'We can't tolerate this any more' President Obama's emotional vow at Sandy Hook

 

President Obama today vowed to take action in the shocking aftermath of the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying: “We can’t tolerate this any more.”

In his strongest sign yet that he is planning to tighten America’s gun laws, Mr Obama pledged to use the power of his office to try to break the pattern of mass killings.

In an emotional speech at a memorial service for the 20 children and six staff shot dead at the elementary school, he asked: “Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?

“If we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough, and we will have to change.” Speaking over a table filled with white candles representing the victims,

he declared: “Are we prepared that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”

In an emotional address to a packed audience of grieving relatives and residents, Mr Obama said: “Surely we can do better than this.”

His comments were among his strongest yet on gun violence, but he stopped short of issuing an explicit call for gun control or reform that would curtail gun owners’ rights. In the aftermath of other tragedies such as the slaughter at a Colorado cinema, the President was careful not to suggest he was about to tackle the contentious issue of gun control.

But White House sources say the shooting spree by 20-year-old Adam Lanza may prove to be the tipping point. Lanza took an assault rifle and guns owned by his mother Nancy, 52, and shot her dead in bed before driving to the school in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday. All 20 children who died, eight boys and 12 girls, were aged between six and seven.

The children and staff were shot several times at close range before Lanza killed himself. Several teachers died protecting their pupils.

Mr Obama declared: “In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.”

His speech came as further details emerged of the killer and more stories of bravery were revealed from the carnage at Sandy Hook.

One six-year-old girl survived by playing dead after her friends were shot dead by Lanza. The unnamed girl hid among the bodies and waited until she believed it was safe.

She then ran from the building covered with blood from head to toe. All the other 15 members of her class are believed to have been killed.

When the girl finally reached her mother, she told her: “Mummy, I’m okay, but all my friends are dead.”

Police say there are no obvious clues to a motive for the shootings, though they were gathering “a great deal of evidence”. There were no diaries or letters at the house Lanza shared with his mother though investigators are trying to retrieve data from his computer’s hard drive which was found smashed in his bedroom.

Lanza used three of his mother’s weapons — two handguns and a .223-calibre Bushmaster assault rifle.

Lanza, described by former pupils at his old school as a “ghost” and “deeply disturbed” young man, spent his days playing violent computer games in his bedroom.

He is thought to have attended Sandy Hook Elementary School and later went to Newtown High but he was withdrawn abruptly at some stage after his mother had a dispute with education officials. Mrs Lanza was described as a “survivalist” and part of the so-called “prepper” movement whose adherents stockpile food and weapons in readiness for an economic collapse.

It also emerged that she had taken her two sons to shooting ranges to practise. Her elder son, Ryan, who works in the New York office of accountants Ernst & Young, had left home some years earlier. He is reported to have told police he believed his brother had a personality disorder and possibly Asperger's, a form of autism.

As the first funerals of victims were being held today, it also emerged that Lanza may have planned to kill more. Police discovered hundreds of rounds of unused ammunition.

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