In cold, gray, rainy weather sadly right for a US town in mourning, people packed churches Sunday as they tried to make sense of the slaughter of 20 children aged just six and seven.
As a bewildered country tried to cope with yet another massacre by a crazed and heavily armed gunman, and wondered what lawmakers will do in response, flowers and teddy bears were left at a makeshift memorial at the entrance of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A row of small Christmas trees decorated with toys lined a street leading to the place where a parent’s worst nightmare came true, 20 times over and with unimaginable, multiple-shot cruelty, in Friday’s bloodbath.
At the foot of the large Christmas tree in the central square of Newtown were candles, handwritten notes and more flowers.
But it was the churches that were the strongest magnets two days after the killings, both for heartbroken families and police and emergency rescue workers who had to view the bullet-ridden bodies of very small children. Some were shot as many as 11 times with a high-powered assault rifle.
“The community is gathering together and praying,” Rosty Slabicky, a Red Cross volunteer told AFP. “They are destroyed. Not just the families, but the first responders are dealing with the crisis in a very personal and emotional way.”
At the church of Saint Rose of Lima, Michelle Garraty, a 40-year-old mother-of-three, said she struggled to keep her mind on the religious service.
“It was very hard to concentrate in the church. All I wanted was to hold my children, honestly.”
Her desire, she said, was “just to be around people and support the community.”
The shooter, who apparently killed himself as police arrived, has been identified as Adam Lanza, 20. His father Peter released a statement Saturday night saying his family was grieving along with everyone else affected by the tragedy.
“No words can truly express how heartbroken we are. We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We, too, are asking why,” it read.
The Saint Rose of Lima church kept the news media out of Sunday’s Mass.
“The situation is extremely tense, so we don’t want journalists or cameras here,” said Brian Wallace, a spokesman.
Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy described how as the magnitude of the tragedy at the school sank in, there was a job to do that nobody wanted to touch.
“It was clear to me that, that there was a reluctance to, to speak to the families. But it was also clear to me that we knew everything we needed to know at that point, and so it fell upon my shoulders to inform the family of what had transpired and that their loved one wouldn’t be joining them again,” Malloy told ABC News.
US town torn by school shooting seeks solace in church
