In 1999, a few weeks before the shooting at Columbine High School happened, I attended a full day workshop at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. I remember that day because I attended a workshop about the internet and communication. It was a workshop related to the practice of the Catholic faith. But the discussion regarding the internet, took a different turn. A young man was in the group and explained how there are communities in the online world where people communicate with each other and are welcoming.
In 1998, there was discussion as to the influence of the internet for good and for evil. This young man was a fan of the influence of the internet, especially the gaming communities. In the late 1990's, role playing games, referred to as massively multiplayer online games, became popular. Many of the games involved killing or maiming others.
Most of us know the influence of the online communities, especially if we are part of one. We join sites to keep in touch with family and friends, make new friends, or coordinate with similar interest groups.
In chapter 5, of Matthew Lysiak's
Newtown, An American Tragedy, the author describes Adam Lanza's move into the online world and the start of an alternate persona. It is widely reported and documented that Adam Lanza had trouble relating to people actually present in his life. His relationship with his family and various school placements was far from regular. In fact, it would seem Adam Lanza led a solitary life, unable to communicate with other humans.
But, Adam Lanza was able to communicate quite well. With his online personality, Adam Lanza was able to ask questions, gather data, express himself, win games, contemplate and then execute plans of mass murder. He had no issues with chat rooms. These chat rooms focused on violence, and his interest was with an emphasis on mass killers.
Matthew Lysiak's account on page 56 summarizes Adam Lanza's fit in the online world, "He fit in and appeared well liked by the other players showing none of the discomfort or struggle he would exhibit in face-to-face encounters." Adam Lanza chose "Kaynbred" as his gaming name.
Adam Lanza participated in shooting games in which there were contests and rewards for getting the most kills. The gamers work in teams. Lysiak writes, "the team that reached the most kills in the quickest amount of time was the winner, even if that meant turning the gun on yourself and committing suicide."
Adam Lanza gunned his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. In a period of minutes, he assassinated 20 children and 6 adults. Adam Lanza executed a well researched and planned massacre. He studied other mass killers, weapons and strategies. Investigators, according to Lysiak's book, found detailed information about many of the shootings which gained national and international attention in Lanza's darkened room. Online gaming information uncovered that Lanza was not ignorant, especially regarding weapons, as he had done extensive research on different types of weapons and the laws regarding obtaining and owning them.
Although the author of
Newtown, an American Tragedy covers a wide range of issues which led up to Adam Lanza's assault on the elementary school, a most telling paragraph is the following from page 62 of the book:
"By 2011, Adam stopped playing
Combat Arms and moved onto
Call of Duty and
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 both violent, first person shooting games where, like
Combat Arms, players compete to rack up the most numbers of "kills". In the modern warfare game, " the atrocities of combat are re-created by putting the players in the middle of a civilian slaughter. With his hand on the controller, Adam became an undercover CIA agent who joined a group of Russian terrorists at an airport to massacre unarmed civilians. To keep his cover (as the gaming "CIA agent") and fulfill the missions's objective, he had to shoot and kill women and children. The injured would crawl away leaving a smeary trail of blood, while those spared from the spray made the futile attempt to help others only to be shot dead." In the next paragraph, the author states that "Adam became an expert."
The real causes to the Newtown tragedy are evasive. The massacre leaves everyone asking the question: What if....? Lysiak touches on a few of the "What if " scenarios in his book. What if things had been done differently?
The priest of St. Rose of Lima Church, who presided at many of the children's funerals, recalls arriving in Newtown in 1999. He states in the forward of the book by Matthew Lysiak that "When I arrived in Newtown in 1999, I was greeted with a variety of bumper stickers and license plate frames that read: It's nicer in Newtown."
In April, 1999 when I heard the young man speak of the internet communities at a workshop, it gave me an unsettled feeling. Just about a week later, on April 20,1999 when Columbine High School, also situated in a nice community, suffered tremendous death and loss, it happened to be one year to the day (April 20, 1998) that a school administration, located in a nice community, officially turned against me because I could see a "What if..." scenario in my classroom and school. Working with a young violent prone child who had working knowledge and access to guns, who played in Civil War re-enactments on many weekends, who drew violent pictures, who physically attacked other children and had difficulty relating to other children and adults, the "What if ..." scenario was for real.
The book,
Newtown An American Tragedy , is not an easy read. It makes one sad, angry, and if one isn't careful, can tend to make one feel that we are powerless against evil. But, we are only powerless against evil if we give up. It appears that is what Adam's mother and father did. They gave up on Adam Lanza and, at least Nancy Lanza, fed the evil beast which Adam Lanza became.
Do you have a "what if..." scenario going on in your community? Don't give up. We all have a moral and legal responsibility to protect each other. Since school shootings and threats are a regular part of our culture, taking an ostrich view is no defense,
In addition to reading,
Newtown An American Tragedy, which tells about the consequences of the ultimate failure to intervene, another report is also eye opening:
Schools helped the mother appease Adam Lanza and SHOOTING AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHILD ADVOCATE a pdf report available at
Office of the Advocate State of Connecticut report on the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
If you care about children, you will be an advocate in season and out of season.
"What so ever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." Matthew 25:40
Why I am writing about a book published in 2013 and an incident that happened in 1998?
I will never forget that young, troubled boy from my class so many years ago. I will never forget the children in my class who were afraid on a regular basis. I will never forget that choosing to write a workshop request for help was the best letter that I have ever written.
And I will never forget during the same school year, that it was a older brother of another child, who stepped out and protected his sister from an abuser, even though he was threatened with deportation.
I will never forget my children running to tell me on April 20, 1999:
"Mommy, mommy it has happened again."
I will never forget when my son, on December 14, 2012 called me, asked me where I was and if I had seen the news, I will never forget when he told me to sit down and then said that 26 people died in an elementary school- 20 of whom were children.
The principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School, who was one of the first victims to die (as she approached the killer) is quoted in the book on page 11:
"Sandy Hook is committed to building lifelong learners, capable of responding to the changing needs and demands of our world. We hope to actively engage students in learning and help them become responsible and contributing members of our school community. Most importantly, we strive to ensure that our school is a secure, caring and productive place for children and adults."....."We can't control what happens inside their homes, but when they come here our children need to know that they are coming to a safe haven...without that internal feeling of security, all the teaching in the world won't make any difference."
The principal spoke those words to a parent a few days before she died.
The school practiced the safety drills but the children who died were huddled together in their classrooms. A few children in one of the targeted classrooms escaped because the killer's gun jammed and a heroic child named, Jesse, told his classmates to run. Jesse died taking a bullet to his head a few moments later (page 109).
The Sandy Hook Elementary School was demolished after the massacre but the memories of that day will haunt a nation forever. If we forget, then we will not remember the lessons learned that day.
"We have to keep looking for answers. We must keep examining these issues. The conversation must continue....The moment we stop asking why is the very moment we give up the future to the next mass killer, who is out there now plotting. We can't stop believing that we have the power to stop it from happening again. We can't sit back and just let it occur The randomness has to be explored because we have to know why." page 262- quote from Mary Ellen O'Toole former FBI profiler who studied mass killers.
Newtown An American Tragedy- book by Matthew Lysiak
pictures of the children, school staff and mother- putting faces with real victims
I found the book,
Newtown An American Tragedy randomly, out of place on a library shelf several weeks ago. Monday morning quarter backing comes after the game is played out. Don't let a shooting play out in your school.
Marian Carlino
May 2, 2015
