Town prays for British
massacre victim, aged six

Dylan Hockley, six, had moved to Newtown, Connecticut with his English father Ian, American mother Nicole and brother Jake in January last year.

It is understood the family had been living in a house opposite the home where the killer lived with his mother Nancy.

Former neighbours have paid tribute to the youngster and voiced their sympathies for the grieving family.

Prayers were said at St Nicholas’s Church in Eastleigh, Hampshire, yesterday.

Mike Wimbridge, who lived near the family in a small cul-de-sac in the town, said he would often see the children riding their scooters.

He told ITV the family had moved for a better life in the US, adding: “You just can’t imagine it. We all tend to be critical of our community from time to time but we don’t tend to get that sort of thing happening. It’s very shocking.”

Dylan was one of eight boys to be killed by Lanza, and 12 girls. All were aged six or seven, and many were shot multiple times.

Of the staff, tributes have been paid to teacher Victoria Soto, 27, who is understood to have been killed after hiding students in a closet. She then barred the way to Lanza and was cut down.

A cousin, Jim Wiltsie, told ABC News investigators told his family she was killed while shielding her students from danger.

“She was trying to shield, get her children into a closet and protect them from harm,” Mr Wiltsie told ABC. “And by doing that, put herself between the gunman and the children.”

Headteacher Dawn Hochsprung, 47, lunged at the gunman after he blasted his way into the school. A staff meeting had just ended and Ms Hochsprung ran towards him with school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, who was also shot dead as she threw herself into his path.

Lauren Rousseau, 30, who had spent years working as a substitute teacher and became a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook this year also died.

In a statement, her mother Teresa revealed the job was all she had ever wanted. “It was the best year of her life,” she told the newspaper.

Teacher Anne Marie Murphy, 52, a wife and mother was killed as she tried to protect terrified pupils from a hail of bullets.

“You don’t expect your daughter to be murdered,” her father told reporters. “It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere.”