Malloy Calls For Release Of Newtown Information Amid Criticism
by Hugh McQuaid & Christine Stuart | Mar 21, 2013 11:27am
(14) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Town News, Newtown, Law Enforcement, Public Safety
Christine Stuart file photo
Col. Danny Stebbins with Public Safety Commissioner Reuben Bradford at a press conference in 2011
(Updated 2:16 p.m.) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called Thursday for the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office to release additional information regarding the ongoing Newtown shooting investigation following outcry from lawmakers over details leaked by the State Police.
Malloy’s request to prosecutors comes amid criticisms from House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, who called the information State Police Colonel Danny Stebbins shared with other law enforcement officers at a conference in New Orleans, a “slap in the face,” to the families of the Newtown victims.
Malloy said he was also “disappointed and angered” to learn the information had been released and published in a newspaper. He said he expected a report from prosecutors by March 29.
However, Cafero said it’s also a slap in the face toward the General Assembly and its leadership who are trying to craft a legislative response to the shooting.
“We’ve been respectful of the fact that law enforcement has to conduct its investigation,” Cafero said Thursday. “We didn’t want to interfere nor did we expect them to give us any information that would compromise that, but when you pick up the Daily News and realize that one of our chief law enforcement officers goes down to New Orleans and tells strangers, albeit of the same profession, about information found at the scene— information that could be helpful to how we craft this legislation and we don’t know about it. That’s wrong.”
Malloy said he was “bewildered” by Cafero’s demands for a special briefing to help inform legislation under negotiation by lawmakers.
“To Mr. Cafero and those others I must ask: what more could you possibly need to know?” he asked in a statement. “We know for a fact that on December 14, a very disturbed young man took a military-style rifle with high-capacity magazines into a school and murdered 20 innocent children and six innocent adults.”
The governor said the majority of Connecticut residents want to see lawmakers ban the sale of the gun used in the shooting and outlaw the high capacity ammunition magazines the gunman used. He said people also want laws making it more difficult for guns to fall into the wrong hands.
But many questions remain for lawmakers.
Cafero said he would like to know if the gunman attempted to purchase a gun, how the weapons were stored in the house, and how big were the magazines he used? Malloy said last week that the gunman taped together two high capacity magazines to “maximize the amount of death and destruction that he could accomplish in a relatively short period of time.”
As details both large and small begin to leak out, Cafero said he wants to know if there’s any information that may be helpful “without compromising a criminal investigation” about what happened on Dec. 14.
According to the New York Daily News, Stebbins spoke for a long time about the morning of Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary.
In a statement State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said there aren’t currently plans to release more information about the investigation publicly, which is still several months away from completion.
Vance said sensitive information was discussed at the New Orleans seminar, which was designed for law enforcement professionals. He said Stebbins spoke about the tactical approaches used by first responders on Dec. 14, as well as officer and public safety lessons learned through the incident.
“Following each tragic mass murder incident in this country it is customary for law enforcement to share their lessons learned from the investigation so that other law enforcement agencies can learn,” he said.
Vance said the State Police will not speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and will not distribute information until after the families of the victims are informed.
“The families of the victims continue to be a priority in this investigation and this fact was clearly stated at the seminar,” he said. “It is unfortunate that someone in attendance chose not to honor Colonel Stebbins’ request to respect the families’ right to know specifics of the investigation first.”
Tags: state police, Lawrence Cafero, Danny Stebbins, New York Daily News, Newtown
(14) Comments
posted by: lebron | March 21, 2013 2:34pm
I am so sorry that Gov. Malloy feels “bewildered” that the Legislature feels that access to the investigative report of this horrific crime. It may just may help guide them prior to restricting the rights of law abiding Connecticut citizens. But then again if Gov. Malloy would take ten minutes out of his whirlwind late night Television tour touting on how all us lowly serfs back in Connecticut “Support” his Political agenda and want common sense restrictions all in the name of the “common good”. He may realize why Representative Cafero just might want to see the report now that the cat is out of the bag.
posted by: ASTANVET | March 21, 2013 2:55pm
Facts do not matter when Ideology gets in the way… So far the only people who have been targeted are law abiding gun owners… kinda makes you feel like a criminal.
posted by: DirtyJobsGUy | March 21, 2013 4:12pm
I don’t understand where the need for secrecy lies. Other than crime scene photos, all the information is or should be public knowledge. The perpetrator is dead and his mother is also who looks to be the only other liable party, so there will be no prosecution. A trial would have been public. Secrecy is only reinforcing the idea that the Governor wants facts that don’t fit is gun control plans kept from public view.
posted by: Fisherman | March 21, 2013 7:39pm
NO ONE should be surprised. This is Dan Malloy 101… Keep the FACTS under wraps, until AFTER the gun legislation get passed… but for God’s Sake, let’s not deal with the REAL PROBLEM… Lanza was a dangerous and disturbed kid. If what the press reported is true (Lanza kept an Excel Spreadsheet with years of data) then it’s pretty clear! The gun isn’t the problem… mental illness is; and gun or no gun, he would have hurt these kids.
posted by: ALD | March 21, 2013 7:40pm
So our “governor” asks what more our legislators need to know?? Honestly what more do we need to know about this disgracefully pathetic “person” we are forced to call our governor? This guy must by now be a total embarrassment to anyone alive, or then dead, who voted for him. 2014 cannot come soon enough.
posted by: sparkplug | March 22, 2013 7:00am
Early news reports indicated that the AR-15 and shotgun were locked in the trunk of Lanza’s vehicle throughout the entire incident, and that handguns were actually used to commit the murders. If that turns out to be true it would surely take the wind out of the sails of Malloy’s assault weapon ban. Is that the reason he doesn’t want all the facts to come out? We’ll probably never know.
posted by: MrLogical | March 22, 2013 7:30am
And some very important facts:
1)When was the first 911 call received?
