First Selectman Pat Llodra of Newtown, Conn. Photo: Kathy Willens, File Photo
NEWTOWN -- Comparing the steady leak of information about the investigation of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School to "Chinese water torture," First Selectman Pat Llodra said Thursday she now believes recordings of 911 calls from the school should be made public.
"Every day, there is something in the media that drags us back to that terrible day," Llodra said. "I think everything that can be released should be released."
Llodra, who had opposed making the recordings public, was reacting to the report Thursday by Hearst Connecticut Newspapers in which sources familiar with the 911 calls said they raised questions about the police response last Dec. 14 to the second-deadliest school shooting in the nation's history.
The 40-minutes of recordings are the subject of a legal battle between Danbury State's AttorneyStephen J. Sedensky III, who is leading the investigation into the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, and the state Freedom of Information Commission, which in September ordered that the phone conversations be made public. Sedensky appealed that order.
Hearst Connecticut Newspapers sources said someone at police headquarters ordered police responders to wait before entering the school where, in less than five minutes, 20-year-old Adam Lanza had gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators before taking his own life as police closed in.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, speaking with reporters at the Connecticut International Auto Show on Friday, said he understands the emotions of people such as Llodra, as new details of the school murders emerge without a final report from Danbury State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III.
"I saw her comments and the headline," Malloy said. "I understand her frustration. I'm frustrated as well that the prosecutor's report has taken this long a time. I am happy that the families have been briefed. I have not received the report myself yet. I'll comment about the report once I personally read it and I will read it as soon as it's provided to me. I think all the information that is going to be made available, the sooner it's made available the better, so that we can get further into the healing process for the families that have been most adversely impacted."
On Thursday, some officials, including Newtown Police Union President Scott Ruszczyk, said the wait order was directed at ambulance personnel, not police, who he said entered the school as soon as they arrived.
"It's standard protocol not to send in unarmed people to a scene that is not secure," he said, adding he is sure the order was meant for medical personnel "because I spoke to the person who gave it."
Ruszczyk said the person was a Newtown sergeant, who he declined to identify because he was not authorized to speak to that aspect of the investigation.
But one of the two sources who listened to the tapes, addressing the apparent warning to stay out of the school, reiterated Thursday: "I think we thought it was the police."
Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe declined to answer questions about the confusion, saying he believes "the record will be cleared up in the near future," as soon as Monday, when Sedensky is expected to release a 40-page summary of the monthslong Connecticut State Police investigation of the shootings.
On Monday, a state Superior Court judge in New Britain will rule on Sedensky's appeal and decide whether the 911 calls should be made available to the public.
`They did the best
they could'
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has been critical of Sedensky for not releasing the report sooner, said Thursday he couldn't make a judgment on the police response until he sees the investigative report, which is expected to be released Monday.
"Obviously, in the case of a mass shooting, there's a lot of chaos, and that's true in these circumstances and we knew it was true that day," Malloy said. "How this will all play out -- its coverage in the report -- I don't have firsthand information, so it's hard for me to otherwise comment."
But Malloy said it would make sense that the warning not to immediately enter the school was directed at medical personnel.
"You wouldn't send ambulance responders who are unarmed into an ongoing shooting situation," he said.
State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, whose district includes Newtown, said Thursday that he is frustrated.
"My first reaction is, without criticism of the news media, is one of frustration that people somehow involved in the 911 report are leaking information," he said. "It's also frustrating it's taking so long. The families deserve to see what's in the 911 tapes."
McKinney said he "would hesitate to draw any conclusions until the information and all the questions are answered. ... I think everybody needs to be very cautious about jumping to conclusions before we have all the facts."
Sources told Hearst the 911 tapes don't include sounds of children in distress as Lanza proceeded on his deadly rampage. The possibility of audible cries from children on tape had been cited by many who opposed making the recordings public.
In his arguments for keeping the 911 calls secret, Sedensky said the children were victims of child abuse, because they were shot and killed by the gunman.
Saying that he does "not comment on pending litigation," the prosecutor on Thursday refused to address whether the lack of children's voices on the tapes affected his position.
Retired Danbury Police Chief Robert Paquettedeclined to judge the Newtown Police Departmentbased on the bits of 911 calls described Wednesday by sources.
"I could never judge anyone on just a few words without knowing the facts and circumstances, as well as the context in which they were spoken," he said.
`Columbine changed everything'
But Paquette, who previously led the FBI's Bridgeport office, said police procedures have changed since the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., where two teenaged gunmen killed a dozen students and a teacher, many of them while police waited for nearly an hour before entering the building.
"Columbine changed everything," Paquette said. "When I was head of the FBI Swat team in New Rochelle, (N.Y.), the protocol was `surround the area and begin negotiations.'"
Most departments now take a much more aggressive approach, trying to confront and neutralize the shooter as soon as possible, he said.
"You do no one a favor by waiting," Paquette said. "You want to engage the shooter as soon as possible ... There's no time to wait for the cavalry. You have to go in and try to neutralize the situation and save as many lives as possible."
Several Sandy Hook families interviewed in recent days said they support the way Newtown police handled the tragedy. Among the family members, Nicole Hockley said she had the utmost respect for the emergency personnel who responded that day, adding the shootings lasted only about four minutes.
"We have to remember that our police and first responders are people, too," Hockley said Thursday. "In my opinion, they did the best they could. They aren't going to get any criticism from me."
For Llodra, the most recent information leaked about the investigation changed her stance on keeping the 911 tapes private.
"I'd prefer that they never got released, but we've lost that battle ... It's hard to have faith in the future when every day, we are defined by what happened on Dec. 14," she said. "Let them come out."
Staff writers Michael Mayko, Ken Dixon and Dirk Perrefort contributed to this report. jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
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