The 27 victims of the massacre are survived by friends and family who have had to live with the consequences of the event for the last six years.
Twenty children and six staff members were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.
It was the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in US history.
The 20-year-old gunman also killed his mother that day and shot himself after the massacre.
On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot 26 people, including 20 children, after also killing his mother in their home.
News of the massacre reverberated across the country and elicited a tearful reaction from then-President Barack Obama, who described it as the worst day of his presidency.
Sen. Chris Murphy, who had previously been a representative for the district that included Newtown, was among those present when the families of the victims learned about the fates of their loved ones.
In the decade that has passed since that day, many of the parents and families launched foundations in their children’s names to help others, and become advocates for gun control.
Jessica Rekos, 6, told her mom, Krista Rekos, that morning before she got on the bus how excited she was to sell Girl Scout cookies that January. “She sat in the front seat, looked at me through the window, and smiled and waved as the bus pulled up the hill,” Krista wrote. “That was the last time I saw Jessica alive.”
Jessica Rekos Foundation
Source: Jessica Rekos Foundation
Olivia Engel, 6, was an outgoing girl with “a great sense of humor.” She also had a brother who was 3 years old at the time.
Submitted to The Wall Street Journal via Tim Nosenzo
Source: Wall Street Journal
Avielle Richman, 6, “was rarely without a giant grin and often barefoot.” Her family founded the Avielle Foundation “to fund research exploring the underpinnings of the brain that lead to violent behaviors.”
Avielle Foundation
Source: Avielle Foundation
Jesse Lewis, 6, was “just a happy boy” who was supposed to make gingerbread houses with his family Friday afternoon after school.Jesse Lewis
Submitted to The Wall Street Journal via Scarlett Lewis
Source: The New York Post
Grace Audrey McDonnell, 7, was also killed in the massacre. Her family called her “the love and light of our family.”
Family photo via ABC News
Source: ABC News
Noah Pozner, 6, had a twin sister. The pair celebrated their sixth birthday on Nov. 20. Noah’s sister survived the attack.
Ponzer family photo via ABC News
Source: ABC News
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, had just moved with her family to Sandy Hook a few months before the shooting. Her 9-year-old brother was also at the school during the incident but escaped.
Family photo via The Wall Street Journal
Source: Wall Street Journal
Emilie Parker, 6, was the oldest of three sisters. Before she died she was teaching her younger sister how to read, Emilie’s father told the Journal.
AP
Source: Wall Street Journal
Charlotte Bacon, 6, practiced Tae Kwon Do and was an avid animal lover. Her family says her self-expression revolved around the color pink.
Charlotte Helen Bacon Foundation
Source: The Charlotte Helen Bacon Foundation
Catherine Hubbard, 6, was a first-grader at Sandy Hook.Catherine Hubbard
Submitted to The Wall Street Journal via the Hubbard Family
Source: Wall Street Journal
Josephine Gay, 7, celebrated her birthday just three days before she was killed. Her parents have set up a fundraising campaign called “Joey’s Fund” to help other families who have kids with autism.
The Gay Family/AP
Source: New York Daily News
James Mattioli, 6
James Mattioli 5K
Caroline Previdi, 6. Her family founded a foundation in her name to give kids scholarships to support their passions. “When talking about our family, or herself,” they wrote, “she would tell people, ‘We are not lucky. We are blessed!”
Caroline Previdi Foundation
Source: Caroline Previdi Foundation
Allison Wyatt, 6, wanted to be an artist, and rows of pictures filled her house. Her parents wrote that they found picture Allie had drawn for her first grade teacher, Miss Soto. It read: “I love you, Love Allie”.
Allison Wyatt Memorial Fund
Victoria Soto, 27, died while trying to protect her students. Soto put her students in a closet and “by doing that put herself between the gunman and the children,” Soto’s cousin told ABC News.
via ABC News
Source: ABC News
Lauren Rousseau, 30, was a full-time substitute teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Submitted to The Wall Street Journal via Gilles Rousseau
Source: Wall Street Journal
Dawn Hochsprung, 47, was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary. She was “always enthusiastic, always smiling, always game to do anything,” former PTA secretary Kristin Larson told the Boston Globe.
via ABC News
Source: Boston Globe
Mary Sherlach, 56, was the school psychologist. She was only one year away from retirement, after which she and her husband planned to spend time in their cabin along upstate New York’s Finger Lakes, according to Newtown Patch.
via Newtown Patch
Source: Patch
Rachel Davino, 29, barricaded the classroom to try and keep the gunman from getting to the children. Her boyfriend had asker her parents’ permission to marry her days before the shooting. He was planning to pop the question on Christmas Eve.
Handout
Sources: Legacy, Rachel Marie D’Avino memorial site
Anne Marie Murphy, 52, was a para professional at the school who worked with a boy with special needs named Dylan Hockley. Her body was found covering a group of children, and she died with Dylan in her arms.
Danbury News-Times
Source: Danbury News-Times
Nancy Lanza, 52, the gunman’s mother
Family of Nancy Lanza
The remaining victims do not have photos available, and are listed here along with their ages.A memorial to the victims of the shooting was set up in Newtown after the shooting, with hundreds of people sending in letters, toys, and art to pay homage to the fallen.
Seth Wenig/AP
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jack Pinto, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Abby Rogers contributed to an earlier version of this post.
