Gene Rosen, Sandy Hook shooting case hero: Man took in six children during Conn. school shooting

Gene Rosen, who lives near the Sandy Hook school, told CNN affiliate WFSB-TV in Hartford he was surprised when a group of young children ran onto his front lawn Friday.

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Posted: 12/18/2012

By: Susan Candiotti and Holly Yan, CNN

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (CNN) -- In a town still numb from an inexplicable massacre of children, relatives of the victims will meet with President Barack Obama on Sunday as he visits the city.

The massacre in Newtown is the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting spree that left 32 dead.

"Stuff like this does not happen in Newtown," said Renee Burn, a teacher at another school in the town, which is roughly 75 miles northeast of New York.

Until Friday, only one homicide in 10 years had been reported in the upscale community of expansive homes surrounded by woods, where many residents commute to jobs in Manhattan and the nearby Connecticut cities of Stamford and Hartford.

Gene Rosen, who lives near the Sandy Hook school, told CNN affiliate WFSB-TV in Hartford he was surprised when a group of young children ran onto his front lawn Friday. They mentioned a gun, and their teacher. Rosen called their parents. At the time, it wasn't clear how the children got to his house, or exactly what had happened.

Choking back tears, Rosen told the CNN affiliate that the children, ages 6 to 8, were clear about one thing: "They just said, 'I can't go back to that school.' "

CNN's Susan Candiotti reported from Newtown, Connecticut, and Holly Yan reported from Atlanta. CNN's Candy Crowley, Dana Ford, Meredith Artley, John King, Ashleigh Banfield, Joe Johns, Terry Frieden, Michael Martinez and Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.