dagblog - Comments for "Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza"

Recent findings suggest he

artappraiser — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 15:11:56 +0000

Recent findings suggest he was far, far from your average autistic, with a fairly bad case of mental illness, admiration for mass murderers, and perhaps pedophilia issues as well:

http://www.newsweek.com/why-adam-lanza-did-it-226565

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/norway-mass-murderer-fan-lanza-...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/17/with-radio-call-adam-la...

Actually sounds like one who might have benefited from being challenged with pharmaceuticals to reverse direction out of a deepening black hellhole, rather than the other way around, blunt as those instruments are.

No drugs, prescription or

artappraiser — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 07:25:19 +0000

In reply to Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza

No drugs, prescription or otherwise. Definitely not when he committed the act, and now we find, probably not for years:

Full Report Confirms No Drugs, Alcohol In Lanza's System
By Dave Altimari, The Hartford Courant, October 29, 2013

The state has released the full toxicology report on Sandy Hook school shooter Adam Lanza, confirming that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he shot and killed 20 first-graders and six women on Dec. 14.

The Courant first reported in May that Lanza had no drugs or alcohol in his system. The report provides some additional details, including that Lanza tested negative for marijuana and had part of his brain taken to UConn for genetic testing.

"There is no chemical reason or apparent medical reason to explain [Lanza's] actions,'' former chief state's medical examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver II said.

Lanza's blood was tested for hundreds of drugs, divided into six categories — alcohol, acidic, neutral drugs, basic drugs, cocaine, opiates and oxycodone. The test covers legal drugs, from aspirin to anti-depressants such as Paxil or Zoloft, and illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine [.....]

Final Newtown police report yields chilling account of massacre
Associated Press in Newtown, Dec. 28, 2013

[....] Lanza was diagnosed in 2006 with "profound autism spectrum disorder, with rigidity, isolation and a lack of comprehension of ordinary social interaction and communications," while also displaying symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to Dr Robert A King, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center.

But he also told investigators that he observed nothing in Lanza's behavior that would have predicted he would become a mass killer. Contacted by The Associated Press, King referred questions to the Yale University press office [....]

Kathleen A Koenig, a nurse at the Yale Child Studies Center, told investigators that Lanza frequently washed his hands and changed his socks 20 times a day, to the point where his mother did three loads of laundry a day.

The nurse, who met with Lanza in 2006 and 2007, said Lanza's mother declined to give him prescribed antidepressant and antianxiety medication after she reported that he had trouble raising his arm, something she attributed to the drug.

Koenig unsuccessfully tried to convince Nancy Lanza that the medicine was not responsible, and the mother failed to schedule a follow-up visit after her son missed an appointment, police said [....]

State Police report details Sandy Hook shootings
By Brian Lockhart, CT Post, Dec. 27, 2013

[....] Lanza's medical records are not included, as the provisions of the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibit the release of personally-identifiable information for 50 years after an individual's death.

But the information within the medical records is discussed by the professionals who reviewed them as part of the investigation and witnesses also comment on Lanza's issues and behavior.

According to one witness statement, Lanza was diagnosed with Aspergers - a form of autism - in the sixth grade and "never completely accepted that he had a disease and therefore never took any of his medication he was prescribed."

"Adam was in complete denial of his disease from diagnosis and there was not on disability because of this denial," the witness said.

The witness also told investigators that Lanza dealt with a great deal of school and societal stresses.

"Adam was bullied, but not excessively, for his social awkwardness and his physical gait," the report states. "Adam continued in school until his ninth grade year when stresses over papers, classes, pressures from grades and dealing with his disease he was finally removed from school."

Another witness claimed Lanza would experience "episodes" lasting 15 minutes during which he would become withdrawn and "was more likely to be victimized than to act in violence against another person."

According to the witness, who told investigators that he became familiar with the Lanza family during after school activities, Lanza dealt poorly with other students but "did not show any signs of violence."

By 2012 Lanza had turned into such a recluse [....]

Lanza's Psychiatric Treatment Revealed In Documents
By Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner, The Hartford Courant, Dec. 28, 2013

Buried in the thousands of pages of police reports released Friday into the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, new details about Adam Lanza's mental health and his treatment have emerged, revealing that he was seen at the Yale Child Study Center in his early teens and was prescribed the antidepressant Celexa.

