Newtown, Connecticut -
Adam Lanza’s mother spent the weeks before the Sandy Hook massacre trying to help her son start a new life at university.
Friends revealed that Nancy Lanza was ready to live near whichever college the 20-year-old chose, in a bid to end his reclusive behaviour.
She was also becoming increasingly alarmed about his declining mental state in the days before he shot her dead before driving to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 young children and six adults.
One friend said Mrs Lanza, 52, had confided that Adam was “getting worse” days before Friday’s killings, adding: “I’m worried I’m losing him”.
They said Mrs Lanza also believed her son - who suffered from a condition whereby he couldn’t feel physical pain - was burning himself with a lighter in an attempt to “feel something”. “I asked her if she was getting him help and she said she was,” they added.
Another of Mrs Lanza’s friends, Russ Hanoman, said she “doted” on her highly intelligent but incredibly shy son, and had spent months discussing his academic options for engineering.
The gunman, who shot himself in the head despite having enough ammunition to kill dozens more people, is understood to have had Asperger’s syndrome. Another friend, Rich Collins, said Mrs Lanza found it particularly hard dealing with her son’s inability to express love. “She would get upset that he wouldn’t let her hug him,” he said.
Mrs Lanza, an avid gun collector, is said to have been a “survivalist” who hoarded firearms and food in case of social breakdown. Mr Collins said she took her son to a nearby shooting range in an attempt to “connect” with him.
It was revealed on Monday that nobody has yet come forward to claim the bodies of either her or her son. - Daily Mail