On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The shooting left 26 people dead and two injured at the school. The shooting was, at the time, the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, in which the gunman killed 32 people before committing suicide. 2024 marked 12 years since the Sandy Hook school massacre, and survivors traveled to Capitol Hill that Thursday to urge legislators to pass new gun safety laws.
The Sandy Hook Massacre
The shooting started when 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, Nancy, in their Newtown home. Lanza shot her four times with a 22-caliber rifle. Nancy had purchased the rifle along with an AR-15 and other firearms that Adam would use that day. Before leaving his home, Lanza destroyed his computer’s hard drive to ensure law enforcement wouldn’t find evidence. Adam gathered his weapons along with some ammunition and drove his murdered mom’s car to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Not long after 9:30 a.m., Lanza fired shots through a plate-glass window to get access to the school’s locked front entrance. Hearing the noise, Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach went to investigate and were killed by Lanza. Hochsprung was Sandy Hook’s principal, and Sherlach was the school psychologist. Lanza was armed with a semiautomatic rifle, two semiautomatic pistols, and rounds of ammunition.
Teachers immediately took action and safeguarded their students, hiding them in bathrooms, closets, and barricading doors. Lanza went to the classroom of teacher Lauren Rousseau, killed her, and 14 children. He then went to the classroom of first-grade teacher Victoria Soto, who hid her students in a closet. Soto tried to misdirect Lanza by telling him her class was on the other side of the building in the auditorium. Lanza killed Soto and six students who tried to flee from their hiding place. The United States has, unfortunately, seen other school mass killings in recent memory; some examples include Columbine and Parkland.
Anne Marie Murphy, a special education aide, and behavioral therapist Rachel D’Avino were also killed in the massacre. Lazna wounded two other staff members of Sandy Hook Elementary School. In less than five minutes of the attack, Lanza fired 154 shots at the school. The first emergency call was made at about 9:35 a.m., and law enforcement personnel responded quickly. The first officers who entered Sandy Hook Elementary School caught a glimpse of a person in dark clothing (Lanza). Six years later, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was the target of a mass shooting as 17-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people.
Aftermath of The Sandy Hook Shooting
After hearing numerous shots, the officers found Lanza dead near Soto’s classroom door. He died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Realizing the severity and nature of Lanza’s killing spree, dozens of officers had the school closed as a crime scene. The school was demolished back in 2014 and was replaced by a new building two years later. After a thorough investigation, investigators concluded that the AR-15 was Lanza’s primary weapon of choice.
Despite primarily using the AR-15, Lanza took his own life with a handgun. Medical examiners revealed that each victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The massacre sparked intense debates on Second Amendment rights, considering the nature of the crime. In addition, the age of the victims was a huge factor, as many of them were around six or seven years old. Supporters of gun control honed in on Lanza’s AR-15, as well as the 30-round ammunition magazines.
In 1994, some semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines were banned, but that law eventually lapsed 10 years later. Unsealed FBI documents highlighted that Lanza grew obsessed with mass murders and killing sprees. In response to the Sandy Hook shooting, legislators planned to introduce some form of gun control legislation. Then U.S. President Barack Obama pledged that he would use all the powers of his office to stop future mass shootings.
The National Rifle Association proposed armed guards at all American schools. Many public and private schools in America had already employed armed guard personnel or police officers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which banned more than 150 specific firearm models and magazines that contained more than 10 rounds of ammunition. However, the bill could not overcome the Senate as it was defeated 60-40. Other attempts at passing gun control legislation failed at the federal level. However, states like New York, Maryland, Colorado, and Connecticut signed bills into law mandating background checks.
Final Thoughts
Families affected by the shooting started the Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization committed to mental wellness and gun reform. The group’s “Say Something” program helped educate and form intervention strategies to prevent acts of violence before they happen. The organization pushed for expansive criminal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and support for violence and suicide prevention programs. The debates on gun control and the Second Amendment remain a hot debate in society today. Unfortunately, there are still safety concerns, considering the recent shooting at Florida State.
