Sunday, December 16, 2012

Innocent victims slaughtered by evil gunman

The names and ages of the young victims were released late yesterday bringing into sharp focus the reality and horror that struck the community of Newtown, Connecticut on Friday when gunman Adam Lanza slaughtered 20 children and 7 adults in a hail of bullets.

Victims

The children killed in the attack were aged between 6 and 7 years old and are said to have been struck multiple times. More than 100 empty shell casings were found at the scene by police investigators according to reports.

They were named as Charlotte Bacon, 6, Daniel Barden, 7, Olivia Engel, 6, Josephine Gay, 7,
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6, Dylan Hockley, 6, Madeline F. Hsu, 6, Catherine V. Hubbard, 6, Chase Kowalski, 7, Jesse Lewis, 6, James Mattioli, 6, Grace McDonnell, 7, Emilie Parker, 6, Jack Pinto, 6, Noah Pozner, 6, Jessica Rekos, 6, Caroline Previdi, 6, Avielle Richman, 6, Alison Wyatt, 6, Benjamin Wheeler, 6.

The adult victims were named as school princilpal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, teachers Anne Marie Murphy, 52, Rachel Davino, 29, Lauren Rousseau, 30, and Victoria Soto, 27, the school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, and Nancy Lanza, 52, the mother of gunman.

Pictures of innocence

As the first picture of one child emerged and shown on television networks last night, the sweet smile of innocence staring out from the screen could not have failed to affect anyone seeing it.

Robbie Parker spoke of his daughter Emilie and said she "would be one of the first ones offering sympathy and giving support to those affected by this — not because of anything my wife or I have done, but because of her wonderful, God-given gifts."

Comfort & pain

He described her as "beautiful, blond, always smiling, with bright blue eyes," who had kind words for about everyone. Parker spoke too of the pain and feelings his family was experiencing. "As the deep pain begins to settle into our hearts, we find comfort in the incredible person that Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch in her short time here on earth," said Parker.

Another young victim, Dylan Hockley was from Britain. His parents had moved from Hampshire two years ago with an older brother.

His mother, Nicole, a former marketing consultant, recently described the area as "a wonderful place to live" with "incredible" neighbours and "amazing" schools". She and her husband Ian, who is from Eastleigh, Hants, live almost opposite where the gunman 20-year-old Adam Lanza lived. Nicole Hockley is from Rhode Island but had lived in Britain for several years before moving back to the US with her husband and sons Jake and Dylan.

Prayers & condolences

Today churches across the US and around the world are expected to be packed with people offering their prayers to the victims and their families. Meanwhile President Obama is due to visit the town and offer his condolences to the families.

BBC / Sky / CNN / Telegraph / Guardian / NYT

Pictured: Top L-R: Dylan Hockley, 6, Emilie Parker, 6, & Olivia Engel, 6
Bottom L-R: Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6, Chase Kowalski, 7, & Noah Pozner, 6

tvnewswatch, London, UK

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