Adam Lanza's House To Be Demolished: Newtown Authorities Vote To Raze Sandy Hook Shooter's Former Home

Officials in Newtown, Connecticut, voted Wednesday night to tear down the former home of Adam Lanza, who murdered 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Many area residents had been pushing for the property to be demolished. One local, quoted by the Associated Press, said that the house was "a constant reminder of the evil that resided there." In addition, a bus stop for local schoolchildren was moved away from the house, as it reportedly upset children to be nearby it.

Newtown Legislative council acquired the property free of charge, after the bank that held the mortgage on it decided to give it to the town.

E. Patricia Llodra, the head of Newtown's Board of Selectmen, said that she had reached out to the victims' families to ask what they wanted done with the property, and the consensus was that it should be demolished, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The demolition is expected to take place after the winter. A covenant will be written into the deed to the property, requiring that any profits from a future sale or development on the land go to the victims' families, the Journal added.

The Hudson Savings Bank of New Jersey, with whom Lanza's mother had a mortgage on the house, had the entire contents of the house incinerated, in order to prevent people from attempting to obtain macabre memorabilia connected with the mass killing, the Hartford Courant reported.

Area residents also complained that tourists drove by the property to take pictures on a regular basis, the AP added.

The appraised value of the 3,162 square foot home was $523,620, The Guardian reported. Llodra said the bank demonstrated an extreme degree of “compassion and generosity”, in its dealings with the town over the property, the paper added.

Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy, in the house, before carrying out the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary.