As details of Friday?s killings were still emerging, Newtown residents came?together Saturday to counsel and be counseled, to wipe away each other?s tears, to bow their heads in prayer.
Molly Delaney holds her 11-year-old daughter Milly during a service at St. John's Episcopal Church Saturday in honor of the victims who died a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Julio Cortez/AP
EnlargeIn Newtown, Conn., Saturday, shock ever so slowly started to give way to reflection and action, like the morning frost receding in the glare of the bright sun.
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Even as details of Friday?s killings were still emerging, area residents were coming together to counsel and be counseled, to wipe away each other?s tears, to bow their heads in prayer, and to wrestle with the simple unanswerable question of why a young man would shatter their peaceful town with a deadly burst of ammunition aimed at their youngest.
?I?ve been here 25 years ? and never afraid for nothing except speeding tickets,? says Anthony Paravalos, originally from Greece, as he repairs boots at Anthony?s Shoe Service in Newtown. Tears stream down his cheeks as he whispers about the families who won?t have a happy Christmas this year, and the tragedy of ?kids so angry in their hearts,? in reference to shooter Adam Lanza. ?I feel it inside,? he says, tapping his heart.
?You just don?t have those kind of violent things happen here, so it?s hard to fathom,? says Herb Rosenthal, the first selectman (Newtown?s mayor) from 1997 to 2007. He says he can?t help but think back to when the Columbine massacre occurred and everyone could only hope that something similar wouldn?t happen in their own town.
When tragedy strikes: a prayerful response to the shootings in Connecticut
His wife, Michelle Rosenthal, teaches middle school in nearby Danbury, Conn. For teachers, this tragedy resonates almost as strongly as it does for parents. ?It?s devastating,? she says. ?We think of our students as our children sometimes.?
At Always Wendy?s nail salon, owner Wendy Mezzanotte clutches a coffee cup and says, ?It was horrendous?. In the end I don?t know if we?re ever going to find out the rhyme or reason for the whole thing.?
At the town?s central flagpole, a giant flag hung at half-staff, and a stuffed dog and bouquet of flowers sat at the base. Other spontaneous memorials have sprung up in front of many shop windows, with candles and flowers sitting beneath homemade signs expressing love and sympathy.
The area around Sandy Hook Elementary has been blocked off as a crime scene under investigation.
Leaders of the local United Way and Newtown Savings Bank quickly set up a Sandy Hook School Support Fund to channel donations from around the world. Community leaders will decide how best to support the victims? families, says Kim Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut.
Offers of everything from free counseling to funeral caskets have been pouring into the local news website Patch.com, says Patch reporter Gary Jeanfaivre.
Volunteer crisis counselors are staffing two locations this weekend to assist grieving families or any member of the community in need of help.
At Newtown Youth and Family Services, counselors Saturday morning were ?mentally preparing? as they organized materials on helping young people cope with trauma. Nearby, colorful beanbag chairs and stuffed animals awaited the children who would come in later in the day.
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