Two 6-year-old boys were to be the first victims of the Sandy Hook School massacre buried after funeral services on Monday in Connecticut.
Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto were among the 20 children – all age 6 or 7 – slain in a shooting spree on Friday at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Six teachers in the school were also killed by the suspected gunman, a 20-year-old man who appeared to be deranged.
Separate funeral services were scheduled for both boys in Newtown and a neighbouring community with burials to follow.
Several more services were planned for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Pozner was the youngest victim. His Jewish family's temple, Congregation Adath Israel in Newtown, was raising money to help the Pozners, and his funeral notice recommended memorial contributions for the planting of trees in Israel.
Jack Pinto's family held a private wake ahead of Monday's funeral.
His family said over the weekend that they planned to bury the young sports fan in a New York Giants football jersey of receiver Victor Cruz, his favourite player.
The professional player telephoned with Pinto's parents prior to his Sunday game in Atlanta.
“There are no words that can describe the type of feeling you get when a kid idolizes you so much that, you know, unfortunately they put him in a casket with your jersey on,” Cruz said, in a report by the Newsday newspaper in Long Island, New York.
Cruz played on Sunday with messages written on his gloves and including “Rest In Peace Jack Pinto.”
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