Brooklyn horrified by Connecticut mass shooting

December 14, 2012 By Raanan Geberer Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Brooklyn residents and officials on Friday joined the huge number of Americans nationwide who commented on, and were horrified by, the shocking mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The shooter, a man in his 20s, shot and killed 20 kindergarten students and at least six adults – including his mother, a teacher at the school – before killing himself.

Borough President Marty Markowitz said, “All of Brooklyn joins the nation and the world in mourning the loss of so many innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and we pray for the full recovery of those wounded. Over the coming hours, days and weeks, more information will be revealed about the shootings, the deranged individual who committed them, and the weapons he used.”

Former NYC Comptroller William Thompson Jr., a lifelong Brooklyn and former deputy borough president, said, “I am shocked and saddened by the loss of life today at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. This senseless attack on innocent children is yet another reminder that there is no legitimate reason for anyone other than law enforcement or military personnel to have access to semi-automatic weapons.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush) said, in a joint statement with Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilman Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx):

“We are horrified by the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Words cannot express the damage done to this community and our nation as a whole. Our hearts go out to the families of Newtown, Connecticut, on this terrible day.
 
“From Columbine to Oak Creek, from Aurora to Newtown, our country cannot and must not live in fear of weapons designed to kill.”

Ned Berke, publisher of the blog Sheepshead Bites, wrote, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. My brave little nieces are students at the school and, thanks to the teachers’ leadership and courage, they are safe and sound. But for the many who are not as lucky, our hearts break.”

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan) wrote, “I am absolutely horrified by news of the cold-blooded shooting of dozens of children in Newtown, Connecticut.  Yet another unstable person has gotten access to firearms and committed an unspeakable crime against innocent children.  We cannot simply accept this as a routine product of modern American life.”

Professor Richard Shadick of Pace University said, “If you look at the total number of schools and the total number of students in the United States, these incidents are a tiny number. It’s the scale of them that’s frightening.” He added that new developments in weapons technology are of the reasons for what appears to be the increasing numbers of mass shootings.

The attack came less than two weeks before Christmas and appears to be the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.

Police recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, according to police sources.

President Obama, who gave a tearful speech, ordered flags to half-staff nationwide in tribute to the victims.

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