A Mother Shot – Children Saved

In the winter of 2012, at a school in Newton, Connecticut, a man by the name of Adam Lanza, killed 20 students and six adults. This shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was one of the deadliest of its time. Around 9:30 AM, Lanza broke into the school by shooting a glass window. After hearing the commotion, the school psychologist and principal went to investigate. Lanza, armed with multiple guns and a few rounds of ammunition, went through the school. He shot down two teachers and 15 kids in one first-grade classroom and two teachers and five kids in a different first-grade classroom. Once Lanza became aware that the police were onto him, he turned the gun on himself at around 9:40 AM. After investigation, they found he had shot his mother earlier that morning (Sandy Hook). In the pages below, an author has told this story in a different perspective, one that creates a better ending.

It was a regular week for Nancy Lanza. She was doing housework and some grocery shopping throughout the week. Nancy lived with her son, Adam Lanza because he had some mental challenges. One morning, Nancy was in her kitchen, making breakfast when she heard some keys jingling in her room. She went to investigate and saw her son unlocking her gun safe. She started to ask what he was doing when he turned around and started shooting at her. A couple of bullets hit her in the chest. Nancy fell to the ground and Adam sprinted out of the house yelling about how he would get back at his elementary school for mistreating him. Nancy dragged herself to the kitchen where her phone was and fumbled around trying to dial 911. The operator picked up and asked what her emergency was. Nancy, gasping for breath, said she was a worker at Sandy Hook Elementary School, smelled natural gas, and needed the fire and police departments to come out and investigate. She said they needed to hurry because someone was going to ignite the natural gas and set fire to the school. Nacy’s vision started getting blurry, and she could not inhale fully. The operator asked her more questions about this situation, but Nancy stopped responding. The last thought that was in Nancy’s mind was one of her son. She hoped her hint of a gas leak would save her son from police firing at him. As her world went dark, she said a silent prayer that her son would be kept safe, and that the police would be gentle in dealing with him.

The fire department received this message and was on its way, ready to extinguish any flames that were in or around the school building. Once the police department received this message, the police chief jumped into action. Both his son and daughter attended that school. The police chief had never moved faster in his life, suiting up his crew and loading them into cars to diffuse the situation. Both forces were on their way before 9:20. They raced through the streets determined to get to the school building before anything bad could happen.

At the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the principal had just finished her coffee and was about to go into a meeting with the school psychologist when she heard police sirens coming down the street. She went to the window in her office, and she saw the lights and sirens turn into the school parking lot. Confused, she went outside to ask why so many firefighters and police officers were there. Frantically, the police chief explained the phone call the dispatcher received. The principal explained she had heard nothing of such a threat. She started to get anxious along with the police chief and said to go ahead and survey the school building. While the firefighters were in the building looking at the gas lines, the police were searching inside, questioning teachers, and looking around the building, to see what they could find. One of the police officers saw a young man walking up to the school carrying a large dark object. The police officer approached him to ask why he was heading into the school. As the man grew closer, the police officer recognized that the man was holding some sort of rifle. He immediately sent an alert to the rest of the officers on site, letting them know of this man’s approach. Almost all the police at the school building swarmed to the front door. The man raised his voice threatening to shoot all the officers and pointed the gun at the police officers. Suddenly, the police chief came out of nowhere and tackled the man to the ground. He wrestled the firearms and ammunition away from him and put him in handcuffs. The man still tried to get away, but the unit was able to get him into the police car, safe and away from any weapon.

Once the man was safely put in the police car and the departments were able to confirm there were no more threats to the school, they left the school property, and the man was given life in prison for shooting and killing his mother. Nacy’s prayer had come true. Her son’s life was spared. Nancy did not know, though, that in her wish for her son’s safety, she had saved twenty children’s lives. While this mother would never get to see her kid again, all those twenty families would get to see their children grow up.

Works Cited

“Sandy Hook School Shooting.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 2013, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gunman-kills-students-and-adults-at-newtown-connecticut-elementary-school.