HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An emotional Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recalled Monday how and why he decided to be the one to tell the families of the elementary school shooting victims that their loved ones were dead.

Malloy told reporters during a news conference at the State Capitol 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.”