CNN
Newtown, Connecticut (CNN) -- "We can't tolerate this anymore."
That's what President
Barack Obama told those attending a memorial service Sunday in Newtown,
Connecticut, two days after a man shot his way into Sandy Hook
Elementary School and killed 26 people -- 20 of them children no older than 7, who would never go on a date, drive a car, marry or have kids of their own.
Obama offered his
condolences, saying, "All across this land of ours, we have wept with
you." He praised the residents of Newtown for having pulled together and
"loved one another" with a spirit all could emulate. And he asked
whether more could be done to prevent more parents, sisters and
brothers, like those in this quiet New England town, from suffering
similar heartaches.
"Can we honestly say
we're doing enough to keep our children -- all of them -- safe from
harm?" Obama said, adding that "if we don't get that right, we don't get
anything right."
"If we're honest with ourselves, the answer is no."
His call to action capped
an emotional prayer service at Newtown High School, in which local
leaders of several religions -- a Jewish rabbi singing a prayer, a
Muslim man choking back tears, and several Christian leaders offering
perspective -- attempted to comfort a shattered community. Nine hundred
watched in the school's auditorium, including several children toting
teddy bears, and another 1,300 saw the proceedings from a nearby
overflow room.
The aim was to show those
suffering in Newtown they were not alone. With the help of their
neighbors, they could move past this "act of unfathomable violence and
destruction," explained the Rev. Matt Crebbin, senior minister at
Newtown Congregational Church.
"We needed this," Crebbin said of the service. "We needed to be together."
That sentiment was
echoed by Obama, who said the nation stands with Newtown. Then he went
further than that, saying that the country owes it to them -- and to the
people of Tuscon, Arizona; Oak Creek, Wisconsin; Aurora, Colorado,
communities that also have been sites of mass shootings in the last two
years -- not just to remember the victims, but take steps to prevent
more bloodshed in the future.
The president didn't
specify what steps he favors, but he did promise to put the power of his
office toward preventing more senseless grief -- saying, "We can't
accept events like this as routine."
"These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."
Clearer picture of what happened, but not why
The first calls came into police around 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Adam Lanza
used "an assault weapon" to "literally (shoot) an entrance into the
building," Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Sunday. The nightmare got
worse as he moved through Sandy Hook's halls.
Using a Bushmaster AR-15
"assault-type rifle," the 20-year-old fired "multiple magazines" --
each of which contained 30 bullets -- to gun down six adults and
children in two classrooms, said Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul
Vance. He then took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law
enforcement officers approached, officials said.
All the victims were
shot multiple times, said H. Wayne Carver II, Connecticut's chief
medical examiner. Their deaths -- as well as that of Nancy Lanza, Adam's mother who suffered "multiple gunshot wounds" at their Newtown home -- are classified as homicides.
"This probably is the
worst I have seen or the worst that I know of any of my colleagues
having seen," said Carver, who did autopsies on seven victims.
Why did Lanza do it? That much, at least publicly, remains a mystery.
He had no criminal
record. He and his mother, who collected guns, had visited a gun range
at least once, ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun said.
The few who spoke of Lanza publicly, including an aunt and former classmate, described him as very intelligent and quiet.
His father, Peter Lanza,
released a statement Saturday saying his family is "grieving along with
all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy."
"We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can," the father said.
Authorities shared that
sentiment. Even as they have offered more details on what happened
Friday morning, they haven't given a motive.
"We will and we are searching diligently and nonstop to attempt to answer that," said Vance, the police spokesman.
Tears and hope
At Sunday's memorial service, Obama solemnly read out the first names of those Lanza killed.
"God has called them all home," he said.
And for every victim, there's a story.
Six-year-old Emilie Parker was "bright, creative and very loving," her father, Robbie Parker, recalled Saturday.
"My daugher Emilie would
be one of the first ones to be standing up and giving her love and
support to all of those victims, because that is the type of person she
is," he said. "...This world is a better place because she has been in
it."
Victoria Soto, 27, moved
her students away from her first-grade classroom door when she heard
gunfire. She is being hailed for having saved some of her students, even
though she herself didn't survive.
"She was truly
selfless," her mother Donna Soto said Sunday. "She would not hesitate to
think to save anyone else before herself and especially children. She
loved them more than life."
Many more tears will be shed in the coming days, as victims are laid to rest.
The first two funerals
tied to the massacre -- for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both Sandy Hook
students -- will begin Monday at noon and 1 p.m. respectively, according
to the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association.
Malloy, Connecticut's
governor, said Sunday that they will never be forgotten. At the same
time, he expressed hope that the strength of community will make a
difference.
"We will go on. We will find strength," he said at Sunday's memorial service. "We will get better."
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