By Dave Altimari, Hartford Courant
Some Newtown residents have suggested that the town purchase and tear down the home of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza and turn the property into a park or nature preserve.
For the past few months, the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation has been surveying residents on the long-term needs of the town. The foundation has been raising money since the 2012 shooting and has more than $4.4 million that it has not distributed. It has established a committee to decide how to use that money.
More than 1,600 residents responded to the survey. The overwhelming majority indicated the biggest priority is long-term mental health assistance for individuals touched by the shooting in which 20 first graders and six adults were killed, including students and first responders.
An unspecified number of respondents indicated they would like to see house at 36 Yogananda St. where Lanza and his mother, Nancy Lanza, lived torn down. Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother at the house before heading to the school.
The idea would be similar to what occurred following the Cheshire triple homicide, when the fire-ravaged Petit family house was torn down and a garden was planted in its place. The circumstances are different in Sandy Hook because the Lanza house is not damaged and the property will be owned by Ryan Lanza, Adam’s older brother.