Lanza family in South Jersey rattled by name mixup

WATERFORD, N.J. — An Atco family was bombarded with phone calls and visits from police and news crews after an incorrect name was released for the suspected killer in Connecticut school massacre.

John and Nannette Lanza have a 26-year-old son named Ryan. When news reports Friday identified the Newtown, Conn., school shooter as a man from New Jersey with the same name, an hourslong stretch of stress and denial began for the local Lanzas.

"We went out for about an hour after (the media) first said the name," Nannette Lanza said Friday. "When we got back, we had gotten 21 phone calls.

"Then the news vans showed up, and there was a police car outside waiting for Ryan to come home. They wanted to verify that he's from here."

Ironically, Nannette said, Ryan is in training to become a corrections officer.

"He was at the academy all day," she said.

Jason Laughlin of the Camden County Prosecutors Office sent an advisory Friday afternoon to media outlets concerning the confusion.

"We've gotten some questions about (the situation) and have confirmed the Ryan Lanza from Atco is alive and has no connection with the shootings in Connecticut," Laughlin said about 4:30 p.m.

By late evening it was reported that Hoboken resident Ryan Lanza's brother, Adam, had committed the murders, then killed himself. The suspect's brother was being questioned by police Friday night.

"Now that they've got it cleared up the phone calls have stopped," John Lanza said.

"It was frightening," Nannette Lanza said of the mixup. "It's been very stressful all day long."