Church Pastor Provides Newtown Parents With Official News Of Children's Death
NEWTOWN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- The parents whose children were killed in the massacre knew, of course, that their children had lost their lives when they could not take the children home from school on Friday afternoon.
Still, reported 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria, it is likely that reality did not fully set in until Monsignor Robert Weiss of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church made the official notification.
1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria Reports
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"We actually went to their homes early this morning to confirm the death of their children, and it was just horrible," Weiss said.
Mourners gathered Saturday morning for mass at the church.
Steve Howell, a grandfather, drove from Carmel, N.Y., bringing with him a white teddy bear.
He said he brought the stuffed animal "to try to bring a smile to some child's face after all this hardship; just trying to make someone happy today."
On Friday, the same church was filled to capacity as hundreds of people spilled outside, some of them holding hands in circles and saying prayers. Others lit prayer candles and sang "Silent Night."
Lyrics of the last hymn of the ceremony rang out: "I will raise him up on eagle's wings."
Weiss said earlier he spent much of Friday with victims of the families, but he could not give them any answers about what happened.
"I know that people say 'Why did God allow this to happen?' This was not the hand of God. This was the hand of a person who had issues," Weiss told reporters, including CBS 2's Derricke Dennis.
Next, plans will have to be made for funerals and burials. There is only one funeral parlor in all of Newtown.
Funeral director Daniel Honan, of the Honan Funeral Home, said although he is trained to deal with death all the time, he found the entire shooting incident unbelievable.
"This happens elsewhere, not here," Honan said.
Gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and eight adults in the attack, including himself.
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