The case files also delve deeper into the actions that Peter Lanza took on behalf of his son, Adam, in the years before and after Peter Lanza's divorce from Nancy Lanza in 2009. And the files reveal how Nancy Lanza appeared not to follow the advice of her son's physicians, taking her son off his medication and failing to reschedule missed appointments. [....]

Included are emails between Peter Lanza and Kathleen Koenig, a clinical nurse specialist in psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, "regarding her treatment sessions with the shooter, as well as an evaluation by" Dr. Paul Fox, a former Connecticut psychiatrist now living in New Zealand.

Details of a three-hour exam that Adam Lanza had in 2006 with another Yale Child Study psychiatrist, Dr. Robert A. King, were released for the first time Friday [....]

King recommended that Adam Lanza receive further treatment at the center and referred Nancy Lanza to Koenig.

In her sworn statement to police, Koenig said that she had four face-to-face meetings with Adam Lanza between October 2006 and February 2007 and corresponded with Nancy Lanza by telephone and through email messages.

At that time, Lanza was being seen by Fox, whom Koenig said was Lanza's "primary psychiatrist."

Koenig said that Lanza's obsessive compulsive disorder "severely limited his ability to lead a normal, well-adjusted life."

She described him as "emotionally paralyzed" and said that he would participate in multiple daily rituals like repeated hand washing and showering and obsessively changing the blue polo shirts and khaki pants that he wore exclusively — behavior that forced Nancy Lanza to do up to three loads of laundry a day.

The report said that Adam Lanza would change socks 20 times a day.

She said that Adam Lanza was also sensitive to light and was unable to touch doorknobs with his bare hands.

Koenig prescribed Celexa and recommended that he have follow-up visits at her office.

But Nancy Lanza did not appear to take her advice, Koenig said.

"Koenig described Nancy Lanza's response to her recommendations as 'non-compliant,'" the police files said.

Once when Koenig prescribed a small dose of Celexa to Adam Lanza, Nancy Lanza called Koenig's office to report that Adam Lanza was "unable to raise his arm" and she blamed it on the medication. She told Koenig that her son would no longer be taking the medication.

Koenig attempted to convince Nancy Lanza that the medication was not causing the arm ailment but "Nancy Lanza was not receptive to Koenig's reasoning," the police reports said [.....]

The Hartford Courant

artappraiser — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 05:01:06 +0000

In reply to Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza

The Hartford Courant obviously got some attendees to report to them what was said last week at the investigation update for victims' families from the CT State Police, summarized here:

Adam Lanza Researched Mass Murderers, Sources Say
By Dave Altimari, Edmund H. Mahony and Jon Lender, The Hartford Courant, March 13

I found this the most interesting:

...two sources said that law enforcement computer forensic specialists are continuing efforts to obtain information from the damaged hard drive. Investigators are also using all means to obtain information from Internet service providers and any other relevant entities to obtain records showing how Lanza used his computer, including what sites he visited, what research he conducted and with whom he corresponded.

p.s. Just comes to mind what

artappraiser — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:46:03 +0000

In reply to Here's another one, direct

p.s. Just comes to mind what a pity it is that we are probably a century away from a neuroscience where all that energy that is currently put into video games eight hours a day by these lost souls could instead be put into bio-feedback healing of their own brains.

Here's another one, direct

artappraiser — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:32:34 +0000

In reply to This report is all over the

Here's another one, direct from the cops this time, no holds barred:

Gunman In Orange County Shooting Spree Described As Loner, ‘Gamer’
ABC News LA, February 20, 2013 5:30 PM

[ .....]said spokesman Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. [.....]

Officials said they will now determine whether the 20-year-old, a part-time student at Saddleback College, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“We are doing toxicology as part of his autopsy to determine if there are any drugs or narcotics in his system,” said Amormino.

Syed, who was unemployed, was described as a loner and “gamer.”

“What I mean by that is he spent a lot of time alone in his room playing video games,” Amormino said.

The motive of the shooting rampage is still unknown. [.....]

On the Norway massacre, I definitely buy that more than I do your theory about most of these types cracking on SSRI's or similar. I think chances are high that that leak has some good sources behind it.

I think the usual case is that they are "cracked" already (and not only that, I think the right drug would help make them "uncrack," I just don't have much faith in the current psychiatry situation to have any clue about what is the right drug; and self-medicating is usually a worse disaster.) But for me it doesn't seem it's medication that's turning them, it's not the key. It's suicidal depression combined with other mental illness combined with a revenge factor that makes them want to copycat and exceed the fame of others that went before them. All these types of killings are planned in advance, often meticulously. This is not going off half-cocked when stoned, or momentary homicidal ideation from poorly prescribed psychoactives. This is about achieving planned revenge and fame for eternity.That's why the spree killings themselves come in sprees. All the media attention is verification/confirmation that this is what will happen for them if they act out their fantasy.

