Q: Numerous Internet reports indicate that police have discovered what they expect was the motivation behind Adam Lanza’s Sandy Hook shootings. It includes scorekeeping, spreadsheets, etc. What is the latest on this?
—Bob Sullivan, Canton
A: Connecticut state police officials didn't refute a New York Daily News article that stated that Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza had a spreadsheet that was "7 feet long and 4 feet wide that required a special printer" and contained "Lanza's obsessive, extensive research — in nine-point font — about mass murders of the past, and even attempted murders." The New York Daily News story quoted a source as saying: "They don't believe this was just a spreadsheet. They believe it was a score sheet. This was the work of a video gamer, and that it was his intent to put his own name at the very top of that list. They believe that he picked an elementary school because he felt it was a point of least resistance, where he could rack up the greatest number of kills. …" The source told the Daily News: "They have pictures from two years before, with the guy all strapped with weapons, posing with a pistol to his head. That's the thing you have to understand: He had this laid out for years before." Connecticut state police were upset that the information had been leaked, but "did not take issue with specifics of the report," the New Haven (Conn.) Register reported last week. Lanza killed his mother, 20 students and six school employees in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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