Adam Lanza: What We Think We Know About the Apparent Newtown Shooter

Cautious to repeat accidental identifications, and working off leaks from federal agencies as local police remain mum, the media hasn't relayed too many details about his life. But here's what's out there so far, with the first photo.

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After the many misreportings of the identity of the shooter in Friday's Newtown school shooting, multiple reports cite law enforcement officials as identifying 20-year-old Adam Lanza as the man who killed 26 people and himself at a Connecticut elementary school Friday morning. Cautious to repeat the same embarrassments from earlier Friday, and working off leaks from federal agencies as local police remain mum, the media hasn't gone wild posting social-media profiles of Lanza, or relaying too many details about his life. (Disturbingly, terrible fake Twitter accounts like this one have popped up.) But we do think know a few things about Lanza so far, based on lots of varying and almost completely unconfirmed reports:

(UPDATE: Click here for the latest information on Adam Lanza.)

Adam Lanza was 20 years old before he died on Friday — ABC, which first posted the photo above, is reporting that he took his own life after taking those of 20 children, six adults, and his mother. His brother Ryan, who was mistakenly identified as the shooter, hadn't seen him since 2010, Ryan told authorities, according to The New York Post. According to the Associated Press, Ryan described his younger brother to authorities as "somewhat autistic" and said he suffered from a personality disorder. People with autism sometimes display "behaviors beyond their control," according to this med-help.org site. Though there is not much research on the connection between violent crimes and autism, one study found 15 percent of juveniles evaluated in a "forensic setting" in Sweden had autistic spectrum disorders. (Asperger's is a form of autism but is no longer listed in the DSM-5; click here for more on the latest research.) Another law enforcement official told Fox that Adam Lanza had a "checkered past ... troubled youth for most of his life," but CNN is reporting that he had no criminal record.

As for the rest of his family, we know his mother taught kindergarten at Sandy Hook Elementary. NBC News is reporting that her body was found in the home they shared, which appears to be located at this Newtown address listed to a Nancy J. Lanza. (The Associated Press reports Nancy as the mother's name as well.) The two had an "argument" this morning, sources say, after which Lanza reportedly killed his mother and drove her car to the school, along with three guns purchased by and registered to Nancy. His father, is Peter Lanza, a vice president of taxes for GE Energy Financial Services who lives in Stamford, Connecticut, according to The Stamford Advocate. Peter does not appear to have had recent contact with Adam, and neither he nor his brother were connected to the incident. Adam does appear to have had a girlfriend who the AP says has gone missing, along with a friend of his. Stay tuned to our live blog for more updates.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.