A state-authored investigation into the tragic shooting at Sandyhook Elementary School (Conn.) in Dec. 2012 could not determine the suspect’s motive for killing 20 children and six teachers with an assault rifle, but it does provide a more accurate timeline of the incident. The 282-page report was released today, at nearly the same time a Superior Court judge was considering a final appeal to keep 911 call recordings related to the case confidential. A state public records panel has recommended release of the tapes in response to a public records request by the Associated Press. The judge could make his decision by next week. Today’s report was authored by a state’s attorney Stephen Sedensky, and said the first 911 call from an school office staff member was received at the Newtown police department comm center at 09:35:39. A NPD dispatcher first told officers at the station about the incident at 09:36:06 Officers left the police station immediately, and the dispatcher then made the first radio broadcast at 09:36:06. The first officer arrived at the school at 09:39:00. The shooting was over and the suspect killed himself at about 09:40:03, the report states. It was 09:44:47 when the first officer entered the school.
As in past incidents, the ability of Newton officers at the scene to directly communicate with other agencies was severely limited, specifically the Connecticut State Police (CSP). The former operates on a 156 MHz radio system, the latter on an 800 MHz, multi-site trunked system. Furthermore, the CSP portable radios had trouble broadcasting and receiving from inside the school building.
Download (pdf, 79 Mb) report here, with a timeline (p. 136) and explanation of the response.
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