Report: Lanza destroyed computer’s hard drive before the attack
“It was pretty bad,” the source said of the smashed hard drive. “If he destroyed the computer, that means there are things on there that would concern him. It is going to be awhile before they can decipher the information.”
The FBI’s computer analysis response team is still trying to put the pieces of the hard drive back together, said the law-enforcement source, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, “The kid knew what he was doing,” the source said. “This was a planned event. There is no question about it.”
According to the Hartford Courant, Lanza had used the computer to play a violent video game in which life-like characters participate in bloody battle scenes. At this point, there’s no telling what else he did with it.
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True, to be sure, you have to open the enclosure and get the platters out, and destroy them. Not always easy, since a lot of drives nowadays use Torx screws, or even tamper-resistant Torx screws. Security-conscious companies send old hard drives to a shredder.
Ward Cleaver on December 18, 2012 at 2:33 PM
Hearts or solitaire?
I blame Microsoft.
andycanuck on December 18, 2012 at 2:34 PM
There’s a not-quite-fact-but-better-than-pure-rumor going around that Lanza was a regular poster on 4chan, and in fact hinted on 4chan that he was going to commit the Newtown massacre.
Perhaps he destroyed the hard drive out of some weird loyalty to 4chan.
Robert_Paulson on December 18, 2012 at 2:34 PM
Mulder and Scully ought to investigate. This smells like an X-File.
ernesto on December 18, 2012 at 2:34 PM
If you can shred the platters, or melt them with a propane torch, that’s the way to go. Or run a seven-pass DoD wipe.
Ward Cleaver on December 18, 2012 at 2:36 PM
Why a hammer? Is that known? He shot his mother multiple times. I would think shooting the computer up wouldn’t have draw any more attention than shooting mom.
I just looked it up and laptop drives are made of glass or ceramic which I would think couldn’t be put back together to get any useful data.
Frank Enstine on December 18, 2012 at 2:36 PM
According to Salon, Lanza was a vegan and was very concerned about not harming animals.
Kataklysmic on December 18, 2012 at 2:36 PM
Mine Field.
Frank Enstine on December 18, 2012 at 2:37 PM
I guess he missed that day in school when they talked about humans being animals.
Frank Enstine on December 18, 2012 at 2:38 PM
I think you mean Bill Maher’s web page.
andycanuck on December 18, 2012 at 2:39 PM
Yeah. “dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M” will do it pretty easily. Run 3 times.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 18, 2012 at 2:39 PM
Oh geeze. It’s called Halo. Think you can squeeze any more shock out of the bloody sponge before it dries up?
WeekendAtBernankes on December 18, 2012 at 2:40 PM
The leftist narrative is taking shape:
- Boy played video games
- Mom was a paranoid survivalist
- Mom absolutely left lotsa guns’n'ammo around
- Mom didn’t take his psychiatric condition seriously
- Society and its 30 round hairclips of armor piercing bullets supported him.
All they’re missing now is a picture of Mom and Son at a Tea Party rally. They need to find that guy who photoshopped Bush’s military records and then made a birth certificate for Barky.
CorporatePiggy on December 18, 2012 at 2:40 PM
Or maybe he was one of those crusaders whose heart broke only for the cute and snuggly animals.
Kataklysmic on December 18, 2012 at 2:42 PM
A lot of drives nowadays (especially laptop drives) use aluminum platters, since they can handle shock better. You can take older desktop drives and throw them up in the air and let them drop, shattering glass or ceramic platters. And SSDs (solid state drives) are beginning to catch on, and they don’t have platters at all.
Ward Cleaver on December 18, 2012 at 2:42 PM
Teachers said he couldn’t feel physical pain (cuts, burns, etc.), so there was definitely something wrong with him.
Ward Cleaver on December 18, 2012 at 2:43 PM
Yeah, you don’t even need to physically destroy the drive. Just write zeros on every sector 7 or more times.
ernesto on December 18, 2012 at 2:50 PM
I can only speak on one specific example:
My brother and his wife have twin teenage boys–one with Asperger’s, one without. The one “with” is much like Spock. Extremely literal, humorless (except accidentally, like deadpanning “She has no moustache” when my Baby Bro remarked on our sibling resemblance). He also eschews affection (something Adam Lanza’s mom reportedly lamented to friends), doesn’t make eye contact, and can come off as rude because he’s incapable of filtering words through any emotional “protect-your-feelings” lens.
