New school opens at site of Sandy Hook shooting rampage

August 29, 2016 12:00 am • Last Updated: August 29, 2016 2:59 pm

In this July 29, 2016 file photo, people attend an open house at the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Students attended the first day of classes there on Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. The new building replaced the one that was demolished where 20 first graders and six educators were shot and killed in December 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — About 400 elementary school students are attending school in Sandy Hook for the first time since a shooting rampage there killed 20 first-graders and six educators.

A new 86,000-square-foot school opened Monday in Newtown. It replaces the one torn down after the 2012 shooting.

The $50 million replacement was built on the same property, but not in the old footprint.

About 70 current Sandy Hook students attended the old school when the shooting occurred. School officials say about 35 of them were in the building at the time, but none witnessed the shootings. Those students are now fourth graders.

After the shooting, the students were sent to a school in neighboring Monroe.

The gunman killed his mother before driving to the school, where he killed himself as police arrived.

In this July 29, 2016 file photo, painted hand prints with names of teachers and students are on a playground bench at the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Students attended the first day of classes there on Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. The new building replaced the one that was demolished where 20 first graders and six educators were shot and killed in December 2012. The names on the bench are not those of people killed in the 2012 massacre at the school. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.

STORIES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU