Lanza Called Radio Station to Talk About Crazed Chimp

Caller, purported to be Lanza, likened 'Travis' to a 'teenage mall shooter'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2014 6:27 AM CST
Updated Jan 16, 2014 7:40 AM CST
Lanza Called Radio Station to Talk About Crazed Chimp
This undated identification file photo released Wednesday, April 3, 2013 by Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., shows former student Adam Lanza.   (AP Photo/Western Connecticut State University, File)

Adam Lanza left behind no clues as to why he killed 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary, but the New York Daily News claims it has accessed audio of a seven-minute call he made to an Oregon radio station that gives a little more insight into his dark mind. The attorney at the helm of the investigation into the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting did confirm to the Daily News that authorities were aware of the call, but said, "I do not specifically know whether or not that is Adam Lanza" on the tape. Two former friends of Lanza's, however, say it's him, though they say he may have attempted to alter his voice. So what does the caller, who went by the name of "Greg," discuss during his Dec. 11, 2011, call to "Anarchy Radio" host John Zerzan? Travis, the Connecticut chimp who mauled Charla Nash's face in 2009—and mass shootings. Some standout comments (audio here):

  • Travis' "attack can be seen entirely parallel to the attacks and random acts of violence ... committed by humans, which the mainstream also has no explanation."
  • "I just ... don’t think it would be such a stretch to say that [Travis] very well could have been a teenage mall shooter or something like that."
  • "Travis wasn’t an untamed monster at all. ... If Travis had been some nasty monster all his life it would have been widely reported. But, to the contrary, it seems like everyone who knew him said how shocked they were that Travis had been so savage, because they knew him as a sweet child."
  • The case "brings up questions about this whole process of child-raising. ... Every newborn child—human child—is born in a chimp-like state, and civilization is only sustained by conditioning them for years on end."
The Daily News reports that Lanza himself seemed to confirm he made the call. Police have said he posted to a video game fan website under the name Smiggles; the day after the call, Smiggles referenced the call and discussing Travis, noting "It didn't go as horribly as I anticipated." Click for more on Lanza, whose mom left him alone in the days before the shooting as "an experiment." (More Adam Lanza stories.)

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