Police said Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning and fired off shots, killing 20 first-grade students and six adults. According to investigators, Lanza had also shot and killed his mother at her home before he drove to the school to continue the shooting spree. He then took his own life.
See the complete list of victims' names released by Connecticut police
Ryan Kraft, who now resides in Hermosa Beach, Calif., lived near the Lanza Family about 10 years ago and said he occasionally babysat Adam Lanza. Kraft was a student at Sandy Hook 15 years ago. He said the massacre left him numb."I just got really sick to my stomach, and I couldn't think for awhile. I was shaking," said Kraft. "My earliest memories of the town, because that's when I moved there, are walking through those hallways and meeting my friends, some of whom I'm still in touch with now."
Kraft was even more stunned when he learned that the gunman was a boy he used to babysit. Lanza was 9 or 10 years old at the time, and Kraft was a teenager. They lived a few doors from each other. Lanza's brother, Ryan, was usually present when Kraft was at their house.
"His mom, Nancy, had always instructed me to keep an eye on him at all times and never turn my back or even go to the bathroom or anything like that, which I found odd, but I really didn't ask. It wasn't any of my business, but looking back at it now, I guess maybe there was something else going on," said Kraft.
Kraft said Lanza was quiet, but he also remembers some strange behavior.
"When I had put him to bed early or stopped doing something, he would be really unhappy about it and throw a tantrum in a way that a younger kid I would normally expect to behave," said Kraft.
Kraft said he never questioned Lanza's mother about her son's behavior, but there were rumors.
"There was talk around the neighborhood that Adam had seen a school psychiatrist when he was younger. I don't know if that's true or not," he said.
Kraft remembers Nancy Lanza as a caring mother.
"Nancy was present all the time. She was really involved in her kids lives and she was super active," said Kraft.
Kraft said he started a fund on the Internet to help the families of the victims and has already raised more than $50,000.
See photos from the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut
