The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday elicited horror around the world, soul—searching in the United States, fresh political debate about gun control and questions about the incomprehensible what drove the suspect to act.
Privately, Mr. Obama told Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy that Friday was the most difficult day of his presidency.
Authorities said on Sunday that the gunman in the shooting rampage was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, raising the chilling possibility that the bloodbath could have been far worse.
Adam Lanza shot himself in the head just as he heard police drawing near to the classroom where he was slaughtering helpless children, but he had more ammunition at the ready in the form of multiple, high-capacity clips each capable of holding 30 bullets.
The disclosure on Sunday sent shudders throughout this picturesque community in the northeastern U.S. as grieving families sought to comfort each other during church services devoted to impossible questions like that of a 6-year-old girl who asked her mother- “The little children, are they with the angels?”
With so much grieving left to do, many of Newtown's 27,000 people wondered whether life could ever return to normal. And as the workweek was set to begin, parents weighed whether to send their own children back to school.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said the shooter decided to kill himself when he heard police closing in about 10 minutes into the attack.
