Nancy Lanza, a gun enthusiast, taught her son how to shoot

GlobalPost
The World

New reports reveal that Nancy Lanza, the mother of the Sandy Hook shooter, took her mentally ill son to gun ranges to learn to shoot.

Nancy Lanza has been linked to five weapons, two handguns, two rifles and a semiautomatic rifle that is used on battlefields.

One of the handguns was used by her son Adam Lanza, 20, to kill her.

“She’d take them to the range a lot. ...Nancy was an enthusiast — so much so that she wanted to pass it on to her kids,” her former landscaper and friend Dan Holmes told the New York Post.

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The Post said she became preoccupied with guns after her 2009 divorce with Adam's father.

She proudly showed her collection to friends on several occasions.

There have been contradictory reports that Nancy Lanza was associated with Sandy Hook Elementary school where the shooting took place.

Initial reports said that she was a teacher, or substitute teacher, at the school, but new reports said that she had no affiliation with the school.

The late Nancy Lanza grew up in New Hampshire, where her brother is a police officer.

Nancy Lanza's family did not speak to reporters after the shooting but released a statement through New Hampshire police:

“The family of Nancy Lanza share the grief of a community and a nation as we struggle to comprehend the tremendous loss that we all share. Our hearts and prayers are with those who share in this loss,” the statement read, according to CBS News.

“On behalf of Nancy’s mother and siblings we reach out to the community of Newtown and express our heartfelt sorrow for the incomprehensible and profound loss of innocence that has affected so many.”

NBC News reported that Adam Lanza may have been planning the shooting for days or weeks beforehand, attempting to buy more guns just three days before the massacre.

His request was rejected as he did not have a proper permit.

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