As the small city of Newtown, Conn. grieves in the wake of the second-deadliest school shooting ever at Sandy Hook Elementary Dec. 14, one name is conspicuously absent from memorials popping up in the area to victims of the killings: The shooter Adam Lanza's mother, Nancy Lanza.
Still trying to process just what happened and why following Friday's tragedy that left 20 children and seven adults dead, there is considerable anger brewing in the heartbroken town directed at Lanza's mother, the Seattle Times reports. Her name is nowhere to be found in the many impromptu shrines, vigils, and condolence notes posted around the town.
Friday 20-year-old Adam Lanza reportedly shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, four times as she lay in bed, packed at least three of her guns, and then drove her car to the Connecticut K-4 elementary school, opening fire in two classrooms around 9:30 a.m., police said. Police are still searching for a motive; witnesses said the shooter didn't utter a word.
According to police, the three guns used in the shooting were legally purchased and registered to his mother Nancy. Lanza reportedly primarily used a military-style Bushmaster .223 assault rifle while on the rampage.
Investigators questioned Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., for hours Friday and searched his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010. Police say he is not a suspect in the case.
According to numerous reports, Lanza suffered from Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder, which is a mild form of Autism, and was unable to physically feel pain. Numerous experts on the disorder have spoken out recently attempting to dissuade reports of the disorder's connection to Friday's horrific events.
With more than a half-dozen funerals and remembrances held Wednesday, emotions are running raw in the town.
"I am feeling that there is more anger toward the mother than there is toward the son," said Lisa Sheridan, a Newtown parent.
"Why would a woman who had a son like this, who clearly had serious issues, keep assault rifles in the house and teach him how to shoot them?" she said. "To deal with that, there's a feeling here that we're just going to focus on the 26 innocent people who died at the school."
Nancy Lanza is apparently just another innocent victim in this case. To the people who knew her in life she was a kind, generous person and a devoted, loving mother. Authorities haven't discovered the woman broke any laws, and she suffered a gruesome, tragic end at the hands of her own son.
"Maybe somewhere there is a deep thought that the shooter's mother could be responsible for leaving the guns available," said Himansu Patel, the Newtown Convenience and Deli owner, who decided to leave Nancy Lanza out of his memorial to the victims.
"How could he reach those guns?" Patel said. "If she had kept them in a safer place, this thing might not have happened."
Nancy Lanza's out-of-state family has claimed her body, according to Connecticut's chief medical examiner, the Associated Press reported, and arrangements are being made for her burial.
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