A grieving Connecticut town is bracing itself later today to bury the first two of the 20 student victims of the school gunman. Authorities could not say when or whether the school, now a crime scene and forever a place of tragedy, would reopen.
State police Lt. Paul Vance said that it could be months before police turn Sandy Hook Elementary School back over to the district. The people of Newtown, consumed by loss, were not ready to address its future.
"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a student who escaped harm during the shooting. "He's not even there yet."
>> Photos: Newtown school shooting victims
Classes were canceled Monday, and Newtown's other schools were to reopen Tuesday. The district made plans to send surviving Sandy Hook students to a former school building in a neighboring town but could not say when.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama pledged to seek change in memory of the 20 children and six adults slain Friday by a gunman packing a high-powered rifle. The president slowly recited the first names of the children.
"What choice do we have?" he said. "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?"
Authorities said Sunday that the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition, enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time.
The shooter decided to kill himself when he heard police closing in about 10 minutes into the attack, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Sunday on the ABC program "This Week."
'He would have grown up to be a great dad'
The first funerals were for two 6-year-olds: Jack Pinto, a year-old New York Giants fan who might be buried in wide receiver Victor Cruz's jersey, and Noah Pozner, who liked to figure out how things worked mechanically. His twin sister, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the shooting.
Funeral services for Pinto will take place at 1 p.m. at Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main St. in Newtown. Burial will follow at Newtown Village Cemetery, 22 Elm Drive, Newtown. The wake will be private. Funeral services for Pozner will take place at 1 p.m. from the Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Road, Fairfield, with burial following at B'nai Israel Cemetery on Moose Hill Road in Monroe.
"He was just a really lively, smart kid," said Noah's uncle Alexis Haller, of Woodinville, Wash. "He would have become a great man, I think. He would have grown up to be a great dad."
With more funerals planned this week, the road ahead for Newtown, which had already started purging itself of Christmas decorations in a joyful season turned mournful, was clouded.
"I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal anymore," said Kim Camputo, mother of two children, 5 and 10, who attend a different school. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while."
Jim Agostine, superintendent of schools in nearby Monroe, said plans were being made for students from Sandy Hook to attend classes in his town this week.
Newtown police Lt. George Sinko said he "would find it very difficult" for students to return to the same school where they came so close to death. But, he added, "We want to keep these kids together. They need to support each other."
Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor said state construction employees are giving their advice on renovating Sandy Hook, which serves grades kindergarten through four.
It wasn't just Newtown concerned about the next steps for its schoolchildren. Across the country, vigilance was high.
In an effort to ensure student safety and calm parents' nerves, school systems asked police departments to increase patrols and sent messages to parents outlining safety plans they said are regularly reviewed and rehearsed.
Funerals today for first 2 Newtown school shooting victims
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Funerals today for first 2 Newtown school shooting victims
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