Whether or not Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza used an assault rifle to kill 20 children and six adults at the Newtown elementary school last month has been a constant point of debate in the shooting’s wake — and those who “question the official narrative” have long maintained that Lanza used four handguns or pistols to carry out the deadly attack.
This week, claims that no assault rifle was used in the course of the killings at Sandy Hook began to circulate anew when a gun rights page on Facebook with many followers circulated a video posted by MSNBC that clearly stated Lanza did not use an assault rifle in the Newtown school shooting.
The clip stating the Sandy Hook shooter’s assault rifle was in the trunk went viral again, with many re-posters claiming that the clip was definitive proof the “official narrative” had been wrong, and that Lanza’s spree was carried out with no assault rifle used.
The catch? The clip regarding Lanza’s assault rifle was dated December 15 — recorded ahead even of the press conference with Dr. Wayne Carver, the medical examiner who autopsied the Newtown victims.
Still, the “no assault rifle used at Sandy Hook” claim lives on, with little published to counter it. This week, Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance spoke out to address the issue, breaking a long spate of silence on the specifics of the Newtown massacre.
While Vance and his officers have released little to the press about the details of the murders, he did clarify the rumor that no assault rifle was used in the Sandy Hook shootings. Vance began :
“It’s all these conspiracy theorists that are trying to mucky up the waters … There’s no doubt that the rifle was used solely to kill 26 people in that school.”
The Connecticut State Police spokesman added that regardless of the common misassumption that because an assault rifle was found in the trunk that Lanza did not use one in the spree, he has actually noted numerous times that all victims at Sandy Hook Elementary were killed with an assault weapon:
“I personally articulated that probably a dozen times in Newtown.”
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal also addressed the rumors Thursday, saying that there is no doubt an assault weapon was the one used by Lanza, and he commented:
“There’s no question that the AR-15 was used, the Bushmaster shot those children with multiple rounds and was instrumental in the massacre. Those children and educators might well be alive today if not for the assault weapon and high-capacity magazines.”
“The shotgun was in the trunk of the car … The Bushmaster and two pistols were brought into the schoolhouse.”
Despite the ongoing corrections, the belief Lanza did not use the Bushmaster in his attack continues to permeate pro-gun corners of the web.