'Shutdowns' marked Newtown mass killer Adam Lanza's school life
Schoolmates of the young man who would go on to slay 26 in a shooting rampage in Connecticut recall his 'episodes' and love of video games
When he was a student at Newtown High School, Adam Lanza would sometimes have what a school employee referred to as "an episode".
No one knew what might bring it on. The shy teenager "would just shut down", said Richard Novia, a former adviser to the school tech club. He said Lanza would get together with other technology-minded students for fantasy role-playing video games and for sleepovers at school. The thin, gangly boy would join in with enjoyment.
"It would be total emotional withdrawal," Novia said. "He wouldn't hurt anyone or yell. He wouldn't speak or talk, he would walk away. Not in a defiant way, but in a scared way. Like, 'Leave me alone.'"
Acquaintances of the family drew a sharper picture of Lanza, 20, as investigators attempt to retrace his path on December 14 from the 370 square metre home where he shot his mother multiple times to a nearby elementary school. There, he shot dead 20 students and six staff and then killed himself.
When Lanza would have one of his "episodes", Novia said, he would telephone Nancy Lanza. She was "a great parent", he said, and would often come within minutes, sitting with her son and making him feel better.
"She could pull him back in line," Novia said.
In high school, Adam Lanza always wore the same green shirt and khaki pants every day and hardly ever talked to classmates. He once gave a presentation entirely by computer, never uttering a single word, just demonstrating the steps on a screen.