Welcome to from the Fox 61 archives.
I'm Brent harden. This month,
we marked 10 years since the
tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary
School when 20 students and six
school teachers and administrators.
Were killed. The pain and loss
have echoed in the decades since.
It will continue to do
so for decades to come.
Here's a look back at our reporting
in the days after the shooting.
On 84 W, it was immediately clear
something very serious was going on.
The ambulance is blowing by and
every available police unit.
Called to Newtown as we
rolled up desperation.
Parents frantic for their children
as police snipers geared up and
marched to Sandy Hook School.
The mom told me that there was
over 100 shots inside the school.
100 shots, over 100 shots.
State police say a lone gunman
burst into the school and
opened fire on the children,
teachers and staff.
The kids were terrified, terrified.
They were terrified.
They had just witnessed something.
Kids say they took cover as their
teachers locked them all in their
classrooms until police arrived.
It might have been on the loudspeaker.
I heard a little bit of gunshots.
The cops told us to close our eyes
and hold on to guys's shoulders.
They told us to hold hands and run. First
responders led the kids to the
Firehouse down the street.
Tear filled reunions and
relief for the lucky ones.
Call my husband home. He's here.
Yeah, so yeah, so did I.
Yeah, just all of his moms networking,
trying to figure out what's going on.
Haven't shook this much and I
don't think my whole life was.
It's most traumatizing thing I've
ever been through and it was
the happiest moment of my life.
When I saw she was OK and her little friends,
all her little friends were OK in her class.
Sadly, not all the kids were OK,
20 and all died, 18 at the
school and two at the hospital.
Six teachers and staff also didn't make
it. The information that we have right
now that we want to publicize that
the shootings did take place in one
section of the school and two rooms.
OK, one section and two rooms.
Police say troopers and officers
didn't fire any shots. They also
found the gunman dead in the school.
Evil. Visited this community today. And.
It's too early to speak of recovery.
But each parent. Each sibling.
Each member of the. The family has
to understand that, Connecticut.
We're all in this together.
This holiday season in the
state is far from joyous.
This act has been a heinous act
to 20 youngsters 6 and seven
years of age 6 adults. Terrible.
As we all mourn the Newtown tragedy,
families face a balancing act
between both overwhelming
sadness and holiday cheer.
How do you handle it?
We asked the expertise of religious leaders.
Major Steve Lopes is from the
Salvation Army and he was at
the Newtown Vigil on Sunday.
And we do so with tender hearts.
Hearts that are well aware of the
multiplicity of families and the.
The challenges that they are facing,
having lost a loved one for just
a few years while at the same time
finding some joy in the depths
of our soul for the reason why
we celebrate this time of year.
Today at the Cathedral of
Saint Joseph in Hartford,
the congregation celebrated
Archbishop Henry Mansell's
50th year with the church.
But the Newtown tragedy was heavy
in the hearts of all in attendance.
Mansells message.
It's a very great challenge to people.
At the same time,
they've seen good times.
We do know in our faith that
Easter Sunday follows Good Friday.
Christmas brings us great joy.
We see great goodness that comes.
You see the goodness here of the people.
That's the sign of God in
the mystery of it all.
And there is, they say, a way
to be both mournful and merry.
It's challenging, to say the least.
But in our faith we believe that
God will see us through this time,
and in the end,
we will be stronger as a community.
The goodness is here.
It fights against evil,
and that's the great hope.
Newtown hasn't yet recovered.
Now we're close.
Horrifying scenes still fresh from last
Friday and an ever growing memorial,
a painful reminder of the 26 lives lost.
Some say it's just too soon
to try to get back to normal.
Don't feel that anyone should
really have to go and deal with
more than they have to right now.
I feel like it's almost
too soon after all.
It was hard enough for the
rest of the state yesterday,
as parents reluctantly let their
children go back to school.
There's a lot
of crazy people out there.
It was sad. You're thinking
the whole time. You know about the
parents who dropped off their kids
on Friday morning and who never
got a chance to see them again.
Even with added police,
there were tense moments.
Schools were locked down for
hours in Ridgefield after
reports of a suspicious person.
Meanwhile, school officials
were preparing for the return
of students in Newtown.
Crews moved furnitures to Chalk Hill School,
or students from Sandy Hook
will eventually return.
At Newtown High School,
teachers and staff met with bereavement
specialists and counselors for advice.
And today,
local and state police will be some
of the first people anyone lays eyes on.
They're going to be there to
hopefully console and instill a
feeling of confidence in the people,
both parents and children, coming in.
Their songs brought on by sadness.
But they're sung. By a community lighting
the way for a brighter future after the
darkness of a week that's now passed,
there's a ton of people. Although
for Wethersfield, I'm not surprised.
Hundreds dotted the Wethersfield Cove,
each with a single flame burning in
memory of those from Sandy Hook.
Those who will never be forgotten.
With the Christmas holiday coming,
I was a little feeling guilty
about celebrating the holiday,
and now I feel a little bit better.
It really does help to
begin the healing process.
Mayor Donna Hemmen likens the
Newtown vigil to a ceremony held
after 911 when Wethersfield lost
three members of its community.
Tonight, they came together once again
in prayer and in mourning.
There are no words for
people to come in this cold,
even the kids like they were.
I don't know if you guys caught it,
but they were shaking
and still willing to do.
That says a lot,
and much was said from leaders
both political and spiritual,
and Wethersfield High School
principal Thomas Moore,
who discussed his connection to
the father of Charlotte Bacon,
just one of the 20 children
lost last week and one of the
many connections to Newtown.
In this community, as in others,
it's important for us to
show Newtown that we care.
We understand what a tight knit
community they are, much like ours.
A Newtown community that is
grieving but is not alone,
you know? Just. It just helped.
It really helped the soul to
be out here with everybody
and seeing everything and and.
I think that what happened.
At Sandy Hook Elementary School has
clearly shocked. The entire nation,
from the nation's capital to
Connecticut State capital,
the conversations are beginning
to ratchet up what needs to
change relative to school
security and gun control.
Post the Sandy Hook shooting,
what's the next step?
These guns aren't used to hunt deer.
That was the governor on Monday talking
specifically about assault rifles.
Connecticut already has some of
the toughest gun laws around,
but keep in mind that rifle that
Adam Lanza used was purchased
and owned legally by his mother.
But the governor didn't just
sound off on weapons.
At his press conference Monday,
we also saw him wiping away
tears recalling the moment he
had to be the ultimate bearer of
bad news in Newtown on Friday.
It was evident to me.
That there was a reluctance.
To tell parents and loved ones.
That the person that they were
waiting for was not gonna return.
And that that had gone
on for a period of time.
Well, after there was
any expectancy that that.
Families would be reunited.
I made the decision that to
have that go on any longer.
I was wrong, so I did it.
We don't yet know the underlying
cause behind this tragedy,
and we probably never will,
not in any way that will
make sense of what happened on that day,
but that cannot be an excuse
for inaction, the governor said.
He's appointed Hamden mayor Scott Jackson
to chair the Commission. This is.
A massive project.
With short timelines,
we have it's issues of of the
school facilities themselves,
the security of our our buildings on
both the capital expenditure side as
well as the human resources side.
We have mental health issues.
We have social isolation.
The governor acknowledged that gun
violence is a broader problem,
but the Commission will
focus on protecting schools.
So I asked him whether he thinks
every school should have guards,
even armed guards. I hope not.
But there's a reason we have
the Commission and that's the
look at look at these issues.
And ultimately
that that will be
a local decision.