Funerals begin for Newtown victims
2012-12-17 11:33
Flowers and toys lay near the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school in the US elicited horror and soul-searching around the world. (AFP)
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2012-12-17 08:27
US President Barack Obama expressed his sadness in a speech at a vigil at the Newtown High School for the victims of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Watch. WATCH
Newtown - The small Connecticut town shattered by an act
President Barack Obama called "unconscionable evil", holds on Monday
the first two of 20 funerals for schoolchildren massacred in their classrooms
last week.
Meanwhile, schools across the country will reopen their
doors to confused and scared children full of questions about why the Newtown,
Connecticut, shooting happened - and whether they are safe from the very same
danger.
Obama, addressing an interfaith vigil in Newtown on Sunday
night, spoke forcefully on the country's failings in protecting its children
and demanded changes in response to the mass shootings of the last few months.
"We can't tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must
end. And to end them, we must change," he said, adding that he would bring
together law enforcement, teachers, mental health professionals and others to
study how to best stop the violence.
But before those changes, the families of the victims will
grieve. Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto will be laid to rest Monday afternoon.
Noah, 6 years old just last month, was the youngest victim.
Reports describe him as "inquisitive" and as particularly mature for
his age. The family's rabbi has said he encouraged Noah's mother to focus on
her other four children amid the grief.
"We don’t get anything right"
Jack, also 6, was a wrestler who loved sports. The New York
Giants receiver Victor Cruz played Sunday's football game with the boy's name
written all over his cleats and gloves.
All the dead children were 6 and 7 years old. The school
principal of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school psychologist and four teachers
were also gunned down.
The victims were remembered on Sunday night at a memorial of
just over an hour whose featured speaker offered words of hope and promises of
action to stop any further tragedies.
"We bear responsibility for every child ... This is our
first task, caring for our children. It's our first job. If we don't get that
right, we don't get anything right," Obama said.
The president kept his emotions in tighter check than he did
Friday, when he cried openly while addressing the shooting. But his tears were
matched by the packed crowd in the local high school auditorium, who wailed
when he read the names of the adults and children who were killed.
