Bright spot amid the carnage

nights she hosted and the decorations she put up at her house. Now Nancy Lanza is known as her son’s first victim.

Police Chief Donald Briggs Jr said Nancy Lanza once lived in the community and was a kind, considerate and loving person. The former stockbroker at John Hancock in Boston was well-respected, Briggs said.

Court records show Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, filed for divorce in 2008. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric. Jesse Lewis (6). Jesse Lewis had hot chocolate with his favourite breakfast sandwich — sausage, egg and cheese — at the neighbourhood deli before going to school Friday morning.

Jesse and his parents were regulars at the Misty Vale Deli in Sandy Hook, owner Angel Salazar toldTheWall Street Journal. Ana Marquez-Greene (6). A year ago, six-year-old Ana MarquezGreene was revelling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico. This year will be heartbreakingly different.

The girl’s grandmother, Elba Marquez, said the family moved to Connecticut just two months ago, drawn from Canada, in part, by Sandy Hook’s sterling reputation.

The grandmother’s brother, Jorge Marquez, is mayor of a Puerto Rican town and said the child’s nine-year-old brother also was at the school but escaped safely. James Mattioli (6). The upstate New York town of Sherrill is thinking of Cindy Mattioli, who grew up there and lost her son James in the school shooting in Connecticut.

“It’s a terrible tragedy, and we’re a tight community,” Mayor William Vineall told the Utica Observer-Dispatch.

“Everybody will be there for them, and our thoughts and prayers are there for them.” Anne Marie Murphy (52), teacher. A happy soul. A good mother, wife and daughter. Artistic, fun-loving, witty and hardworking.

Remembering

their

daughter, Anne Marie Murphy, her parents had no shortage of adjectives to offer Newsday Emilie Parker (6), student. Quick to cheer up those in need of a smile, Emilie Parker never missed a chance to draw a picture or make a card.

Her father, Robbie Parker, fought back tears as he described the beautiful, blonde, always-smiling girl who loved to try new things, except foods. Noah Pozner (6). The way Noah Pozner’s parents saw it, no schools in New York could compare with those in Newtown, a relative told Newsday. So they moved their family — Noah, his twin sister and his eight-year-old sister. Lauren Rousseau (30), teacher. Lauren Rousseau had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs. So she was thrilled when she finally realised her goal this autumn to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.

Mary Sherlach (56), school psychologist.

When the shots rang out, Mary Sherlach threw herself into the danger.

Janet Robinson, the superintendent of Newtown Public Schools, said Sherlach and the school’s principal ran toward the shooter. They lost their own lives, rushing toward him. Victoria Soto (27), teacher.

Although details of the 27-year-old teacher’s death remained fuzzy, her name has been invoked again and again as a portrait of selflessness and humanity among unfathomable evil.

Those who knew her said they weren’t surprised by reports she shielded her first-graders from danger. A BRIGHT spot glows among the g rief in Newtown, Connecticut — the stories of staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School who may have prevented further carnage.

School psychologist Mary Sherlach and principal Dawn Hochsprung ran towards gunman Adam Lanza (above) after he broke through the school door.

O ff i c i a l s s ay Ms Hochsprung died while lunging at the gunman. Ms Sherlach also died.

Another worker turned on the school intercom, alerting others in the building, while a custodian ran through the halls warning of danger.

A clerk, Mar yann Jacob, led 18 children on their hands and knees to safety in a storage room with a lock.

She then gave them paper and crayons to keep them calm and quiet.

A cousin of teacher Vi c t o r i a S o t o, who repor tedly hid some students in a bathroom or cupboard, said the 27-yearold died trying to shield children from bullets.

“You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself,” said John Harkins, mayor of Stratford, Ms Soto’s hometown.

“That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication.”

In another classroom, teacher Kaitlin Roig barricaded her 15 students into a tiny bathroom, pulled a bookshelf across the door and locked it.

She told the children to be “absolutely quiet”.

They crawled across the room into a storage space, locked the door and barricaded it with a filing cabinet.

District Superintendent Janet Robinson noted “incredible acts of heroism” that “ultimately saved so many lives”.

“The teachers were really, really focused on their students,” she said.