One of the worst tragedies in the world is the loss of a child. The loss of many all at once is almost unimaginable. Sadly however, in the recent years, America has had to face this head on far too many times. These horrible events take form as school shootings. Where children and teens not only lose their innocence and trust in the world, but an unbearable amount have had their lives stolen. One of the most notorious of these killings was committed by a monster named Adam Peter Lanza. He is better known as the Sandy Hook shooter. It was there in Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 that Lanza killed twenty students, six adult workers, and eventually himself. 

Photo of Lanza provided by PBS

People do not often picture school shooters when they think of the typical psychopath. The first thing that pops up in their mind are serial killers and torturers; people along the lines of Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. However, school shooters often times embody what it means to be psychopathic. Many of them are narcissistic and have no true empathy for the horror and chaos that they have caused. They kill without remorse and are after one thing and one thing alone, carnage.  

Adam Lanza was raised in New Hampshire by his mother Nancy and his father, Peter. His mother was known to be extremely outgoing and personable; she was the one who taught Adam all about guns and how to use them. She frequented the gun range with him quite often however, she was known to be smart about her usage of them and kept them locked up. Adam was described by many as being quite socially awkward and a quite kid, many believed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. 

The killings on that fateful and horrible day actually began at home for Adam. He lived with his mother in Newtown, Connecticut and it was in the home that they shared that he shot her in the head killing her. He then stole her car and used it drive just a mere five miles to the school. It was then that he shot his way into the building and began his assault. It started with the school’s principal, Dawn Hochsprung, and the school’s psychologist, Mary Sherlach, were first gunned down and another was wounded. From there Lanza made his way into the kindergarten and first grade classrooms. In the first room, Lanza shot and killed fourteen young students and six children in the second room. Every child killed was between the ages of six to ten. Finally, as police were closing in on him, Lanza turned a handgun on himself and ended his own life.  

All twenty-six of Lanza’s victims by CNN

What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School will never be forgotten. What happened at Columbine and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High will never be forgotten. The psychopaths that carried out these horrendous acts will never be forgotten. The impact that they had on the world and changes that they sparked will go down in the history books.