Fame! Fame acting out a fantasy world (like video games) where the bullies that kept them down all their life, and the entire cruel cruel world, can see what a big important brilliant bad ass they are as they go down in flames (like Cagney at the end in White Heat, or whatever video games are now the equivalent.)Where does the ability to act out the fantasy come from? The strength to plan it and do it? More often than not (if not always) from playing video games over and over and over and over and over every day till it's ingrained in their already-screwed-up brain, til maybe they've grown some new neural connections that facilitate it. It's just not me thinking this, it's also specialists who have studied these killings.

This report is all over the

Orion — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:37:29 +0000

In reply to Anonymice squeaks

This report is all over the damn place, which is okay because Lanza was probably all over the damn place.

It's hard to digest alot of it but this is what sticks out most to me:

Evidence shows that his mind, sources say, Lanza was also likely acting out the fantasies of a video game as he killed 20 first graders and six adults at the school. For Lanza, the deaths apparently amounted to some kind of "score."

I really wonder how they picked up that evidence. Jeez.

I remember games like Max Payne, Bloodrayne and Grand Theft Auto as a teenager. I don't think those games are marketted quite like that anymore - most shooting games now are at least hidden behind less brutal concepts like Call of Duty or Halo. If he was also obsessed with the Norway massacre, I can see how he could get in the frame of mind where all of this could happen.

Anonymice squeaks

artappraiser — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:26:10 +0000

In reply to Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza

Anonymice squeaks mysteriously appear:

Newtown shooter motivated by Norway massacre, sources say
By Bob Orr & Pat Milton, CBS News, Feb. 18, 2013

Law enforcement sources say Adam Lanza was motivated by violent video games and a strong desire to kill more people than another infamous mass murderer.

Sources say Lanza saw himself as being in direct competition with Anders Breivik, a Norwegian man who killed 77 people in July 2011.

Breivik killed eight with a bombing in downtown Oslo. He then moved to a nearby island where hunted down and fatally shot 69 people, mostly teenagers attending a summer camp.

Two officials who have been briefed on the Newtown, Conn., investigation say Lanza wanted to top Breivik's death toll and targeted nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School because it was the "easiest target" with the "largest cluster of people."

Evidence shows that his mind, sources say, Lanza was also likely acting out the fantasies of a video game as he killed 20 first graders and six adults at the school. For Lanza, the deaths apparently amounted to some kind of "score."

But Lanza ended his killing spree sooner than he intended. Unlike Breivik, who surrendered, Lanza killed himself as police closed in. Just before his suicide, Lanza fired some shots at police in the school's parking lot.

Officials have not publicly revealed what led them to the motive, but sources say investigators have found evidence Lanza was obsessed with Breivik.

They've also recovered what they called a "trove" of video games from the basement of Lanza's home. Sources say Lanza spent countless hours there alone, in a private gaming room with the windows blacked out, honing his computer shooting skills.

Lanza also made multiple visits to nearby gun ranges with his mother, Nancy Lanza, where they practiced together with actual weapons. Three guns, all registered to Nancy Lanza, were used in the Sandy Hook massacre. Lanza used a fourth weapon to kill his mother before his attack on the school.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In response to this piece, Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police told CBS News that the investigation into the motive for the Newtown shooting has not been completed and therefore any statements about the shooter's intent are mere speculation.

more: Raising Adam

artappraiser — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:37:45 +0000

In reply to Frontline: Raising Adam Lanza

Raising Adam Lanza
by Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner, The Hartford Courant @ pbs.org, Feb. 17, 2013

Photo: Adam Lanza’s first grade class photo from Sandy Hook Elementary School. Adam is in the second row, the second from the left.

Shortly after her move from New Hampshire to Newtown in 1998, Nancy Lanza had good news about her troubled son.

“Adam is doing well here, and seems to be enjoying the new school,” Lanza wrote to a friend back in Kingston, N.H., in a Feb. 9, 1999, email.

But Adam, 6, then diagnosed with a condition that made it difficult for him to manage and respond to sights, touch and smell, eventually struggled in the first grade at his new school — Sandy Hook Elementary.

His mother would respond, touching off a 10-year educational shuffle [.....]