Shooter's aunt in Crystal Lake: 'We're in total shock'

The Connecticut school shooting hit one local family especially hard, as the shooter's aunt and cousins live in Crystal Lake.

Adam Lanza's aunt, Marsha Lanza, told the Northwest Herald her family is “shaken to the core” by Friday's tragedy, in which 28 people — including 20 children, six adults, the shooter and his mother — were killed.

“We're in total shock. No one can believe it,” Marsha Lanza told the Northwest Herald.

She told The Associated Press her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he needed it. Her husband saw him last summer and did not notice that he was suffering from any mental health issues, she said.

She told the Northwest Herald she had not seen the gunman since he was about three years old.

“I knew he had some learning issues in school,” Marsha Lanza told the Northwest Herald, “but I don't know if there were any behavioral issues.”

One of the shooter's cousins, 19-year-old Andrew Lanza of Chicago, told the New York Post his family was “in shock and devastated” by the shooting spree.

“To hear that someone in your own family took the lives of children — it's heartbreaking,” Andrew Lanza told The Post.

The Daily Herald tried Saturday to reach Marsha Lanza, but was unsuccessful.