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Newtown Report Released

State of Connecticut
Credit State of Connecticut
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State of Connecticut
36 Yogananda Street in Newtown, where Adam and Nancy Lanza lived.
Credit State of Connecticut
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State of Connecticut
Instructions for using a Glock found in the Lanza home, provided in the state's attorneys report on the Newtown shooting.

Connecticut officialsreleased a final report summary examining the shooting last year at Sandy Hook Elementary School, leaving 20 school children and six educators dead. The report said that the gunman, Adam Lanza, had an obsession with mass murders, but that investigators did not discover any evidence he had indicated an intent to carry out such a crime.

An appendix to the report is also now available, which includes supporting documentation from the larger file on the shooting.

The summary of the investigation, by Connecticut State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky, said that Lanza was obsessed with the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. The report said that Lanza's motive may never be answered conclusively. Lanza killed his mother inside their Newtown home before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School and carrying out his rampage. He committed suicide as police arrived.

"[T]he shooter had significant mental health issues," the report said, "that, while not affecting the criminality of the shooter's mental state for the crimes or his criminal responsibility for them, did affect his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close. Whether this contributed in any way is unknown. The shooter did not recognize or help himself deal with those issues. He had a familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the Columbine shootings. There is no clear indication why Sandy Hook Elementary School was selected, other than perhaps its close proximity to the shooter's home."

The report also indicated that nearly six minutes passed between the arrival of the first Newtown police officer, and the time local officers entered the school. A timeline showed the first officer arrived behind the school at 9:39 am after the shooting was reported. Two other Newtown officers then arrived at the school, and gunshots were heard in the background. The last gunshot officers heard, believed to be the suicide shot by Lanza, was heard at three seconds past 9:40 am. According to the report, Newtown officers entered the school at 9:44 am.

Prosecutors were under pressure from the state's governor to release the report before the one-year anniversary next month. The report was initially expected over the summer, and the projected release date was pushed back several times. That caused some public tension between Governor Dannel Malloy and State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky. 

WNPR's Jeff Cohen read the report, and talked about what authorities do know about Lanza:

Governor Malloy had a few words to say on Monday on the release of the summary report:

This report contains information from The Associated Press.

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