Documents: Lanza's Mother Gave Newtown Shooter Holiday Card, Check To Buy Another Gun
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza had an arsenal of weapons, and his mother was ready to buy him more, according to documents released Thursday that offered new insight behind the massacre investigation.
Lanza's shocking attack took place 11 days before Christmas, and search warrants show his mother was going to give him a gift -- of yet another gun -- to add to his arsenal of firearms, knives and swords, CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported.
Search warrants spell out what investigators found in the home Adam Lanza shared with his divorced mother, 52-year-old Nancy, the first victim on the day her son went on a killing spree.
WEB EXTRA (Caution -- Contains Graphic Information): Search Warrant 1 | Search Warrant 2 | Search Warrant 3 | Search Warrant 4 | Search Warrant 5
The documents confirmed she died from a gunshot wound to the forehead and was killed while lying in her bed.
There is also confirmation linking Adam Lanza to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 first graders and six staff members.
Warrants Released In Sandy Hook Shooting Investigation
An unnamed person, believed to be a Lanza family member, told investigators, Lanza "rarely leaves his home" and he was a "shut-in and an avid gamer who plays [the violent video game] Call of Duty."
He had attended Sandy Hook Elementary and, according to a source, "the school was Adam Lanza's life."
"If in fact there was this attachment or connection, why then did he choose to go back to that school and commit this terrible crime? So there's a puzzle here that they're going to try and unravel," criminal behavior expert N.G. Burrell said.
The search of Nancy Lanza's home turned up several books, including "Look Me in the Eye, My Life with Asperger's" and "Born on a Blue Day, Inside The Mind of an Autistic Savant."
Warrants Released In Sandy Hook Shooting Investigation
Investigators found that Adam Lanza had an arsenal of ammunition, including firearms, knives, samurai swords and a long pole with a blade on one side and a spear on the other, among other items. He also had "a gun safe containing at least four guns" inside his bedroom, the document revealed.
And Nancy Lanza was ready to add to his arsenal. Investigators found a holiday card with a check from Nancy to Adam for the purchase of a C183 firearm.
CBS News senior correspondent and former FBI official John Miller said it's obvious Nancy Lanza had no idea her son was about to snap.
"She figured out the one thing that interested him, and tried to, tried to engage him with that. Unfortunately that 'thing' -- his fascination with firearms, shooting, and in his fantasy world, killing, would become his real world," Miller said.
The parents of one Sandy Hook victim recently spoke to "CBS This Morning" about how they view Nancy Lanza.
"I don't understand their dynamics and their situation so I'm never going to understand that," Alissa Parker said, adding when asked if Nancy Lanza should have accountability, "Oh I think she has a lot of accountability. Do I think it was her fault? I'm sure that there were things that, you know, she's gonna have to be accountable for."
All the guns were purchased legally by Nancy Lanza. Friends said she enjoyed target shooting.
Burrell said it's possible she welcomed her son's interest in weapons as a way to bond with him.
"They both shared an interest in guns and perhaps from her perspective she thought this was a productive way of engaging the boy. It doesn't appear as though she understood how deeply disturbed he was," Burrell said.
Police found several journals kept by Adam Lanza, as well as news clippings about at least one other mass school shooting. Investigators are now working on a "psychological autopsy" of the troubled 20-year-old, and could issue their findings as early as June.
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