Irish American couple describe how daughter-in-law cheated death

Six-year old Grace McDonnell also died in hail of bullets

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Newtown, CT

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Collier’s friendly almost jovial demeanor became sullen. “We are a tight knit community here, you know. It’s so sad. I was in high school with Lanza. He was a year below me, but when I saw a picture of him, I didn’t recognize him. That’s weird for here, because everyone knows everyone here.

“My sister was very close to a family who lost a six year old. I just don’t understand it.”

“Me and my friend, Patrick Gordon Shine have set up a fundraiser. Just to do something for the families. We don’t know what money will do, but hopefully it will do something.”

As the sun rose on the frost bitten rolling hills of the Sandy Hook community in Newtown, news teams left their hotels and went out into the cold sharp morning air.

Last night locals said that people ‘were getting up in arms’ about the overwhelming media presence.

One woman, in a fit of wearied sorrow roared: “How dare you come into our town? I cannot even make my way across town because of all the barricades.”

Last night silent police car sirens and small street were disquieting as they dimly lit the small quiet town.

Today, in this picture perfect, postcard town people seem to have accepted the juggernaut news teams holding cameras, sound booms, microphones, notepads. Choppers populate the sky.

This morning local woman, Victoria Munoz agreed to be interviewed at the side of the street, “I’ve never seen this town so packed before. I think that it could have been overbearing, but the real thing I take from this is that there is huge attention to the hurt that we’re feeling right now. I think that’s good.”

An upset woman, Kelly, who gave this reporter a lift in her black Ford jeep described to how she felt: “I think people in the town feel wrong about doing basic errands. I went to the bank earlier and I just felt that I shouldn’t be doing this”

An elementary school teacher herself, she could not listen to the news on her radio. ”I just can’t listen to the news anymore. It’s just awful. Awful isn’t even the right word. I don’t think there’s a word for what has happened here.”

Newtown is a very tight knit community exceedingly so, according to Shannon Doherty, who said that his ancestors had come over from Leitrim during the famine. His  tale was one of relief. Their children attended another school in the area, but knew that they would know some of the victims when details are to emerge.

Shannon who attended the school as a child, stood outside on the pavement. He said that he didn't know what to do. “I have two children, Eammon and Teigan.

"My son will have lost a friend. I don't know how we're going to tell them, there is no blueprint for this. The look on my daughter's face was not good, my son was scared because he will know people. So what will I tell them? I'll probably tell them that they are safe. that the guy who did this is gone. We'll try and get them back into some routine. My biggest fear is how this will affect them.”

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