The Connecticut State Police may be releasing the first in a series of reports from their investigation of the deadly attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December. At this point, there are indications that a brief summary report will be released to the general public, but the full report may not be released at this time. Hopefully, this report and future report information will be released by the Connecticut State Police when it is appropriate. This should help put to rest much of the conspiracy theories and wild speculation that has been so prevalent in this case. While some of these harmful activities will no doubt continue, we hope that there will be a decrease in these types of insensitive speculation that must be painful for families who have lost loved ones in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Just as it must be very painful for survivors of the holocaust to listen to gibberish from holocaust deniers, it must be quite painful for family members who lost loved ones, survivors of the terrible attack, and residents of this peaceful community to bear the burden of those who claim the event never happened or who attempt to profit from the event by presenting on “what really happened at Sandy Hook” before the facts of the case are made public – even though they had no direct role.
Having reporters approach your house with a microphone concealed in a bouquet of flowers to try to trick you into a surprise interview must be a painful experience for a parent who has lost a child in such a brutal manner. School security consultants rushing to Newtown to capitalize on the event by doing media interviews has also caused distress. We, as well as many educators and public safety officials in Connecticut, found this practice to be quite disturbing. As neither the school district nor public safety officials summoned them to the community, people were stunned at this unscrupulous and opportunistic behavior. One official likened one of these folks to a hyena coming in to feed off the dead.
Sadly, there is no shortage of individuals who are so focused on making money. They either do not care or perhaps do not realize what damage they can cause with these callous marketing approaches. Anyone who is more concerned about getting on the news more than they care about the emotional well-being of the survivors is not student and school-centered. As with numerous past tragedies, these types of individuals often then try to create an implied narrative that they were called to the scene as responders. These sad events show just how money obsessed some people can be.
The Connecticut State Police, local and federal law enforcement officers working this investigation have been under what must be intense pressure while trying to conduct a thorough investigation in a sensitive and responsible manner. Though there will certainly be unanswered questions, after this report and any subsequent reports, we are hopeful that a more meaningful dialogue about school security can commence as we learn more reliable and accurate information.