having them locked up in a safe. She would spend the rest of her life in prison for allowing him to get his hands on the guns...i am sure he was playing violent video games all day while she was out enjoying "parlor games and craft beer" ...she had a 1/4 million dollar divorce settlement and could not get this boy some help.

[kenodenis]

Totally Agree and thank you for summarizing it so well.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

This is very valuable information, especially the description of a mother bad-mouthing the father openly. I've seen first hand the effects of a foul-mouthed mother who uses children as weapons in divorce disputes. Divorce is disruptive enough to kids. No sense belittling the kid's self-worth by pounding into his/her brain that they're the product of deficient genes. This woman got exactly what she asked for. Unfortunately, it also got her son and a bunch of babies killed. Hope she's happy in hell with the knowledge that she got great revenge on her ex.