Reporter broke news to father of suspect

STAMFORD – Peter Lanza drove up to his home, a brick ranch on a quiet street, a few hours after his son allegedly killed 26 people and himself at a Newtown elementary school and moments after police left his property.

“Is there something I can do for you?” he asked me, after stopping his blue Mini Cooper in his driveway and rolling down the window. He wore a blue-and-white striped button-down shirt, his hair neatly parted to side.


I told him I was a reporter for the Stamford Advocate, and I was surprised that no click of recognition flash across his face. So I continued, explaining that I’d been told someone at his address had been linked to the shootings in Newtown.

His expression twisted from patient, to surprise to horror; it was obvious that this moment, shortly after 1:30 p.m. Friday, was the first time he had considered his family could have been involved. He quickly declined to comment, rolled up the window, parked in the right side of the two-car garage and closed the door.

Moments later he sat at a table in the front of his three-bedroom house, a phone to his left ear and a palm to his right cheek.

Lanza, a vice president of taxes for GE Energy Financial Services, is the father of the alleged shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, who is also suspected of killing his mother, Nancy.


[link to www.stamfordadvocate.com]

Last Edited by gebahie on 12/15/2012 11:24 AM