2) How many 911 calls wer rec’d?
3) When was the first dispatch sent?
4) When did the first law enforcement unit arrive on scene?
5) When did the first LEOs enter the school?
6) When did Lanza take his life?
posted by: Joebigjoe | March 22, 2013 8:22am
Hug a Trooper!
Dont think for a second that the information that has been leaked has not not been done in a purposeful way.
The Troopers know what will reduce gun crime and the Dem proposals are not it, so their way of fighting back to protect our rights and theirs, is to release info that will shine the light on the real issues.
After all doesnt the antigun crowd really just want to get to the root cause and solve the issue?
LOL I couldnt even type that without laughing half way through that question.
posted by: ad_ebay | March 22, 2013 9:54am
Hartford Courant 3/22/13: “Malloy went on to say that he is ‘bewildered’ as to why lawmakers require a special briefing before taking a position on potential legislation related to the massacre. He said all they needed to know what that Lanza, using a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, blasted his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School and murdered 26 people, including 20 first-graders in two classrooms, before killing himself.”
In other words, “Do what I want you to do. Why get confused with facts?” Typical lawyer trick…
posted by: anuddaCTresident | March 22, 2013 11:48am
This entire process has been a disgraceful sham from the start. The outcome of the bipartisan effort didn’t even matter as the course of action was already decided. It is also completely disingenuous of Lt. Vance to say that the families of the victims are the first priority in disseminating information…sadly, their children were taken from them…the lawmakers need to find a way to prevent it happening in the future so they actually have priority.
What more do legislators need to know, Governor Malloy? They need to know HOW he accessed those guns. Was he given free access? If so, this highlights owners’ responsibility to safely maintain their weapons. The context is extremely important in understanding what happened and trying to prevent it in the future incidents while minimizing the impacts on law abiding citizens. They need to make INFORMED decisions that affect all of us.
posted by: Greg | March 22, 2013 1:57pm
Perhaps I’m misunderstanding, but Malloy attacks Cafero first with his “what more do you need to know” line, then turns around and requests the same information he chided Cafero for…am I missing something here?
posted by: Nutmeg87 | March 22, 2013 2:05pm
As a matter of fact, i’d like to know the details… considering the attack on the AR-15 and standard magazines are at risk here from Malloy & CAGV demagoguery…
My understanding is that Lanaza planned this attack very meticulously and targeted the school because of its low security… he was armed with an AR-15 and 2 handguns (shotgun in car)... he used AR-15 initially, but then it got jammed (consequence of higher count-capacity magazines).. so he continued his spree with handguns (10-15 rd count)...
This is interesting to confirm… since the ugly dreaded AR-15 is apparently the blame for high death count, per Feinstein/Biden/Malloy…
Lanza’s AR-15 jammed, just as the shooter in Aurora, Colorado cinema… Lanza had standard 30-rd magazines and the Colorado shooter actually had a 90-rd magazine drum… The 90-rd magazine is widely known to jam (consequently our military, incl spec. ops will not use capacity higher than 30 – hence “standard”).. So the idiot in Colorado effectively made his AR-15 useless. Most of his victims were shot with low-count handguns and shotgun… VA Tech gunman used 2 handguns with avg count (10-15rd) magazines to kill well over 30 students (35?) …
Its important to know facts… Its NOT the AR-15 that caused rapid death… But it was experienced shooter with pistols… Magazine switch time is virtually 3-5 seconds.. 10-20 rd magazines much more reliable and death count is more a correlation to how many bullets (weight) shooter can carry & how quick response time is Law Enforcement to challenge the shooter… VA Tech shooter was also mentally unstable and killed much more with 2 handguns… Short-range killing without challenge makes no difference what weapon you have…
Lets see the facts… Then we should ALL focus on the obvious – The Shooter… Not the tool…
posted by: bgmg | March 22, 2013 2:57pm
Your never going to know the truth. The facts are simple. If this kid did all the killing he used a stole rifle and handgun.What that has to do with legal gun owners I’ll never know.If he was on his own he planed this very well. I have yet to hear from anyone else that was in that school. Who saw him walking down the hauls. Anybody? If you where at work and heard gun shots you would not look to see what was going on? If the car he got to the school in was not his mothers then how did he get it? Did he steal it? Did someone else drive him there? How did he get his mothers guns? Where they in her room, in a safe, did she have a the hand guns in her night stand? Most people keep one handgun near by so they can get to it if needed. Did he take a handgun from his mothers room kill her with it and then break into the gun safe? These are just some of the facts I would like to know. Lets see what this State Police report has to say. What ever it is I think Malloy will not be happy. The facts may just help us gun owners.