Facts About/Timeline Of Adam Lanza
1. His full name was Adam Peter Lanza
2. He was born on April 22, 1992 and died on December 14, 2012
3. He and his mother (Nancy Lanza) lived 5 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School
4. He did not have any criminal record
5. His mother was described as a “gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen fire arms”. This made guns easily accessible for Adam
6. Adam and his brother (Ryan Lanza) were often taken to the shooting range by their mother. This is where the boys learned to shoot.
7. His father, Peter Lanza, did not believe that Nancy feared Adam. She slept with her bedroom door unlocked and kept guns in the house.
8. He attended Sandy Hook Elementary School for 4 ½ years
9. He began attending Newtown Middle School in the year 2004. Adam was ‘wracked by anxiety’, according to Nancy
10. Adam reportedly began getting upset at Middle School due to the frequent daytime classroom changes. He was stimulated by the noise and movement, which also made him anxious.
11. He once had to be checked into the emergency room at Danbury Hospital due to the severity of his anxiety
12. Adam was moved to St. Rose of Lima by Nancy in the year 2005
13. Adam would only last eight weeks at St. Rose of Lima
14. He began attending Newton High School when he was 14 and was later named to the honor roll in the year 2007
15. Adam was described as “intelligent, but nervous and fidgety” by students and teachers who knew him in high school
16. He was uncomfortable socializing
17. He avoided the attraction of attention
18. He had no [known] close friends in High School
19. Nobody was allowed into his bedroom except for Nancy
20. He had taped over his windows with plastic garbage bags in order to block the sunlight
21. He would not eat his food unless the food were arranged in a particular way on his plate
22. He would not allow a Christmas tree in the house
23. He was fascinated with mass shootings, especially the Northern Illinois University 2008 shooting and the Columbine High School shooting
24. No psychiatrists claimed to have noticed an troubling signs of violence in him
25. He was presented with challenges in development before turning the age of three
26. His developmental challenges included socialization delays, communication and sensory difficulties, and repetitive behaviors
27. Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of thirteen by Paul Fox (a psychiatrist)
28. Peter stated in a 2013 interview that he suspected that, in addition to his other conditions, Adam may have had undiagnosed schizophrenia
29. Peter claims that family members may have missed signs of onset schizophrenia and psychotic behavior during Adam’s youth due to the fact that they misinterpreted his odd behavior and increasing isolation for Asperger syndrome
30. There were clippings found in his room.
31. A story from The New York Times about a man who shot at schoolchildren in 1891 was found in his room
32. Some things found on his computer were two videos of suicides by gunshot, two pictures of Adam pointing guns at his own head, movies that showed school shootings, and a document called “Selfish”, which was about how he believed that all women were inherently selfish
33. Two years before the shooting, Adam had decided to cut off contact with his Ryan and Peter Lanza (his brother and father)
34. At one point, he only communicated with his (with whom he shared residency with) through email
35. He apparently had no contact with any mental health providers after the year 2006
36. In the eighth grade, Adam was placed on “homebound status” because of the fact that he was unable to attend school due to his anxiety
37. He was taken to Yale University’s Child Study Center at the age of fourteen by Nancy and Peter. It was here that he was diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
38. He changed his socks twenty times a day
39. He frequently washed his hands
40. He would sometimes go through an entire box of tissues in the course of one day due to the fact that he could not touch a doorknob with his bare hand
41. He was treated by Robert King, who recommended that extensive support he put in place. Adam was then prescribed [by King] an antidepressant called Celexa, though he only took this medication for a number of three days
42. Nancy reports that Adam was disoriented, his speech was disjointed, and he couldn’t figure out how to open his cereal box. She also said that he was sweating profusely. This was reported by Adam on the third day of taking Celexa.
43. A report from the Office of the Child Advocate states that minimal mental health evaluation and treatment was obtained in the course of Adam’s life. The Yale Child Study Center was apparently the only provider out of the ones that saw him that “seemed to appreciate the gravity of [ his]presentation, his need for extensive mental health and special education supports, and the critical need for medication to ease his obsessive-compulsive symptoms”
44. At the time of his death, Adam was anorexic to the point of malnutrition and resultant brain damage
45. He was six foot tall and 112 pounds at the time of his death
46. Nancy Lanza had considered moving him to another town in the weeks before the massacre. Adam may have planned and executed the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School because of fears of leaving his “comfort zone” of his house
47. He fatally shot 20 6-7 year olds and six adult staff members
48. His death was caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head as first responders arrived at the scene
49. He provided no indication as to why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School or what his motive for the massacre was
50. The weapons he used during the shooting were a Bushmaster XM15-E2S (.223) and a Glock 20SF (10mm)
