Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is recalling how and why he decided to tell the families of shooting victims that their loved ones were dead.

Malloy told reporters Monday that he sensed a ``reluctance'' by officials to tell the anxious group waiting for news at the Sandy Hook firehouse ``that the person they were waiting for was not going to return.'' He choked up as he wiped away tears.

The normally businesslike Malloy had to pause several times to regain his composure as he explained how he didn't think it was right for the families to wait a long time for the traditional identification of victims.

He says ``I made the decision that to have that go on any longer was wrong.''

Malloy is calling for a moment of silence and churches to ring bells exactly one week after the shooting at an elementary school.  He is asking churches ring their bells 26 times to honor the victims.
 

Malloy has signed an executive order to help clear the way for the Newtown school board to send students from Sandy Hook Elementary to a former middle school in nearby Monroe.

Malloy said on the Monday the order will take effect immediately.

Typically, state law requires a lengthy procedural process, including a public hearing and posting notices, before a municipality can sell, lease or transfer real property. Malloy said the order makes sense because this is an obvious emergency situation.

The Monroe fire marshal said the former Chalk Hill school should be ready for the Sandy Hook students, grades kindergarten through fourth, ``in a matter of days.'' No date has been set for when the school might open.