Stylists: Lanza never spoke, made no eye contact
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - As a teenager, Adam Lanza would come in for a haircut about every six weeks without speaking or looking at anyone and always accompanied by his mother, said stylists at a salon in the town where Lanza gunned down 27 people last week, including his mother, before killing himself.
He stopped coming in a few years ago, and the employees at the salon thought he had moved away, said stylist Bob Skuba.
The comments from him and his colleagues were among the first describing how the Lanzas interacted with each other. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the attack, one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Cutting Adam Lanza's hair "was a very long half an hour. It was a very uncomfortable situation," stylist Diane Harty said. She said that she never heard his voice and that Nancy Lanza also hardly spoke.
Another stylist, Jessica Phillips, echoed their descriptions of the Lanzas and added that Nancy Lanza would give her son directions about what to do and where to go.
Adam would move only "when his mother told him to," Skuba said.
"I would say, 'Adam, come on.' He wouldn't move," Skuba said. "And his mother would have to say, 'Adam, come on, he's ready.' It was like I was invisible." He said Adam also wouldn't move from his chair after his hair was cut until his mother told him to.
If a stylist would ask Adam a question, Skuba said, his mother would answer.
"He would just be looking down at the tiles ... the whole time," Skuba said.
Former classmates have previously described Adam Lanza as intelligent but remote, and former high school adviser described him as anxious and shy. Several people who knew his mother have described her as a devoted parent.
Divorce paperwork released this week showed that Nancy Lanza had the authority to make all decisions regarding Adam's upbringing. The divorce was finalized in September 2009, when Adam Lanza was 17.
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Associated Press videojournalist Bonny Ghosh contributed to this report.
He stopped coming in a few years ago, and the employees at the salon thought he had moved away, said stylist Bob Skuba.
The comments from him and his colleagues were among the first describing how the Lanzas interacted with each other. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the attack, one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Cutting Adam Lanza's hair "was a very long half an hour. It was a very uncomfortable situation," stylist Diane Harty said. She said that she never heard his voice and that Nancy Lanza also hardly spoke.
Another stylist, Jessica Phillips, echoed their descriptions of the Lanzas and added that Nancy Lanza would give her son directions about what to do and where to go.
Adam would move only "when his mother told him to," Skuba said.
"I would say, 'Adam, come on.' He wouldn't move," Skuba said. "And his mother would have to say, 'Adam, come on, he's ready.' It was like I was invisible." He said Adam also wouldn't move from his chair after his hair was cut until his mother told him to.
If a stylist would ask Adam a question, Skuba said, his mother would answer.
"He would just be looking down at the tiles ... the whole time," Skuba said.
Former classmates have previously described Adam Lanza as intelligent but remote, and former high school adviser described him as anxious and shy. Several people who knew his mother have described her as a devoted parent.
Divorce paperwork released this week showed that Nancy Lanza had the authority to make all decisions regarding Adam's upbringing. The divorce was finalized in September 2009, when Adam Lanza was 17.
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Associated Press videojournalist Bonny Ghosh contributed to this report.
A "stylist"? That's a style? What's it called...the Pete Rose or the Chris Burke?
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He and his Mother are both in hell, if there is a hell, which there isn't.Â
A modern day "Norman Bates".
Why do they keep calling him by his human name?
He's Disgusting Killer Scumbag.
some have said justin bieber turned him  into a crazed killer through the science of  subliminal messages. and we may expect one of these a week.
If your stylists gave you a haircut like that would you talk to them either?
@NGerblansky  No! and i didnt talk to my bikini wax artist for a year after she used gorilla glue accidently that one time...instead of wax. thank god i already had children because now it would be impossible.
The media needs to STOP. No more photos. No more interviews. Even the photos of the funerals are macabre and totally unnecessary. Â The media is forcing everyone to be vultures and voyeurs.Â
So, we are now interested in the opinion of a hairstylist?
 @Henry Lance No, but AP never did have a lick of sense.
This is not news. It has been reported that he had Aspergerâs syndrome. It is my understanding that what is discussed above is fairly typical behaviour for those who suffer from it. Gunning people down isn't typical behaviour, but social awkwardness is.
 @JTesla Correct. Other interesting characteristics often include intense fascination with specific mechanical objects such as trains, computers, carburetors, and things like that.The biggest one is that they don't "get social cues" so they say or do inappropriate things, or react in inappropriate ways. No two people are the same but those are common characteristics, along with avoiding eye contact, hating loud noises, fetal or infantile reaction to stress, and wanting no interaction with other kids.  In our day, they were the "retards" and "special ed" kids who were picked on mercilessly but you couldn't really stick up for them because they always seemed to bring it back on themselves. They slipped through cracks whereas even at Rockwood, picking on the Downs' kid was an excuse for the bullies to kick your ass.
 @Playanekes  @JTesla He was on Fanapt, a anti-psychotic medication which is well know to cause the very symptoms the person is taking it to prevent. Funny how this hasn't gotten a lick of coverage in the lame steam media.
Next up, a waiter that served him once a few years ago.
Oh and apparently he got over his mother telling him when to move, eh?
Thanks KATU and the rest of the media for setting us up for another shooting, maybe you don't realize it but you are. These shooters want us to feel their pain and show their pictures.......don't . Keep these bastards pictures in the trash where they belong. We are glorifying these bastards. I just watched a psychiatrist on GMAÂ who says the exact same thing I am saying. If it were up to me I would post pictures of their dead bodies only and NEVER EVER show them alive and smiling. That's the way the press used to treat criminals....they showed pictures of their dead bodies. Often times they had bullet holes in their heads as well. Today we do the opposite. According to experts we are making a big mistake to show pictures of these bastards.
I don't talk to the person cutting my hair too much at all. They are cutting my hair. I don't want them distracted. It is asinine that "the stylists" are chiming in on someone they admittedly haven't even seen in years. Way to go media. You are really getting at the hard hitting news here. What does his grade school lunch lady say?
 @Portlander29 I usually won't say much unless the stylist likes to talk...but, I usually don't have my mom over my shoulder telling me what to do either (growing up there was no decisions to be made with the 'bowl cut').Â
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Maybe something can be learned from people who stand out like Adam, in the hopes of preventing another inevitable shooting spree.Â
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 @Portlander29 I do...kind of awkward to say nothing the whole time.