The gunman, who was believed to be in his 20s, walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher.
NYTimes

That isn't his twitter account, just some with the same name.

My heart breaks for these families. Trying very hard to stay in my seat and not to rush home to my child. She will get an extra hard hug and an extra top of the head kiss tonight.

Surely no one in his right mind could do this.

Isn't that the truth. My wife and I were saying we just can't imagine the feeling of dropping our kids off at school and them not coming home because of something like this.

I wish they would quit interviewing these children. They are traumatized and don't need to be discussing the situation with reporters.

On that topic, a question comes to mind.

I've got news streaming in the background and I've heard some interviews of parents. The interviewers always ask how their child is holding up and they've all said, "oh they're doing really well, so brave, etc. etc."

I know nothing about child psychology/early childhood development but at that age are kids really processing this kind of information that quickly? I worry that there has been damage done that will not surface immediately.

That is not to criticize the parents at all--they themselves are trying to process. But I'm just wondering if it will take some time to have an effect on these kids?

I think it actually goes the other way...often children are a LOT more resilient than we give them credit for.

Newtown is not that far away from me. It's a sleepy little town - certainly not the kind of place where you'd see your kids off on the school bus, or see your spouse off to work as a teacher or administrator, and wonder if they're going to come home at the end of the day. People move to places like Newtown to get AWAY from random senseless acts of violence like this ... this serves as proof that it can happen anywhere.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

And may the shooter spend eternity in a special level of Hell.

You described Newtown perfectly. I get down to that end of the state quite a bit for court (Danbury), and other matters. Quiet area, nice people, a really tightly-knit community.

It's just such an awful, tragic story. There really are no words to describe something like this. My thoughts are with my friends and colleagues in the area, and everyone who has been affected by this event.

Some are probably in shock right now. Some will have PTSD issues later. Some will be a mess right now. Just as with adults, everybody reacts differently. I'm quite certain that counselors and special assistance will be available for these children for a long time. Even though they were all in that building together, they all had different experiences, saw and heard different things, etc.

Ditto with their parents and the teachers.

When Columbine happened, I kept my own kids away from TV news for quite a while. They were very young and I didn't want them to be afraid of school. They learned of it as they grew older, when they were better able to discuss it. Ditto with 9/11. We had some conversations about it, but I shielded them from the extensive TV coverage that would be really upsetting to see.

These kinds of tragedies are so senseless.

Please keep my friend who suffered two gunshot wounds (she is a teach at SH) in your prayers. She is in surgery and that's all the information I can get at the moment.

Thoughts and prayers
 

My thoughts and prayers are with you, your friend and her family, and all those affected by this horrible tragedy.

Prayers.

My prayers have been going up all day for everyone affected. Special ones for your friend now, and for you and her other loved ones. <3

I wish there were a way to physically send love to everyone. My heart is just breaking.