Students return to Newtown schools amid tighter security

Students in Newtown, Conn., returned to their classrooms Tuesday for the first time since last week's massacre and faced the agonizing task of laying others to rest, as this grieving town wrestled with the same issues gripping the country: violence, gun control and finding a way forward.

Funerals were held for two more of the victims, a six-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl. A total of 26 people were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The gunman also killed his mother in her home, before committing suicide.

• Newtown begins to bury its lost children

The resumption of classes at all of Newtown's schools, except Sandy Hook Elementary where the shootings took place, brought a return of familiar routines.

"We're going to be able to comfort each other and try and help each other get through this, because that's the only way we're going to do it," said P.J. Hickey, 17, a senior at Newtown High School. "Nobody can do this alone."

Still, he noted: "There's going to be no joy in school. It really doesn't feel like Christmas anymore."

At St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown, back-to-back funerals were held for first-graders James Mattioli and Jessica Rekos, the first of eight to be held in the coming days at the church.

As mourners gathered outside, a motorcade led by police motorcycles arrived for the funeral of James, who loved recess and math, and whose family described as a "numbers guy" who couldn't wait until he was old enough to order a foot-long Subway sandwich.

Inside the church, the boy's mother stood and remembered her son.

"It was very sombre, it was very sad, it was very moving," said Clare Savarese, who taught James in preschool and recalled him as "a lovely little boy, a sweet little angel."

The service had not yet concluded when mourners began arriving for the funeral of Jessica, who loved horses and was counting the years until she turned 10, when her family had promised her a horse of her own. For Christmas, she had asked Santa for new cowgirl boots and a hat.

"We are devastated, and our hearts are with the other families who are grieving as we are," her parents, Rich and Krista Rekos, said in a statement.

Tensions mount between media, community

At a wake for 27-year-old Grade 1 teacher Victoria Soto, hundreds of mourners, stood in a line that wrapped around a funeral home in nearby Stratford, Conn.

"Big smile, great eyes, just a wonderful person," Lauren Ostrofsky said of Soto, who was killed as she tried to shield her students from the gunman. "If anyone could be an example of what a person should be today, it's her."

Tensions in the shattered community ran high as the grief of parents and townspeople collided with the crush of media reporting on the shootings and the funerals.

Police walked children to parents waiting in cars to protect them from the cameras. Many parents yelled at reporters to leave their children and the town alone.

At Newtown High School, students betrayed mixed emotions. Some waved at or snapped photos of the assembled media horde, and others appeared visibly shaken.

Students said they didn't get much work done Tuesday and spent much of the day talking about the terrible events of last Friday.

"It's definitely better than just sitting at home watching the news," said sophomore Tate Schwab. "It really hasn't sunk in yet. It feels to me like it hasn't happened."

As for concerns about safety, some students were defiant.

"This is where I feel the most at home," Hickey said. "I feel safer here than anywhere else in the world."

Still, some parents were apprehensive.

Priscilla and Randy Bock, arriving with their 15-year-old special needs son, James, expressed misgivings. "I was not sure we wanted him going," Priscilla Bock said. "I'm a mom. I'm anxious."

At one Newtown school, students found some comfort from Ronan, an Australian shepherd therapy dog from Good Dog Foundation in New York.

Owner Lucian Lipinsky took the dog to a Grade 5 class where students were having difficulty coping with the tragedy.

Lipinsky told the students they could whisper their secrets into Ronan's ear. "It's pretty amazing how a lot of kids will just go whisper in his ear and tell them their secret, and, of course, he doesn't tell anyone," Lipinsky said. "He's a very good dog."

Obama 'supportive' of assault weapons ban

The gunmanis believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced Tuesday it plans to sell its stake in Freedom Group, maker of the Bushmaster rifle, following the school shootings.

• Newtown shooting prompts U.S. fund to sell gun stake

Cerberus said in a statement that it was deeply saddened by Friday's events, and that it will hire a financial adviser to help with the process of selling its Freedom Group interests.

In Pittsburgh, Dick's Sporting Goods said it is suspending sales of modern rifles nationwide because of the shooting. The company also said it's removing all guns from display at its store closest to Newtown.

At the same time, the outlines of a national debate on gun control began to take shape.

A former co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus,Democrat Mike Thompson who representsCalifornia's first district, and 10-term House Republican Jack Kingston a Georgia lawmaker elected with strong National Rifle Association backing were the latest to join the call to consider gun control as part of a comprehensive, anti-violence effort.

But he added that nothing should be done immediately, saying, "There is a time for mourning and a time to sort it out. I look forward to sorting it out and getting past the grief stage."

• Obama 'supportive' of assault weapons ban

White House spokesman Jay Carney said U.S. President Barack Obama was "actively supportive" of a plan by Senator Dianne Feinstein to introduce legislation to reinstate an assault weapons ban. While Obama has long supported a ban, he did little to get it passed during his first term.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association, silent since the shootings, said in a statement that it was "prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again." It gave no indication what that might entail.