Final Decisions

Symbolism is strange; it can mean much, it can mean nothing at all.  And when symbolism comes face to face with reality, it is the reality that has meaning.  And it can deny definition even while presenting incontrovertible evidence.  And this meaning in this event has so far eluded authorities looking for reason where none exists.

Authorities are desperately looking for reasonable suggestions for the unreasonable.  A few brief minutes of absolute and utter madness will not necessarily offer the relief of a definitive answer to explain how so many lives were lost to the deliberate and uncharacteristic actions of a young man whose life dissolved into a murderous bloodbath.

He must have spent a sleepless night.  His mother, still in bed in her night clothes, would never know another moment of clear reasoning.  She slept, unaware that death stalked and was brought to death by her son wielding one of her own treasured weapons which she had taught him how to use. 

Police in Connecticut have, through their investigations, arrived at some kind of understanding of what occurred, but they are not yet prepared to divulge whatever it was they have gleaned.  And perhaps there will be little to share with the grieving bereaved families and the anxious and fearful public.

Unauthorized people were not permitted entry to the Sandy Hook Elementary school.  Reasonable precautions, for you never know... You had to be buzzed in.  It appears to have been determined that Adam Lanza had no connection to the school; earlier theories that seemed to make some kind of warped sense have been discounted. 

He simply fired a half-dozen rounds from a semi-automatic rifle when he arrived in front of the school on Friday morning, shattering the glass of one of the school doors, creating an opening large enough to permit him entry.  This was a polite young man whose manners, albeit shy and withdrawn, impressed those who were acquainted with him.

Once he gained entry he had to make a split-moment decision of which direction to take; straight ahead where the principal's office lay, to the right where the school cafeteria was located and where children were rehearsing a play, or to his left, where the first-grade classrooms were located. 

Not being familiar with the school and its layout, he would not know where his decision; straight ahead, left or right, would take him.

Psychologists have done some research on how people turn naturally.  There appears to be no general consensus.  There is a substantial thought that one obeys the dominant side; if right-handed one turns naturally right; if left-handed, then the turn is to the left.  Generally speaking, most people appear to turn to the right.  Although some research has shown that men tend to turn left.

Adam Lanza chose to turn left.  The sound of the shots breaking the glass had alerted the principal and a school psychologist meeting with others in a conference room, and they ran out and forward to investigate.  Their impulse on seeing him was to stop his progress, and he shot them dead. 

And then he entered the classroom of substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau, shooting everyone.

"There were 14 coats hanging there and 14 bodies.  He killed them all", said a law enforcement officer involved in the case.

Sandy Hook Elementary pre-k student Connor Monaghan, 4 of Newtown, looks at the memorial to shooting victims outside Newtown High School where President Barack Obama spoke on Sunday, December 16, 2012. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Connecticut Post