Parents of Newtown Victims Want to See Teachers' Keys

Lawsuit alleges school didn't provide them
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 18, 2017 3:42 AM CDT
Parents of Newtown Victims Want to See Teachers' Keys
In this 2013 photo, Scarlett Lewis, center, mother of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Jesse Lewis, hugs Lynn McDonnell, left, mother of victim Grace McDonnell.   (Jessica Hill)

Lawyers for the parents of two children killed in the Newtown school shooting are demanding to see evidence that two slain teachers had access to keys that could have been used to lock the doors of their classrooms. The attorneys asked a judge this week to allow them to examine two red emergency folders that were kept in the two classrooms to see if they contain door keys, as lawyers for Newtown say they do, the AP reports. The request comes as part of a wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of victims Jesse Lewis and Noah Pozner against Newtown on allegations that security measures at Sandy Hook Elementary School were inadequate.

Among the allegations in the lawsuit is that school officials failed to provide keys to either teacher Victoria Soto or substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau so they could follow school lockdown procedures and lock their doors. A lockdown, however, wasn't ordered at any time during the shooting, Newtown's lawyers say. The lawsuit also says Newtown should be held liable for the fact that the classroom doors could only be locked from the outside in the hallway, which would have made it impossible for Soto and Rousseau to safely lock their doors as gunman Adam Lanza approached their rooms. Fifteen students and Rousseau were killed in Room 8, and five students and Soto were slain in Room 10. (More Sandy Hook Elementary School stories.)

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