The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting is one of the most disturbing school shootings in all history. The majority of the victims were only 6 and 7 years old. Adam Lanza the shooter used his mother's Bushmaster XM15-E2s rifle and shot his way through a glass panel next to the locked front entrance doors of the school. Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach were meeting with other faculty members when they heard gunshots. Hochsprung, Sherlach, and teacher Natalie Hammond went into the hall to deterimine the source of the sounds and encountered Lanza. A faculty member who was at the meeting heard the three women call out "Shooter!, Stay Put!" which alerted their colleagues to the danger and saved their lives. Lanza killed both Hochsprung and Sherlach. Hammond was hit first in the leg and then sustained another gunshot wound. She lay still in the hallway and then not hearing any more noise crawled back into the conference room. Lanza entered a first grade classroom where Lauren Rousseau had herded her first grade students to the back of the room and was trying to hide them in a bathroom when Lanza forced his way into the classroom. Laruen Rousseau, Rachel D'Avino ( a behavioral therapist who had only been employed for about a week), and 15 students were all killed. Fourteen of the children died on the scene and one was taken to the hospital but later died. Lanza then went into the first grade classroom of Victoria Leigh Soto. She had concealed some of her students in a closet or bathroom and some were hiding underneath desks. Soto was walking to the classroom door to lock it when Lanza entered the room. He walked to the back of the classroom where he saw students hiding underneath their desk and shot them. First grader Jesse Lewis shouted at his classmates to run for safety. Lewis was looking right at Lanza when Lanza fatally shot him. In all there were several causalities. School personnel that were killed: Rachel D"Avino 29, teachers aide, Dawn Hochsprung 47, Prinicipal, Anne Marie Murphy 52, teachers aide, Lauren Rousseau 30, teacher, Mary Sherlack 56, school Psychologist, and Victoria Leigh Soto 27, teacher. Students killed: Charlotte Bacon (6), Daniel Barden (7), Olivia Engel (6), Josephine Gay (7), Dylan Hockley (6), Madeleine Hsu (6), Catherine Hubbard (6), Chase Kowalski (7), Jesse Lewis (6), Ana Marquez-Greene (6), James Mattioli (6), Grace McDonnell (7), Emilie Parker (6), Jack Pinto (6), Noah Pozner (6), Caroline Previdi (6), Jessica Rekos (6), Avielle Richman (6), Benjamin Wheeler (6) and Alison Wyatt (6). Before Lanza went to Sandy Hook Elementary School he also murdered his own mother. Nancy Lanza was shot and killed at their Newtown home with a .22 caliber Savage MK II-F bolt action rifle. Investigators later found her body clad in pajamas in her bed, with 4 gunshot wounds to the head.
Police heard the final shot at 9:40 am. The believe it was Adam Lanza shooting himself in the lower rear portion of his head. Lanza's body was found wearing a pale green pocket vest over a black polo shirt, over a black T-shirt, black sneakers, black fingerless gloves, black socks, and a black canvas belt. Authorities believe that Lanza reloaded frequently during the shootings, sometimes firing only fifteen rounds from a thirty round magazine. He shot all but two of his victims multiple times. Most of the shootings took place in two first grade classrooms near the entrance of the school. Bullets were also found in at least three cars parked outside the school, leading police to believe that he was firing at a teacher who was standing near her window. The school was closed indefinitely following the shootings, partially because it remained a crime scene. Students returned to class on January 3rd, 2013 at Chalk Hill Middle School in nearby Monroe. Chalk Hill was an unused facilitiy, refurbished after the shootings. The Chalk Hill School was temporarily named Sandy Hook Elementary. On May 10th, a task force of 28 appointed members voted to demolish the exsisting Sandy Hook Elementary school and have a new school built in its place. There has since been many lawsuits against the manufacturers of the Bushmaster AR-15 Rifle used in the school attack. Also in January of 2015 Newtown Legislative Council voted to demolish the home where Nancy and Adam Lanza lived, to keep the land as open space. Also in January, the families of two of the murdered first graders filed a lawsuit against the city of Newtown and Newtown Board of Education alleging inadequate security at the school. In February 2015, the family of victim Victoria Soto applied for a trademark protection for her name. In March it was announced that parents of the children and teachers killed in the shooting had filed lawsuits against the estate of Nancy Lanza. The suits are based on a claim hat she did not properly secure her firearms, which allowed her son, and person with mental issues , to gain access to them. In July, 2016 the new Sandy Hook Elementary School was unveiled and parents were shown around the building. The new school is on the site of the building where the shootings took place.