Connecticut state police's Lt. Paul Vance and Lt. George Sinko speak out about the school tragedy, telling TODAY's Matt Lauer about how police reacted to the scene and how the gunman may have possibly entered the locked building.
By Tracy Connor, NBC News
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Connecticut authorities said Saturday they have finished the heart-wrenching task of identifying and removing the bodies of 20 children and six adults massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Police were scheduled to hold a news briefing as new details about the Newtown slaughter were emerging.
Undated photo confirmed by government officials to be Adam Lanza, who apparently killed himself after killing more than two dozen others, including 20 school children
After fatally shooting his mother in the face at her home, gunman?Adam Lanza apparently shot his way into the 600-student school ? then executed the children at close range, several officials told NBC News.
Investigators said a glass window near the locked front door of the school was shattered, probably by a bullet from one of two pistols black-clad Lanza used to kill his victims -- and then himself.
The motive for the rampage remained a mystery. Of the many questions, none were more poignant than those posed by the parents of the dead children, who?were mostly concerned that the children had not suffered in their final moments.
?They were wondering whether the children knew what was happening to them, whether they were afraid,? said?Monsignor Robert Weiss of St. Rose of Lima Church, who?met with the families overnight at a firehouse while workers from the medical examiner's office identified the bodies.
Meanwhile, there were new details about the 20-year-old man behind the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history.
Lanza?s brother told police the gunman had a history of mental problems, though a classmate from Newtown High School recalled him as a generally happy person.
?We would hang out, and he was a good kid,??Joshua Milas, who had not seen Lanza in a few years, told The Associated Press. ?He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius.?
The weapons he used were were legally purchased and registered to his mother, Nancy, two law enforcement officials said. Two 9mm handguns were recovered inside the school. An AR-15-type rifle also was found outside.
Lanza?s connection to the school was unclear. Law enforcement officials initially said his mother was a kindergarten teacher there, but the school superintendent told TODAY that she wasn?t a full-time staffer and may have been a substitute.
Police said their investigation into Lanza and how he carried out the horrendous crime was still in the early stages.
?We have a mountain of evidence, both physical and forensic,??Newtown Police Lt. George Sinko?said. ?Obviously we?re not going to leave any stone unturned.?
He said the entire town of 27,000 ? a sleepy bedroom community some 60 miles from New York City and known for its good schools ? was reeling.
?We never thought this would happen here,? Sinko said. ?Our hearts are broken for the families of these victims.?
Even the young survivors -- ages 5 to 10 -- will be scarred. They spoke of huddling in corners of locked classrooms and closets with heroic teachers while shots rang out around them.
Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher.
"That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he told The Associated Press. "He was very brave."
Sandy Hook Elementary principal Dawn Hochsprung died in the attack after reportedly running toward the gunfire to protect her students. TODAY's Erica Hill reports, and Savannah Guthrie talks with two men who knew her.
The school superintendent, Dr. Janet Robinson, said the body count would have been even higher if not for staff who rushed to protect their young charges. All of the dead were found in two rooms.
?A lot of children are alive today because of actions the teachers took,? she said.
The high death toll and the tender age of the victims sent shock waves all the way to the White House, where the flag was lowered to half-staff.
President Obama, his voice cracking at times, said he reacted to the tragedy first as a parent.
?Our hearts are broken today,'' he said in a news conference Friday. ?The majority of those who died today were children. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.?
The outpouring of shock and grief from around the world over the horrific events in Newtown, Conn., has given way to another widespread emotion: the desire to support the shattered families of the victims.???
?I just had a lady call from Montana,? said Scudder Smith, publisher of the Newtown Bee, the local paper. "She said she?s going to send me a box of bears to distribute when the time is right so the kids can hug some bears.?
NBC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams and NBC News reporter?John Schoen contributed to this report.
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