1st children laid to rest

NEWTOWN, CONN.

- Opening a long and almost unbearable procession of grief, Newtown began burying its dead Monday.

Two funeral homes filled with mourners for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, the first of the 20 children killed in last week's school massacre to receive funerals.

Newtown, a community of 27,000 people, will face many more funerals over the next few days, just as other towns are getting ready for the holidays.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed an executive order Monday clearing the way for the Sandy Hook students to use Chalk Hill School, which has not been used as a school since June 2011, in nearby Monroe.

Lt. Brian McCauley of the Monroe Police Department stressed that no date had been set for opening the refurbished school to students from Sandy Hook.

McCauley said that whenever classes do resume, there will be a police presence at the building.

State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance, at a news conference, spoke of a long investigation to come, saying they would analyze every single round of ammunition they recovered. The crime scene will be held "indefinitely" until the investigation is done, he said.

Two adults who survived the shootings are recovering, he said. Both were shot in the "lower extremities."

Police declined to discuss the information they have learned about the killer, Adam Lanza, who has been described as a bright but troubled young man.

So far, there is no credible evidence that Lanza tried to document his crime or boast of his plans, as some murderers have. Lanza had no social-media footprint - not even a Facebook page.

Former classmates from high school recall Lanza as a quiet, geeky kid who carried a briefcase instead of wearing a backpack. There is no evidence that Lanza had been bullied at school or suffered abuse in the home.

Lanza had Asperger syndrome, his parents had told their therapist, Paula Levy, who passed along the information to the Associated Press.

As investigators worked to figure out what drove Lanza to lash out with such fury - and why he singled out the school - federal agents said that he had fired guns at shooting ranges over the past several years but that there was no evidence he had done so recently.

Gun-control issue

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pressed Congress and President Obama on Monday to toughen gun laws and tighten enforcement.

"If this doesn't do it," he asked, "what is going to?"

Some lawmakers called for alternative measures. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said, "I wish to God [the Sandy Hook principal] had had an M-4 [rifle] in her office," so she could have "taken [Lanza's] head off before he can kill those precious kids."

-Daily News wire services