|
| A mourner carries a program as she leaves the funeral service of Victoria Soto at Lordship Community Church, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Stratford, Conn. Soto was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself. |
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- One by one by one by one, each with fresh heartbreak, hearses crisscrossed two New England towns on Wednesday, bearing three tiny victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre and a heroic teacher in a seemingly never-ending series of funeral processions.
"The
first few days, all you heard were helicopters," said Dr. Joseph Young,
an optometrist who attended one funeral and would go to several more.
"Now at my office all I hear is the rumble of motorcycle escorts and
funeral processions going back and forth throughout the day."
As
more victims from the slaughter of 20 children and six adults were laid
to rest, long funeral processions clogged the streets of Newtown, where
Christmas trees were turned into memorials and a season that should be a
time of joy was marked by heart-wrenching loss.
At
least nine funerals and wakes were held on Wednesday for those who died
when gunman Adam Lanza, armed with a military-style assault rifle,
broke into the school last Friday and opened fire on their classrooms.
Lanza also killed his mother at her home before committing suicide.
At
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, mourners arrived for Caroline
Previdi, an auburn-haired 6-year-old with an impish smile, before the
service had even ended for Daniel Barden, a 7-year-old who dreamed of
being a firefighter.
"It's sad to see the
little coffins," said the Rev. John Inserra, a Catholic priest who
worked at St. Rose for years before transferring to a church in
Greenwich. He returned to his old parish to comfort families wondering
how a loving God could permit such carnage, and has attended several of
the funerals.
"It's always hard to bury a
child," Inserra said of the seemingly unrelenting cycle of sorrow and
loss. "But these are important moments, an opportunity to come together,
to remember that we have new angels in heaven."
Hundreds
of firefighters formed a long blue line outside the church for little
Daniel's funeral. Two of his relatives work at the Fire Department of
New York, and the gap-toothed redhead had wanted to join their ranks one
day.
"If me being here helps this family or
this community just a little bit, it's worth it," said Kevin Morrow, a
New York firefighter and father of two young girls. "He wanted to be a
firefighter, as any young boy wants to be."
Family
friend Laura Stamberg of New Paltz, N.Y., whose husband plays in a band
with Daniel's father, said that on the morning of the shooting Mark
Barden taught his son to play a Christmas song on the piano.
"They
played foosball and then he taught him the song and then he walked him
to the bus and that was their last morning together," Stamberg said.
At
Caroline's funeral, mourners wore pink ties and scarves - her favorite
color - and remembered her as a Yankees fan who liked to kid around.
"Silly Caroline" was how she was known to neighbor Karen Dryer. "She's
just a girl that was always smiling, always wanting others to smile."
Across
town, at Christ the King Lutheran Church, hundreds gathered for the
funeral of Charlotte Helen Bacon, many wearing buttons picturing the
6-year-old redhead. Speakers, including her grandfather, told of her
love of wild animals, the family's golden retriever and the color pink.
She
was "a beautiful little girl who could be a bit stubborn at times -
just like all children," said Danbury resident Linda Clark as she left
the service.
And in nearby Stratford, family
and friends gathered to say goodbye to Victoria Soto, a first-grade
teacher hailed as a hero for trying to shield her students, some of whom
managed to escape. Musician Paul Simon, a family friend, performed "The
Sounds of Silence" at the service.
Peter
Rusatsky, a friend of Soto's family, said he's clinging to his faith and
the hope that something positive can emerge from the shooting.
"My
wife is a teacher, too," he said. "And I think any teacher would not
blink and just do whatever had to be done to protect those children."
In
Woodbury, a line of colleagues, students and friends of slain Sandy
Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, wrapped around the block to pay
their respects to the administrator, who rushed the gunman in an effort
to stop him and paid with her life. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan attended the service.
"She loved kids. She'd do anything to help them and protect them," said Joann Opulski of Roxbury.
In
emotion-charged Newtown, tempers flared as residents of the town of
27,000 navigated the hordes of reporters and camera crews that descended
on the town. Some shouted at reporters outside the funerals Wednesday,
urging them to leave their town in peace.
Cynthia
Gubitose said the shooting and its aftermath have jolted what she
described as a quintessential "Norman Rockwell, New England community."
"Nobody
knew about Sandy Hook," Gubitose said as she placed flowers at a
memorial with bouquets stacked chest-high. "Many of the people that live
here like it that way."
The symbol of
Christmas took on a new meaning in the town, where one memorial featured
26 Christmas trees - one for each victim at the school.
Edward Kish said he bought a Christmas tree two days before the shooting, but hasn't had the heart to put it up or decorate it.
"I'll still put it up, probably," he said. "It doesn't seem right, and it doesn't seem like Christmas."
Mourners
from across the country came to offer condolences. A jazz band from
Alabama played at the main memorial site as local children played with a
team of trained therapy dogs brought in to provide comfort.
The
massacre continued to reverberate around America as citizens and
lawmakers debated whether Newtown might be a turning point in the
often-polarizing national discussion over gun control.
President
Barack Obama pressed Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban,
which expired in 2004. He also called for stricter background checks for
people who seek to purchase weapons and limited high-capacity clips.
"This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations.
Authorities
say the horrific events of Friday began when Lanza shot his mother,
Nancy, at their home, and then took her car and some of her guns to the
nearby school.
Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the attack.
However,
Connecticut's chief medical examiner, Dr. H. Wayne Carver, told The
Hartford Courant he is looking for genetic clues that might explain the
behavior, and is working with the University of Connecticut department
of genetics.
The Connecticut State Police said Wednesday that a final report on the shooting could be several months away.