It’s a barrier to friendships, and I’m sure a source of inner turmoil since such a tall, handsome kid watches his twin laugh with pals and go on dates. He’s academically miles ahead of his brother, but socially at zero.
Still, there are tens of thousands of (mostly boys) who fall somewhere along the Autism spectrum, who will never perpetrate evil.
Hope that helps!
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on December 18, 2012 at 2:51 PM
That was a troll post that Alex Jones tried to make hay about. But it’s been debunked. Alex Jones is a troll too. But although the left would never defend the freedoms that we cherish, we must defend all freedoms. That includes ‘artists’ and their movies and video games.
MechanicalBill on December 18, 2012 at 2:58 PM
And the Paulnuts to state that this is more proof of a government conspiracy in 5…4…3…2…
DethMetalCookieMonst on December 18, 2012 at 2:59 PM
+1
Kataklysmic on December 18, 2012 at 3:01 PM
This kid wasn’t crazy..crazy people aren’t this well organized..he knew exactly what he was doing and was well prepared
sadsushi on December 18, 2012 at 3:02 PM
Anyone who’s telling you they don’t feel empathy do not know WTF they’re talking about.
Asp makes it hard to read non-verbal cues.
Example – you’re at a restaurant, and a waiter asks “are you ready to order”?
The waiter will look at you, and you order.
An Asp person will look back, until the waiter’s reaction becomes more overt – raised eyebrows, a smile.
The Asp person will then respond, usually with an “oh”, and then go.
It’s a very small thing, but multiply it in every situation, and you can develop social issues, very quickly.
Now, think about it when they’re kids and have a limited vocabulary.
This shooter wasn’t Asp. He was diagnosed when it the name first came into vogue in the 90′s.
The shooter was schizophrenic.
Wait and see. It all comes down to what the school said to his mom that made her pull him from the system.
Because, for a kid with Asp, less social interaction is the worst thing possible.
———————————————————–
As for the computer, it ties into why he had his brother’s ID.
He was purposely complicating the matter. The question is why.
budfox on December 18, 2012 at 3:02 PM
He was special. He had Aspergers with cheese.
The Rogue Tomato on December 18, 2012 at 3:09 PM
Reminds me of a former friend of mine from my navy days. I was shocked to find out that he did this…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19980505/ns/technology_and_science-internet/t/nerd-taunt-drove-navy-man-arson/
DethMetalCookieMonst on December 18, 2012 at 3:10 PM
Thanks.
a capella on December 18, 2012 at 3:10 PM
It depends on the Aspie. I’ve found, both in teaching them and being a mother to one, that they can only understand feelings they themselves share. My daughter doesn’t understand things like spite and hatred because she doesn’t feel them herself, and it’s a problem because she doesn’t recogize those emotions in others until it’s too late to keep herself from being the victim of it. Lanza being Aspie was not the problem.
Bob's Kid on December 18, 2012 at 3:14 PM
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on December 18, 2012 at 3:14 PM
Sounds to me like he was more sociopath than mentally ill. Although the two terms are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But this guy just wasn’t wired right.
Mitoch55 on December 18, 2012 at 3:25 PM
So was his mom a democrat?
albill on December 18, 2012 at 3:34 PM
Yeah, I understand that. My question actually was based on some observations regarding behavior of two sisters, one of whom has become kind of attached/dependent on one of my grandaughters. Both sisters are highly intelligent overachievers, but, have some form of developmenatal disabilities. The older, who is HS senior age, was in a highly intensive academic program for the gifted and it broke her. She became anorexic/bulemic/ suicidal, and has never fully recovered in spite of constant treatment and monitoring. The younger one who is attached to my granddaughter is a sweet kid, but has OCD tendencies, some strange fears, and in spite of her obvious desire to be liked by my granddaughter, says things that seem rude, out of place, and lacking in empathy for other people.
