First of 8 funerals at Newtown church begins

By Michael Melia

Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, Dec. 18 2012 9:12 a.m. MST

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Pallbearers carry the casket containing the body of James Mattioli into St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church for funeral services, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Mattioli, 6, was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.

Julio Cortez, Associated Press

Summary

Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn.

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn.

A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost unbearable procession of funerals.

Margarita Rosniak and her 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte, watched from the sidewalk as people entered the church. They had traveled from California for a Christmas vacation in New York and came to Newtown to join the residents in their grief.

Clutching her daughter close, Margarita Rosniak spoke of sympathizing with the parents. Her daughter says she plans to do a school project on the massacre. She asks, "What was the point of it? They're just little kids."

Gunman Adam Lanza shot his mother Friday, then headed to Sandy Hook Elementary where he killed 20 children and six adults, and himself.

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