A community comes together

NEWTOWN, Conn. (WTNH) -- The community of Newtown is coming together to help each other cope with the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Neighbors and friends in this tight knit community are lending a helping hand to their neighbors any way they can. 

"It's hate, it's brutal," said Tom Haitz of Newtown. "You want to think you live in a happy, nice little town, and something like this pops up."

The tragedy has brought throngs of media to this quiet town, strangers from across the nation and across the globe.

Among all these news crews was an unexpected familiar face for me, an old friend named Colleen Bryant. It turns out she's a special education teacher in Newtown and was being interviewed. And yes, it would have been nice to have caught up with her under much different circumstances.

Her sadness is like many others here in town. A teacher herself, Bryant knew staff and students lost to the senseless gunfire.
 
"I think when we start hearing some of the children's names that we recognize that's going to be -- you know that's going to be upsetting," she said.

Already she knows some who have been lost and who some who have survived this nightmare. She and other teachers are using social media to connect and comfort each other.

"We just kept saying like simple words, like heart broken and devastated and horrible, and just so, so sad."

Many are wondering what they can do to help. Robin Olson runs a cat rescue.

"If it would help come and visit our little kittens," Olson offered. "Bring your little kids, pet the kittens, feel a little bit better, feel a little bit safer. You know, it's something. You've got to do something."

Knowing how much this community cares may give some comfort to those who need it most.