She, of course, has also been affected by her sister’s degeneration.
a capella on December 18, 2012 at 3:37 PM
Mark Levin wants to know why Obysmal did not include the Ft. Hood mass murderer in his “Lincolnesque” speech in Newtown.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/12/18/mark_levin_how_come_obama_did_not_mention_fort_hood.html
onlineanalyst on December 18, 2012 at 3:45 PM
Another thing to consider….how did he have his brother’s ID when his brother has admitted to not seeing him since 2010? Granted, he could have left it behind after the divorce for some reason or another, but that would be a little unusual. Not impossible, but unusual.
xblade on December 18, 2012 at 3:48 PM
If I had to guess, I’d say no. But it’s just a guess. Per a story I read yesterday, the father is a republican.
xblade on December 18, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Sounds like she’s lucky to have you and your granddaughter. I hope her family gets the younger girl help before she follows her sister into darkness.
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on December 18, 2012 at 3:57 PM
No, he wasn’t…and I don’t understand why anyone would even attempt to figure out what may have been going through his mind. We can only try to understand this young man from a conventional perspective…a rather large disadvantage when applied to the thought process of a person who was mentally ill. I may be one of the few around here who thinks his story is a very sad one too.
lynncgb on December 18, 2012 at 4:03 PM
No, I feel that way too. And the mom too. He was obviouly mentally ill, but I haven’t heard reports of other signs of violence towards others, other than the attempt to buy the gun. From all accounts, including the story linked here, the mom seemed normal and well-adjusted and spent 20 years dedicated to helping her son hold it together as well as she could but eventually just wasn’t enough.
If I had to speculate, I’d guess a new medication or something else triggered him and that his motivation was saving as many kids from a painful life he had. Similar to that mom who drowned her 7 kids in the bathtub that one time. I’d even guess he was breaking into a locked safe or area the mom kept the guns and she caught him and tried to stop him and that’s when he killed her, but not his intended first target.
It’s just speculation, but really as good as any other we have at this point. I really hope we do get answer for everyones peace of mind. The senseless we cannot understand is the worst.
rose-of-sharon on December 18, 2012 at 4:21 PM
Maybe he felt betrayed by his brother for leaving him at home with his mother and he thought having the license would soil his brothers good name.
ChunkyLover on December 18, 2012 at 4:26 PM
He may or may not be an aspie or otherwise “on the spectrum”. The spectrum itself is extremely broad and covers a huge range of symptoms. Children are often misdiagnosed. He may not actually be an aspie.
My wife has taught in a spectrum classroom for 18 years. The kids I have worked with are all over the map in their level of functionality mentally, physically, and emotionally.
His being on the spectrum may or may not be a contributing factor. It is very hard to say.
stvnscott on December 18, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on December 18, 2012 at 4:33 PM
Um, that she was in bed doesn’t really negate the premise of my speculation. He could have been taking the guns from the bedroom when she awoke and tried to stop him. He could have placed here there after shooting her. I haven’t seen anything that they had a bad relationship. All accounts i read said she was dedicated to him. Maybe she could have done better, but maybe not. In any case, It might might not have been ruthless, he was mentally ill, who knows the intentions, he could have had a wide range of why what he was doing was justified or even good.
Like I said, purely speculation, but since they are both dead we might never know. I hope we do find out more.
rose-of-sharon on December 18, 2012 at 4:48 PM
“Just”. Any idea how long that takes on a typical size HDD nowadays? When I cleaned out the “free space” on a small drive a couple of years ago – about 20GB to wipe, iirc – it took two days to do that 7-pass, DoD-compliant wipe.
GWB on December 18, 2012 at 4:53 PM
+1000. And if you suddenly need to destroy the storage unit, all you have to do is put the drive on a sturdy surface and swing with a hard heavy object. Something as basic as placing it on the sidewalk and grabbing a fist-sized rock will work in a pinch.
Aim for the memory chip (it’ll be the biggest chip on the flash drive) and swing with all your might. SMASH. Just try recovering any data from those scattered chip-crumbs, copper.
MelonCollie on December 19, 2012 at 12:00 AM
i would burn the hard drive…
nathor on December 19, 2012 at 4:49 AM
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