The Connecticut investigators working the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School struggled emotionally throughout their difficult work, with some showing symptoms of PTSD.
The stark emotional impact of the Dec. 12, 2012, slayings on the officers assigned to the case was detailed in a Connecticut State Police “After Action Report” released Friday.
“To some degree, each detective assigned to this investigation was impacted emotionally,” declared the report that was five years in the making.
“Some crime scene investigators reported there were varying degrees of distress among detectives during the investigation, including the onset of post-traumatic stress.”
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Even the daily trip to the murder scene became a painful reminder of the 26 victims as investigators traveled past still-devastated residents and homemade shrines to the dead.
“At the end of the day, the drive to and from the crime scene was lined with reminders that affected each investigator on a personal level,” the report found.
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Twenty first-grade students and a half-dozen school workers were killed in the massacre by a lone shooter who took his own life.
The report gave credit to the school’s staff for keeping the horrific death toll from growing.
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“Had it not been for the heroic actions of the teachers, school staff and the response force, the number of victims could have been higher,” the report found.
The report comes one month after the fifth anniversary of the mass murder inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Killer Adam Lanza killed his mother in their Newtown home before driving to the school and opening fire.
The report was shown to the families of the victims and to state police administrators before its public release. In conclusion, the state police declared the investigation “was handled effectively.”