SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Nancy Lanza wanted to move son to a school in Washington

Dec 17, 2012, 10:00 AM | Updated: Dec 18, 2012, 5:27 am

A snowflake ornament with the name of 6-year-old Noah Pozner hangs on a Christmas tree at a makeshi...

A snowflake ornament with the name of 6-year-old Noah Pozner hangs on a Christmas tree at a makeshift memorial Newtown, Conn., Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, as the town mourns victims killed in Friday's school shooting. Pozner will be buried Monday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The mother of Adam Lanza, identified as the gunman who in the massacre in a Connecticut elementary school, had talked about moving her son to Washington state to attend school.

Connecticut State Police say the relationship between Adam Lanza and his mother could be key to discovering his motive for the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, but they aren’t saying more today. Instead, the Newtown community is mourning the loss of 20 first-graders and six members of the school staff.

In interviews, people who knew Nancy Lanza say she was deeply devoted to her troubled younger son, who was extremely bright but socially awkward and — until Friday — was not known as someone who was potentially violent.

A family friend tells The Washington Post his mother recently had been considering moving him to Washington state.

Mark Tambascio, a restaurant proprietor and close family friend, says she had discovered a school in the Northwest she thought would be good for him.

“They were going to move out there together,” Tambascio, who had known Nancy Lanza for several years.

Tambascio tells me he doesn’t know the name of the school.

“He was her whole life. She was very proud of both of her sons,” Tambascio told the Post.

“She never mentioned that [Adam] was suicidal or violent. Nothing like that. Everyone that had spent any time around him, they knew he was a little bit different, but you never saw any major, major issues.”

Detectives are searching the Lanza’s home for clues that might help explain the killer’s motive and plan.

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Nancy Lanza wanted to move son to a school in Washington