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Funerals begin for school shooting victims

NEWTOWN, Conn.--The families and friends of two little boys killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings poured into funeral homes Monday as the first of the massacre's victims were laid to rest.

Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, both age 6, were remembered at separate services. Both boys were killed in a mass shooting Friday at the school, one of the worst in U.S. history. 26 people died, including 20 children.

On Main Street in Newtown, mourners strolled somberly in a cold drizzle to Honan Funeral Home to remember Jack. An obituary published over the weekend called him "an incredibly loving and vivacious young boy."

Classmates and sports teammates were among those who came to pay their respects. Members of his wresting team wore their club T-shirts and letter jackets.

On a sidewalk, a father knelt down to comfort his son who was wiping tears with his shirt sleeve before entering the service.

A group of teens from a local choir quietly sang church hymns for those waiting to get inside the historic two-story funeral home.

A police car was parked in the street out front to help maintain order and the family's wishes for a private service. Plain-clothed detectives in trench coats also combed the area for extra security.

A grieving woman arrived in the building's driveway to hand funeral directors a small black and red dress for another victim, a grim nod to the services yet to come. Funerals for some of the 12 little girls killed in the attack are scheduled later this week.

In Fairfield, close to 100 relatives and family friends of 6-year-old Noah began arriving at 10 a.m. at Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home for a 1 p.m. service. They waited in damp, cold temperatures outside the building for a bomb sweep before Gov. Dan Molloy arrived. Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal were also in attendance.

At one point, a Fairfield Police officer was dispatched by a state trooper to fetch the rabbi, who was stuck in traffic nearby.

A half dozen satellite trucks were parked across the street, with dozens of TV cameras on tripods focused on the funeral home.

Noah was remembered in an obituary as "smart as a whip" and devoted to his twin sister, Arielle, who was in another classroom and survived the shooting.

At approximately 2:20 p.m., a motorcade led by a dozen police motorcycles exited the funeral home heading for Monroe, where Pozner will be buried. A woman wearing nurse scrubs watching the scene was overcome with grief at the sight of the hearse carrying the 6-year-old's casket, collapsing in tears on sidewalk as it drove away.

She was consoled by her co-workers, lifted up and led away before television crews could reach her.

Audrey Petschek, from Newtown, did not know the Pozner family but made the 45-minute drive to his funeral because she felt she had to.

"I would go to all of them if I could," Petschek said.

"It was heartbreaking to hear his mother talk about him," she said, "about his video games and his ninja moves."

Dylan Stableford in Fairfield, Conn., contributed reporting.

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