Three years later, thousands mark Sandy Hook shooting on social media
By Melissa Fares
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands took to social media on Monday to remember the children and teachers who were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, three years ago, many of them decrying the lack of new gun control laws.
The number of tweets was an indication of how the tragedy still resonates in a country dealing almost daily with gun violence, and family members of victims tweeted poignant messages to those they lost.
Top trending hashtags included #SandyHook, #ProtectOurKids and #StopGunViolence. Twitter user Mark Bland (@markbland) wrote: "Not a single gun control measure has been attempted or passed since #Newtown #SandyHook. Proves we accept the murder of children over laws."
Nicole Hockley (@NicoleHockley), a mother of one of the victims, Dylan Hockley, wrote, "I will never stop. Life and love are worth more. I love and miss you Dylan - and I PROMISE I will never stop. #sandyhook #ProtectOurKids". Dylan was six.
On Dec. 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 first graders and six staff members at the school, an attack that stands as one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. He began his attack by killing his mother at their home and ended it by turning his gun on himself.
The tragedy led to intense activism and advocacy to promote stricter gun control laws but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 460 children and young teens died from gunshot wounds in 2014, the highest number since 1999.
The overall death rate also ticked higher, to 0.8 per 100,000, up from a low of 0.6 per 100,000, most recently attained in 2011, the CDC said.
Gabby Giffords, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 before she was shot and wounded in her district in Arizona in January 2011, tweeted twice about the school tragedy, once to link to an opinion piece she wrote for USA Today newspaper.
(@GabbyGiffords) "We honor the 26 lost 3 years ago today at #SandyHook by coming together to make our communities safer. http://usat.ly/1TK7Pnp"
Danielle Vabner (@dvabner), the older sister of victim Noah Pozner, who was six, tweeted: "Today I remember Principal Dawn Hochsprung. She gave her life to try and save her students, and I will never forget that."
Sandy Hook Promise (@sandyhook), a non-profit organization led by several parents whose children were killed in the shooting tweeted an image that read: "12/14. NEVER FORGET."
(Reporting by Melissa Fares; Writing by Angela Moon; editing by Grant McCool)
