>there were deaths
this is an example of fake news legalese word parsing
"there were deaths" is true
subject, predicate occurs, sentence is syntactically correct
noun, verb occurs, check
but were the deaths related to the reported event at sandy hook on that day in december? no.
there were deaths at the hospital in omaha, nebraska on that day
there were deaths on the interstates of the united states that day
but there were no deaths at that school that day
the department of homeland security had set up equipment at that school prior to the shooter. if they were there, there certainly weren't any deaths there that day. a killer would meet an early death trying to shoot up a school where the feds were at