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Investigators reportedly found a spreadsheet belonging to Adam Lanza, seven feet long and four feet wide, filled with information about mass murders and even attempted murders from the past. (AP Photo/File)

Report: Investigators found Lanza's spreadsheet documenting mass murders

BY Kim Shepard  on March 18, 2013 @ 6:47 am (Updated: 8:07 am - 3/18/13 )

Months after the terrible attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School more information is still coming out about what led up to the murders and how long Adam Lanza had been planning the attack.

It's been one of the hardest questions to answer, why did he do it? Why did a young man from Connecticut murder his mother and then open fire on dozens of children at an elementary school, killing 26 people two weeks before Christmas.

Now the signs point to notoriety as the motivation for that Adam Lanza.

Investigators reportedly found a spreadsheet, seven feet long and four feet wide, filled with information about mass murders and even attempted murders from the past.

A law enforcement officer who attended an international meeting of Police Chiefs last week told a reporter for the New York Daily News there were about 500 people included on the spread sheet. Not just names, but types of weapons used, the number of people killed. It was the type of research that may have taken years to complete.

The spreadsheet was found at Lanza's home after the massacre at Sandy Hook, an attack former FBI agent Brad Garrett has said seemed to be well planned in advance.

Garrett said Lanza picked a place where he knew he could inflict a lot of damage. "Mass shooters tend to look for soft targets because they're easy. They want to be able to walk into a situation where people are not armed, they have no idea what's going to happen to them and you can get the jump on them."

The law enforcement officer, who did not want his name used, said the spreadsheet that Lanza had created looked like a score sheet. The type of thing created by a video gamer to keep track of players' scores, so he could put his name right at the top.

He said cops think Lanza killed himself because he didn't want to lose his lead in the game. In a video gamer's mind, if someone else kills you, they get all your points. That may be what Lanza believed would have happened had he been taken down by the cops.

Kim Shepard, KIRO Radio Reporter
Kim Shepard is a news anchor and reporter for KIRO Radio and the office optimist. She's energetic, quick to laugh and has a positive outlook on life.
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Comments (8)


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  • Teahawk wrote...
    Really?????
    March 18, 2013 7:47 am
    "In a video gamer's mind, if someone else kills you, they get all your points. That may be what Lanza believed would have happened had he been taken down by the cops." This may be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.
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  • rkris1 wrote...
    no kidding
    March 18, 2013 8:04 am
    conjecture much? that's not just sloppy journalism, it's...well, it's not journalism at all. also from the daily news story: "'It sounded like a doctoral thesis, that was the quality of the research,' an anonymous law enforcement veteran said." in a doctoral candidate's mind, if someone else kills you, they get all of your research (and also you die). that may be what lanza believed would have happened had he been taken down by the cops. this d a m n doctoral thesis culture of ours! *waves fist in the air*
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  • luckedout wrote...
    obviously not a gamer
    March 18, 2013 11:12 am
    Anyone who has ever played a video game knows that getting killed by another player doesn't effect your points and is simply part of the game. Cops are obviously looking for any scapegoat and journalists love to get clicks for sensationalizing violent video games. It's a win-win.
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  • OhMissLia wrote...
    Not the reporter
    March 18, 2013 11:11 am
    I agree that the last part was pretty ridiculous, but I get the impression that it was conjecture by the "law enforcement officer that did not want his name used," not by the reporter. It may have been better expressed as a direct quote, but I wouldn't accuse the journalist of making the ridiculous conjecture.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    ARE YOU MOTHER _____ING SERIOUS!?
    March 18, 2013 12:02 pm
    That has got to be the biggest bunch of garbage i have ever heard!!!! He killed because of video game stats!? How did this FBI agent get a job? Video games!? So now Gamers are all potential mass murderers because they want to score points!!!???? that has to be the absolute most rediculous statement i've ever heard anyone say... You better stay anonymous dude because that's so stupid... besides the fact that anyone that's ever played a game knows you don't lose points to an opponent if you die in a video game... it's still THE MOST IDIOTIC statement i've ever heard... This Agent needs to be fired immediately. Next he's going to blame it on Rock music or something absolutely stupid like that COME ON!!!
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  • mnpat wrote...
    Pretty fancy looking home
    March 18, 2013 12:47 pm
    For a single mom and one kid.....that wasn't the impression I kept hearing from reports of the alledged murderer.
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  • fineday wrote...
    Wrong Conclusion
    March 18, 2013 7:12 pm
    It has nothing to do with video games. Lanza did what he did because of the media frenzy that surrounds these kind of crimes. To save lives we should ban Nancy Grace, et al. Why no introspection from our big media? Journalism has evolved from a net societal benefit to a net harm to society.
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  • gsosbee wrote...
    cry wolf!
    March 28, 2013 5:57 pm
    fbi plants the idea of mass murderers to frighten people and to falsely label some Targets: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2013/03/259101.php
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