New details emerge on Newtown gunman

A man kneels at a picket fence with the names of shooting victims during a moment of silence in Sandy Hook village and December 21, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

NEWTOWN, Conn. He was the awkward, peculiar kid who wore the same clothes to school every day.

He rarely spoke and even gave a school presentation entirely by computer, never uttering a word.

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He liked tinkering with computers and other gadgets, and seemed to enjoy playing a violent video game, choosing a military-style assault rifle as one of his weapons.

New details about Adam Lanza emerged Friday, as the nation paused to mark one week since he slaughtered 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Multiple funerals and visitations were held Friday, and at the hour of the attack, 9:30 a.m., a bell tolled 26 times, once for each victim killed at the school.

Lanza also fatally shot his mother before blasting his way into Sandy Hook, and killed himself after the school massacre.

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In high school, Lanza would slither through the hallways, awkwardly pressing himself against the wall while wearing the same green shirt and khaki pants every day. He hardly ever talked to his classmates.

"As long as I knew him, he never really spoke," said Daniel Frost, who took a computer class with Lanza and remembered his skill with electronics. Lanza could take apart and reassemble a computer in a matter of minutes

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Lanza seemed to spend most of his time in the basement of the home he shared with his mother, who kept a collection of guns there, said Russell Ford, a friend of Nancy Lanza's who had done chimney and pipe work on the house.

Nancy Lanza was often seen around town and regularly met friends at a local restaurant. But her 20-year-old son was seldom spotted around town, Ford and other townspeople said.

The basement of the Lanza home had a computer, flat-screen TV, couches and an elaborate setup for video games. Nancy Lanza kept her guns in what appeared to be a secure case in another part of the basement, said Ford, who often met her and other friends at a regular Tuesday gathering at My Place, a local restaurant.

During the past year and a half, Ford said, Nancy Lanza had told him that she planned to move out West and enroll Adam in a "school or a center." The plan started unfolding after Adam turned 18.

"She knew she needed to be near him," Ford said. "She was trying to do what was positive for him."

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[PYLLauracollins]

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[PYLLauracollins]

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[jimmydon7]

It's scary to think that someone so young can commit such a heinous act, I wonder if he were on some kind of medication that had side effects, did he get involved with some sort of alternative lifestyle. Did he have a girlfriend? Did he get involved with any Neo Nazi or satanic movements? if guns and video games make people act this way then we would have much more of this. We are looking in the wrong place.

[LarryCarterCenter]

Aspergers Syndrome is a form of autism. Both patients have defective personalities obsessing with THE SELF and inadequate in relationships with others.... The gun nut mom allowed her child to play with violent games & trained him to use her guns at a local rifle range. An ASPY focused on art or mathematics or music or caring professions like chef or nurse or science could be a great member of society.... the Lanza Family should be sued & held liable for this negligent & predictably deadly access to guns no different than letting a drunk driver drive or a drug addict deal drugs on the street... Peter Lanza is a mega millionaire polluter not giving due diligence to his son 843-926-1750 @Greens926_1750 [e-mail]

[UForgotPoland]

I like how this article points the blame at video games instead of his mom's bad parenting and his mental illness.

[quantum_analysis]

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), perhaps the most notable pro-gun lawmaker to call for new laws on firearms in the wake of last week's mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., expanded on his thoughts with an op/ed in the Washington Post on Friday. In the piece, Manchin rejected an "all-or-nothing approach" to reducing gun violence.

"..if you think the problem of mass violence in our country is about just guns, you're wrong. If you think it's about just an entertainment industry that markets violence to kids, you're wrong. If you it's about just insufficient security at our schools, you're wrong. If you think it's about just the lack of mental health services for troubled young people and adults, you're wrong. We need to address all of them. I, for one, simply cannot support any proposal that doesn't address all aspects of this problem." -- Sen. Joe Manchin

[Jonseen]

It's amazing to me, how many people claim that video games don't cause violence.

The Bible says we're supposed to think on things that are good and positive. I don't agree entirely with the 7th Day Adventists who say that we shouldn't even be watching any FICTION but only what's actually true... and yet, I can see their point. Because ever since people started writing fiction stories in the 1700's, it seems that our fiction has escalated into more and more violence, more and more perversion. It's called voyeurism, and that that is definitely forbidden in the Bible: if you even think about having sex with others, it's the same as doing it in God's eyes.

If we have anything of a healthy Fear of God in us, then these Biblical "suggestions" should be very important to us. There are reasons for them. Don't be deceived into thinking that all this crap is "OK" because according to the Bible, it is definitely NOT ok. God tells us this stuff to HELP us, not because He wants to ruin our fun. There are lots of other fun things we can do that are not harmful.

All those who defend violent games and movies should turn off their electronics, step outside and learn to do something worthwhile, in my opinion.

[reality_one]

I believe in Jesus Christ, I try to live by the New Testiment guidelines, but for those that don't, I am not getting into a religion battle here. All I'm saying is if everyone lived by those guidelines we wouldn't be having this discussion. Christians should be law abiding citizens, and for those that don't believe, IF I AM WRONG YOU DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, BUT IF I AM RIGHT YOU HAVE ALOT OF MISERY AWAITING.

[Charmie39]

Although guns may be a problem in many ways, it seems that there is even more to be said about the influence of violence in our society as a means of "entertainment". We used to play "cops and robbers" and "cowboys and Indians" as children and I don't recall any major response to this as I do, what someone called, the "hypnotic" behavior associated with video games. I don't care if the video game people spend a billion dollars a day funding their so called, research, to say that video games have zero affect on kids. Working with kids every day, you can see the influence of these video games on their behavior. When students pretend play, using kicks and fist blows on each other, imitating some of their kickboxing, hand-to-hand combat fighting they see on videos, many are not aware that they are hurting their friends. I see it every day. They hardly respond when their friends buckle over in tears and pain. I literally have to teach them to ask their friend if he or she is okay, and apologize for the behavior. They usually look to be catatonic. And, when they don't respond to their friend who is obviously in pain as they "play" and act out fighting scenes, on their own without being coaxed or coached it's quite frightening. So many children seem desensitized. Quite frightening...

[Think4times]

When students pretend play, using kicks and fist blows on each other, imitating some of their kickboxing, hand-to-hand combat fighting they see on videos, many are not aware that they are hurting their friends.
__________________________________

Thats not the video game's fault, not violent movie's fault either.

It's the parent's fault for not providing real guidance and teaching their children empathy, and the difference between fantasy and reality.

[Ad_Lucem]

YES ! The NRA is HORRIFIED by these school shootings. They are terrified that this will create a negative impact on their own image. They don't care about the murdered children ... their only concern is that their "name" has been dragged through the mud and filth throughout all of this.

Hence, the NRA response (of course) is for "more guns...and armed guards at schools. Yes ! More guns and more bloodshed ! That's the answer!". It is hard to believe that the NRA, which symbolizes such filth and evil, still exists in the 21st Century.

[MIO42]

The Gun issue in America is out of control
There's no fixing this mess
The thing is broken and the pieces are unrecognizable
The law of the Jungle is now a reality in everyone's backyard
No sense in panicking though , " it's too late"

[soniesue]

Everyone concerned about guns......try getting mental health care sometime. Can't be done.