Shooting At Elementary School In Newtown, Connecticut NEWTOWN, CT - DECEMBER 14: A woman holds a child as people line up to enter the Newtown Methodist Church near the the scene of an elementary school shooting on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. According to reports, there are about 27 dead, 18 children, after a gunman opened fire in at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The shooter was also killed. Douglas Healey/Getty Images/AFP
== FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY == (Douglas Healey)
President Obama Addresses The Nation On The Connecticut School Shooting WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 14: A flag at the U.S. Capitol flies at half staff after President Barack Obama ordered the action while speaking on the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School December 14, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama called for 'meaningful action' in the wake of the latest school shooting that left 27 dead, including 20 children. Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP
== FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY == (MARK WILSON)
158372562 Police stand before grieving residents following a shooting December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. At least 26 people, including 20 young children, were killed when a gunman assaulted the school and another body was found dead at a second linked crime scene, police said. Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance told reporters that the attacker killed 20 children and six adults, including someone that he lived with, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The gunman also died at the scene, and a 28th body was found elsewhere.
AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERT (DON EMMERT)
James E. Holmes James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court, Monday, July 23, 2012, in Centennial, Colo. Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from a mass shooting last Friday in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured dozens of others. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool) (RJ Sangosti)
This image obtained 18 April 2007 from the NBC News shows a photo of Cho Seung-hui, the alleged shooter in the 16 April massacre at Virginia Tech University. The image was part of a package mailed to the NBC television headquarters in New York by Cho. NBC reported that the postmark on the package indicates that Cho mailed the package in the two hours between the first shootings at a university dormitory and the massacre at Norris Hall. Thirty-two people were killed in the shooting. AFP PHOTO/NBC NEWS/NO INTERNET/NO ARCHIVES (-)
Police surround a sheet covered body, lower left, on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk as they investigate a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012, in New York. At least four people were shot on Friday morning and the gunman was dead, New York City officials said. A witness said the gunman was firing indiscriminately. Police said as many as 10 people were injured, but it is unclear how many were hit by bullets. A law enforcement official said the shooting was related to a workplace dispute. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano) (Louis Lanzano)
Shooting At Elementary School In Newtown, Connecticut NEWTOWN, CT - DECEMBER 14: Responders gather at the scene of a mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. There are 27 dead, 20 of them children, after Adam Lanza reportedly opened fire in one of the largest school massacres in U.S. history. Lanza is dead at the scene and his mother, a teacher at the school, is also dead. Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP
== FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY == (MARIO TAMA)
VA Tech Shooting Police officials examine the body of a police officer shot to death in a parking lot on the campus of Virginia Tech, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, in Blacksburg, Va. The school said a police officer pulled someone over for a traffic stop and was shot and killed. The shooter ran toward a nearby parking lot, where a second person was found dead. It was the first gunfire on campus since 33 people were killed in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The deaths came on the same day university officials were in Washington appealing a fine that federal officials gave them over the school's response five years ago. (AP Photo/Don Petersen) (Don Petersen)
Oakland Police work after a school shooting at Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., Monday, April 2, 2012. A gunman opened fire at the university, killing at least five people, law enforcement sources close to the investigation said. Police say they have a suspect in custody. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) (Noah Berger)
Newtown y Washington. AP, EFE. Un hombre armado abrió fuego ayer en una escuela primaria de Connecticut donde su madre trabajaba como profesora y mató a 26 personas, entre ellas 20 niños, al disparar a su paso por dos aulas mientras los estudiantes se encogían impotentes en el edificio.
El agresor, quien portaba dos pistolas, se suicidó y un cuerpo fue hallado en otro sitio, lo que aumentó a 28 el número de muertos, informaron las autoridades.
El ataque, que ocurrió a menos de dos semanas de Navidad, es el segundo más mortífero en una institución educativa, superado solo por la masacre del Virginia Tech que dejó 33 muertos en el 2007.
La tragedia volvió a traer al tapete el debate sobre la tenencia de armas, máxime que en Connecticut no se requiere permiso para portarlas. .
Horas después de la masacre, el presidente Barack Obama se manifestó consternado y demandó la adopción de “medidas serias”, aunque no precisó cuáles, para evitar ese tipo de matanzas.
“Como país, hemos pasado por esta situación demasiadas veces”, expresó el mandatario. “Vamos a tener que reunirnos y adoptar medidas serias que impidan más tragedias como esta...”
Un solo verdugo. El pistolero, quien fue identificado como Adam Lanza –de acuerdo con medios locales que citaron fuentes oficiales–, portaba un chaleco antibalas.
Las víctimas eran 20 niños de entre 5 y 9 años, seis adultos y el agresor , de 20 años. Previamente, medios estadounidense identificaron erróneamente al victimario como Roy Lanza, hermano de aquel.
Además, las autoridades encontraron muerta en una vivienda de Newtown a otra persona, cuya identidad no se ha confirmado. Un policía dijo que podría ser Nancy Lanza, la madre del tirador.
A sangre fría. Únicamente se registró una persona herida, por lo que se cree que el atacante, quien realizó al menos un centenar de disparos, actuó a sangre fría, con el objetivo de asesinar al mayor número posible de víctimas.
El tiroteo fue breve, pues duró apenas unos minutos, y ocurrió en un pasillo y dos aulas de la escuela, generando pánico en el centro educativo, donde estudian alrededor de 600 personas.
“Oímos muchos golpes y gritos”, recordó una niña poco antes de que sus padres se la llevaran a casa. “Un maestro me agarró y me metió en su clase”, relató de forma confusa otro pequeño, quien indicó que se oían muchos golpes.
Brendan Murray, también de nueve años, relató que estaba con sus compañeros en el gimnasio de la escuela cuando escucharon “un montón de golpes” y los profesores les ordenaron que se escondieran en un armario, donde permanecieron ocultos durante 15 minutos.
La Policía envió rápidamente un importante dispositivo a la escuela, pero el tiroteo había sido muy breve y ya no pudo hacer nada, excepto comprobar que no había más atacantes mientras trataban de sacar de forma segura a los demás alumnos.
“La Policía nos dijo que nos abrazáramos, nos cogiéramos de la mano y cerráramos los ojos. Solo los abrimos al salir del colegio”, declaró Vanessa Bajraliu, una niña de nueve años, al diario local Hartford Courant .