Associated Press/ Evan Vucci) President Barack Obama arrives at Bradley Air National Guard Base on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in East Granby, Conn. He is scheduled to attend a vigil for the victims of Friday's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) --
President Barack Obama has arrived in Newtown, Conn., to console families,
thank first responders and speak at a vigil in memory of the 26 teachers and
schoolchildren killed during a shooting spree at an elementary school Friday.
This is the fourth trip of
Obama's presidency to a grieving city in the aftermath of a mass shooting. In
his remarks, Obama will be addressing not only the residents of Newtown, but
also a stunned nation. A White House official said Obama is the primary author
of his speech and edited his remarks on the flight to Connecticut with White
House speech writer Cody Keenan.
Keenan helped Obama write
his speech last year following the shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six
and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabby Gifford's.
Connecticut state police
say multiple 30-round magazines and hundreds of bullets found at elementary
school where 26 were killed. State Police Lt. Paul Vance also said Sunday that
authorities have publicly identified the gunman in the school rampage as Adam
Lanza. They say his mother, Nancy, as was one of his victims.
Vance also detailed the
guns found at the school. He says Lanza had two handguns, a Glock 10 mm and a
Sig Sauer 9 mm, and a Bushmaster assault rifle that was used for nearly all his
killings. The Bushmaster is a type of gun commonly seen at competitions and was
the type used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington area.
A fourth weapon, a
shotgun, was found in the car Lanza drove to the school.
