Connecticut school shooting: 18 children among 27 dead

[Tribal Warfare]

'Close to 20' dead in Connecticut school shooting, source says
Newtown, Connecticut (CNN) -- Nearly 20 people died Friday in an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

At least 10 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were children, the source said. At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance would say only that there had been "several fatalities."

The school was secure, and the public was not in danger, Vance said.

"Why? Why?" one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded roadway leading from the school.

A parent who was inside the school at the time of the attack said she heard what sounded like at least 100 rounds being fired. She said she saw two school employees who had died.

'I hope my mom is ok': Tweets from the Connecticut school shooting

Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in "very serious" condition.

The shooter is dead, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN's Susan Candiotti. The suspect's body is in a classroom at the school, the source said.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said a male was being questioned but he is not being called a suspect.

Federal officers in tactical gear were on the scene, coordinating with local and state police. At least four ambulances remained at the school Friday afternoon.

Police have recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It's unclear if police killed the suspect.

'It doesn't seem possible' -- parents shocked by school shooting

Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information about their children.

Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.

"Everybody was crying," she said. "And I just heard the police officers yelling."

Aerial images from CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into woods near the school.

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, Vance said.

Gov. Dan Malloy is "horrified" by what happened, a spokesman said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration feels "enormous sympathy" for affected families and pledged federal support for state and local law enforcement.

Newtown is about 60 miles north of New York.

Originally Posted by DaFace

This thread is not a place for discussion about gun control. There's a thread for that here:

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=261606

People who can't understand that will be banned from this thread.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

I got this off of Reaper's Facebook page but it's a great article by someone who's going through the hell of trying to raise a mentally ill child. If you care, read it. Think about it.

Yeah, geeze. I encounter it quite often as well. Parents who don't know what the hell to do either, and it's not because they didn't discipline the kid or raised him in a ****ed up manner... unfortunately some humans are just broken, and there may be no way to fix them. Also unfortunately, we don't really have a humane, ethical, and socially acceptable way to protect the sufferer of the illness, the family, or society from these people if things go horribly wrong.

I deal with kids every day that I worry could snap like this. I don't think any of them are GOING to, but they could. Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some have asperger's or autism, some seem depressed and some just seem like sociopaths.

[notorious]

Oh, man. That's horrilbe.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yeah, geeze. I encounter it quite often as well. Parents who don't know what the hell to do either, and it's not because they didn't discipline the kid or raised him in a ****ed up manner... unfortunately some humans are just broken, and there may be no way to fix them. Also unfortunately, we don't really have a humane, ethical, and socially acceptable way to protect the sufferer of the illness, the family, or society from these people if things go horribly wrong.

I deal with kids every day that I worry could snap like this. I don't think any of them are GOING to, but they could. Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some have asperger's or autism, some seem depressed and some just seem like sociopaths.

Ya'll already don't get paid enough. How do these events affect people's decisions to get into teaching? How much does that affect the quality of the talent pool? I don't know what the solution is, but we better figure it out.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

but we better figure it out.

ya, good luck with that...current culture laughs.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by stevieray

ya, good luck with that...current culture laughs.

Pretty much. It takes 20 dead 6 year olds to get people to talk about this for a week. It'll be forgotten as soon as the next big story hits.

[scott free]

I dont know how many here watched it, but if you were tuned into SNL last night, the childrens choir singing Holy Night to open up was sooo beautiful and fitting.

I had to wipe away many tears, blow my nose and adjust my attitude a lot just to get ready to laugh.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yeah, geeze. I encounter it quite often as well. Parents who don't know what the hell to do either, and it's not because they didn't discipline the kid or raised him in a ****ed up manner... unfortunately some humans are just broken, and there may be no way to fix them. Also unfortunately, we don't really have a humane, ethical, and socially acceptable way to protect the sufferer of the illness, the family, or society from these people if things go horribly wrong.

I deal with kids every day that I worry could snap like this. I don't think any of them are GOING to, but they could. Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some have asperger's or autism, some seem depressed and some just seem like sociopaths.

Agreed. I have felt in danger a few times over my career and hope that I never have to go through that. I do think that sometimes kids get screwed up by their parents or something that happened. That town and those kids will never be able to forget it. I hope at the least someone helps them cope. That person single handedly changed the lives of 700 kids and an entire town.

[Inmem58]

Pretty awesome stuff by Victor Cruz. Jack Pinto was a big fan of Cruz and put this on his cleats. Victor also called his parents and sent them his condolences.

[Cassel>Manning]

My Aunt is a school bus driver up in Connecticut and 10 of the kids who took her bus every morning were killed.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

I got this off of Reaper's Facebook page but it's a great article by someone who's going through the hell of trying to raise a mentally ill child. If you care, read it. Think about it.

I have a schizophrenic cousin and his parents have been dealing with this for years. He is fine when he is medicated but he occassionaly goes through periods where he refuses to take them. There are no facilities that will take him. If he doesn't commit a crime then the cycle continues.

[Dayze]

shot his way making an entrance.."that's what an assault rifle will do for you"

**** you Gov. ignorant ****.I could make myself an entrance with a sledge hammer.
please stop calling these assault rifles. they're not.

[OnTheWarpath58]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I deal with kids every day that I worry could snap like this. I don't think any of them are GOING to, but they could. Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some have asperger's or autism, some seem depressed and some just seem like sociopaths.

Same here.

The advantage of where I work is that I'm 100% aware of any mental issues and the treatment, as opposed to a public school setting in which I'd have to kinda guess - especially for things like Depression and BiPolar disorder

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yeah, geeze. I encounter it quite often as well. Parents who don't know what the hell to do either, and it's not because they didn't discipline the kid or raised him in a ****ed up manner... unfortunately some humans are just broken, and there may be no way to fix them. Also unfortunately, we don't really have a humane, ethical, and socially acceptable way to protect the sufferer of the illness, the family, or society from these people if things go horribly wrong.

I deal with kids every day that I worry could snap like this. I don't think any of them are GOING to, but they could. Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some have asperger's or autism, some seem depressed and some just seem like sociopaths.

The problem here is that we tend to lump everything together these days without analyzing or diagnosing correctly.

As a parent of a child with Asperger's every time I see an incident like this I prepare for the eventual lack of knowledge on the part of the media to separate the actions of a lunatic with the behavior of kids on the Autism Spectrum Disorder scale. It's the automtic assumption (just like has happened) that the kid is anti-social so he must have ASD and thus we must fear all kids who are like that.

[Al Bundy]

Looks like Anonymous is declaring war on the WBC because WBC is going to picket the funerals of these children.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

The problem here is that we tend to lump everything together these days without analyzing or diagnosing correctly.

As a parent of a child with Asperger's every time I see an incident like this I prepare for the eventual lack of knowledge on the part of the media to separate the actions of a lunatic with the behavior of kids on the Autism Spectrum Disorder scale. It's the automtic assumption (just like has happened) that the kid is anti-social so he must have ASD and thus we must fear all kids who are like that.

Yes. There is no nuance in our ability to discuss mental issues in this country.

I will now quote from someone on Twitter (ignore, or delight, in that this person I'm quoting is named DongLord69):

RT @donglord69: My mental health care experience, age 12: "I'm sad because my mom died." "BIPOLAR!" "No. Dead mom." "OCD!" "Can I talk?" "JUST TRY PILLS!"

RT @donglord69: It took me about a year to find treatment for depression and anxiety. In NYC. I am a white lady with health insurance. **** everything.