An X-Mas Card with a Check for a Gun and 1,000 Rounds of Ammo Among Objects Confiscated from Sandy Hook Shooter's Home
Adam Lanza spent only five minutes at Sandy Hook Elementary School on the morning of December 14—from the moment he "shot his way into the school" to the minute he took his own life. But police found 154 spent casings from his Bushmaster rifle—and over a thousand rounds more at his home, authorities announced today.
According to search warrants newly made public, Lanza, who killed 20 children and seven adults before turning the gun on himself, had over 1,000 rounds of ammunition at his home, in addition to an arsenal of firearms and other weapons, including knives and a samurai sword. Also at the home and confiscated by police were journals, video games and computers, photographs of an unknown dead person "covered in plastic and blood"—and a holiday card made out to Lanza from his mother, including a check for "the purchase of a C183 (firearm)." Update: As a number of commenters correctly point out, there is no gun called a "C183," though investigators identified it as such; it seems likely that C183 was a typo, and the firearm is a CZ-83 handgun.
Other information, including witness testimony, was kept sealed. The Danbury State's Attorney released a statement:
The shooter took his own life with a single shot from a Glock 10 mm handgun. He also had a loaded 9mm Sig Sauer P226 handgun on his person. Recovered from the person of the shooter, in addition to more ammunition for the handguns, were three, 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster, each containing 30 rounds. Located in the area of the shootings were six additional 30-round magazines containing 0, 0, 0, 10, 11, and 13 live rounds respectively. One-hundred-and-fifty-four spent .223 casings were recovered from the scene.
It is currently estimated that the time from when the shooter shot his way into the school until he took his own life was less than five minutes.
The police found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun in the passenger compartment of the car the shooter drove to the school. The shotgun was moved by police from the passenger compartment of the car to the trunk for safekeeping.
The guns used in the shootings were apparently all purchased by the shooter's mother. There is currently no indication that the shooter attempted to purchase the guns and was denied. The gun locker at 36 Yogananda St. was open when the police arrived. It was unlocked and there was no indication that it had been broken into.
Some lists of seized items are below. The full warrant is embedded at the bottom of the page.
[Hartford Courant, Danbury State's Attorney/Photo credit: Shutterstock and AP]