FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2013 file photo, white roses with the faces of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are attached to a telephone pole near the school on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that left 26 dead in Newtown, Conn.(Photo: Jessica Hill, AP)
Newtown, Conn., marked the second anniversary of the Sandy Hook school massacre with a private ceremony and quiet reflection Sunday.
On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother in her bed, then drove to the nearby elementary school, where his shooting spree left 20 children and six educators dead. Lanza, 20, then killed himself as police closed in.
"This second anniversary, like the first one last year, will be recognized in personal reflection and remembrance," First Selectman Pat Llodra and schools Superintendent Joseph Erardi said in a public letter.
The letter thanks cities and towns across the state and nation and around the world for their support and kindness.
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"This is a challenging journey, filled with days of joyful hope and occasional dips of despair," the letter says. "We are so grateful to have the friendship and support of many beyond our borders, but there is no escape from the realization that we are where we are because of the horrible loss of lives that occurred at the school on that fateful day."
Local churches paid tribute to the victims in Sunday services. At St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, special bells were rung and the victims' names were read.
Earlier this year, Newtown formed a Recovery and Resiliency Team to provide long-term support for residents dealing with recovery and post-traumatic problems, and to find funds to pay for that support.
"I hear a lot of people say, 'Hey, it's been two years, things should be getting better,'" Melissa Glaser, the group's community outreach liaison, told
The Newtown Bee. "But experts tell us from a recovery standpoint, (Newtown is) in its infancy."
The shooting set off a scramble for gun control laws, but few new rules were enacted. President Obama's proposals to ban some military-style assault rifles and limit the size of ammunition magazines failed to gain traction in Congress.
Two groups seeking political action aimed at preventing gun violence went to Washington, D.C., this week to publicize a report on shootings that have taken place on school grounds since Sandy Hook. The report says the shootings often involved a minor taking a gun from home and using it in a confrontation that started out as an argument.
The two groups, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, defined school shootings to include those involving gang violence, unintentional shootings and suicides. The report used news accounts to compile a list of 95 shootings that occurred in 33 states; 23 of the incidents resulted in at least one death. The shootings caused 45 deaths and 78 gunshot injuries, according to the report.
"Our community continues to encourage others to create a long-lasting and sustainable good to honor those who lost their lives in the senseless act of violence," Llodra and Erardi said in their letter. "We cannot undo the awful happening on that day. But we can choose how we respond to it and that choice could maybe have long lasting positive effects."
Contributing: Larry Copeland; Associated Press
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