SCHOOL massacre maniac Adam Lanza fuelled his violent fantasies while hidden away in a windowless bunker plastered with posters of guns and tanks.
Lanza, 20, spent hours playing bloodthirsty computer games such as Call Of Duty and obsessivly studying weapons in the basement at mum Nancy’s home. It came as the first funerals of the victims were held yesterday.
Plumber Peter Wlasuk went into the basement many times while working at the plush four-bedroom house and got a glimpse into the disturbing underground world where Lanza plotted his crimes.
Sprawling ... home of Adam Lanza's mum Nancy
He said: “It was a beautiful house but he lived in the basement. I always thought that was strange.
“But he had a proper set up down there — computers, a bathroom, bed and desk and a TV. There were no windows.”
Peter, 45, said Lanza’s elder brother had previously lived in the basement before moving out.
Fantasy world ... a soldier from Call Of Duty game
He added: “Adam then moved down there. The boys were fans of the military. They had posters all over the wall in the basement.
Obsessed ... Lanza poster
Coleman-Rayner
“They had one poster of every piece of military equipment the US ever made.
“It was a huge poster with every tank every made. The kids could tell you about guns they had never seen from the 40s, 50s and 60s “The kids who play these games know all about them.
“I’m not blaming the games for what happened. But they see a picture of a historical gun and say ‘I’ve used that on Call Of Duty’.”
On Friday, Lanza used two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle to shoot dead Nancy at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, before heading for nearby Sandy Hook school.
He forced his way into the classrooms and murdered 20 six and seven-year-olds and six female staff members before killing himself.
The weapons used by Lanza — a Glock, a Sig Sauer and a semi-automatic Bushmaster — were owned by Nancy.
They are the sort of guns that feature heavily in games like Call Of Duty - in which players take on the role of soldiers and shoot dead scores of enemies. The latest version of the game, called Black Ops II, is a huge worldwide hit and will be on the Christmas wish list of millions of youngsters.
Deadly ... Lanza guns
Lanza was also wearing a bulletproof vest and battle fatigues similar to those used by the US military in combat.
Killer ... Adam Lanza
President Barack Obama paid tribute on Sunday to the innocents massacred by Lanza — and the teachers who died trying to protect their young charges.
Speaking during a vigil at Newtown High School, he said: “We know when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook school the staff did not flinch, did not hesitate.
“They responded as we all hope we might respond in such circumstances — with courage and with love. Giving their lives to protect the children in their care.”
Obama also pledged to fight for gun control laws in America in the wake of the tragedy.
He said: “No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this? Surely we have an obligation to try?”
More incredible tales of survival emerged from Newtown yesterday.
Pastor Jim Solomon told how one six-year-old girl played dead after Lanza murdered all her classmates — then ran to safety when he moved away. He said: “She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood.
“The first thing she said to her mum was ‘I’m OK but all my friends are dead.’
“Somehow, by God’s grace, she was able to act as if she was dead.
“How at six-and-a-half years can you be that smart, that brave?”
Adam Lanza's first victim... his mum Nancy
The heartbroken family of the British schoolboy killed by Lanza yesterday told how the last time they spoke he was excited because Christmas was coming.
Dylan Hockley, six, who had moved to Connecticut with his British dad and American mum, regularly spoke to his aunt Judith back in England using the internet.
Judith, 45, of Peterborough, Cambs, said: “Dylan was a typical six-year-old boy, he was confident and happy and loved his family. He was enjoying life in America and had made many new friends.
Grim ... President Barack Obama vows gun laws
“His parents and older brother Jake were also enjoying their new life in Newtown, it sounded like such a nice place.
“When I last spoke to them they were looking forward to spending Christmas together.”
Judith said her husband and daughter had flown out to Connecticut to comfort Dylan’s dad Ian, mum Nicole and Jake, eight.
Video:
US Shooting: Barack Obama meets Newtown families
Sky News
PRESIDENT speaks with relatives of 26 killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School gun massacre
She added: “The whole family are devastated. Everyone is grieving for Dylan. The last few days have been very traumatic.”
- A MANIAC who knifed 23 children at a school in central China on Friday told police he did it because he believed an ancient Mayan prophecy that the world will end on Friday.
BY TERESA BLISS, Child and Educational Psychologist
Game ... Call Of Duty
THERE is no doubt that what children watch affects their behaviour. It isn’t healthy for children to watch people destroying other people.
Video games like Call Of Duty can lead children to become more immune to violence and death.
Without adult mediation, kids may start to think that the violence they see on their screens is normal.
Friends and family portrayed Adam Lanza’s mother Nancy as a paranoid person who stockpiled guns. It is unlikely that she would have been able to give him the influence he needed.
All the time he spent locked away playing the game would have been isolating.
When children are on their own they can’t develop social skills. Without alternative viewpoints his perspective will have been skewed.
Call Of Duty in rampages link
CRAZED gunman Anders Breivik played Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare to improve his shooting skills in preparation of his killing rampage.
The 33-year-old was jailed for 21 years earlier this year for slaughtering 77 people in a gun and bomb outrage in Norway.
The deranged games fan blew up a government building in Oslo killing eight.
Killers ... Anders Breivik , left, and Mohammed Merah
He then shot dead a further 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a youth camp on Utoya island.
Another mass murderer who played Call Of Duty was al-Qaeda fanatic Mohammed Merah, 23.
His wife said they played the violent game before his shooting spree across Toulouse, France, in March that left seven dead.
He was killed by cops.
Youngest is buried
THE youngest victim of Adam Lanza was among the first to be buried yesterday.
Noah Pozner ... 'smart, funny and mischievous'
Noah Pozner turned six just two weeks ago. His twin sister Arielle, who was in a different class at the school, survived.
At his service his uncle Alexis Haller told how the “smart, funny and mischievous” youngster liked to pretend to his sisters that he worked at a taco factory.
Anguish ... mum Veronika at the funeral
He added: “If Noah had not been taken from us, he would have become a great man — a backbone of our family. We’d go to the ends of the Earth to bring Noah back.”
Support ... mourners grieving yesterday
Tribute to lost pal, 6
MOURNERS at six-year-old Jack Pinto’s service wore shirts from his Newtown Wrestling Club.
Jack Pinto ... 'beautiful energy'
Jack was buried in his favourite New York Giants jersey with the number 80, worn by his hero Victor Cruz. A close friend said: “Who could ignore that beautiful energy, the sparkle in his eye, or that spirit that clearly said, ‘I am here and I am something special’?”
A wake was also scheduled yesterday in Monroe for James Mattioli, also six.
Heartache ... kids wear wrestling shirts
Source : http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4702951/dark-world-of-school-massacre-adam-lanza.html
