Remote 'genius' with no apparent motive

FAMILY and friends remember Adam Lanza as many things - intelligent, nerdy, a goth, remote, thin.

Now he will always be remembered as a mass murderer. The 20-year-old is believed to have killed his mother, gunned down more than two dozen people - 20 of them children - at an elementary school in the US state of Connecticut, and then committed suicide.

He might have suffered from a personality disorder, police said.

Authorities have not spoken of a possible motive. They found no note or manifesto, and Adam had no criminal history. Witnesses said he hadn't uttered a word during his shooting spree.

Joshua Milas, who was in the technology club at the Newtown High School with Adam, said his classmate had been a generally happy person, but that he hadn't seen him for a few years.

"He was a good kid. He was smart," said Milas. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."

Catherine Urso said her college-age son knew the killer and remembered him for his alternative style.

"He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths" - pupils on the fringe who dressed mainly in black.

Investigators were trying to learn as much as possible about Adam, and questioned his brother Ryan, who is not believed to have had any involvement in the rampage.

Ryan, 24, said he hadn't seen Adam since 2010.

A policeman said Ryan had told authorities his brother was believed to suffer from a personality disorder.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate, and it was unclear what disorder Adam might have had.

During a school meeting in 2008 to save the job of an adviser who had reportedly helped Adam, Ryan had announced: "My brother has always been a nerd. He still wears a pocket protector."

Adam's aunt Marsha said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents - Nancy and Peter, who divorced about four years ago - who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for their son. "Nancy wasn't one to deny reality," she said.- Sapa-AP