Virginia Tech School Shooting - Articles - Zimbio

Virgina Tech: Nutcase on Campus

Wed, 19 Apr 2007 23:40:00 GMT

posted by beckychr007

Am I out of line in pointing out that college students are (except for the inane prohibition against legally buying beer) adults? If the students of Virgina Tech are anything like I was, they do not want, and resent, efforts of college administrators to coddle them like babies.

Half of the eighteen years olds do not go off to college. Some go to fight and die in Iraq. Most just go out to live and boogey in their neighborhood, or some more exciting locale.

But, as we all knew would happen, there is much handwringing over the recent massacre. And the lawyers will not be far behind.

Instead of putting the blame squarely where it belongs, there are attempts to find fault with the college administration. Some are saying the kids should have been locked down after the first shooting. But much of the alarm concerns the failure of the college to do something about what they should have known Cho Seung-Hui might have done.

And the emphasis here is on "might." In America crackpots are legion. No one is ever able to predict what they "might" do.

It is entirely possible this guy might have been able to get a bit of a grip on himself and become a Noble Prize winning poet, or at least been a hit on the punk rock scene.

You just never know, and in America we do not lock up every person who is emo. And we can't imprison those who produce violent and macabre material. Hollywood would have no screenwriters.

The idea of the Gulag is quite un-American Thus the nutcases walk freely among us.

And if this kid had been a full-time employee of Micky D's, rather than a jerk off English major, would the citizens of Blacksburg have expected the town officials to provide them with special warning and protections? No, we all see the guys in tin foil hats. At most this reminds us it is a good idea to lock our doors at night. Sometimes we even keep a gun.

College is a place where young people, with sufficient ability, go to learn and interact. It is not an extension of nursery school. In fact, the purpose of a University is to foster exposure to all kinds of people and ideas. There is more of this at college, than back at the home burb, and that is what makes school cool.

There is a price to pay. These young people are going to be exposed to some bad stuff.

But it is no worse than, you or I, or the kids who did not go on to higher learning, must pay.

It never helps us cope to say that shit happens.

But, it does help prevent us from acting stupid.

Judge Approves $11M Deal in Virginia Tech Shootings

Tue, 18 Jun 2008 13:07:00 GMT

posted by davet
A judge has approved an $11 million state settlement for the families of the majority of the victims in the deadly 2007 Virginia Tech shootings which killed 32. The settlement avoids a court battle to decide if Seung-Hui Cho acted alone or not.

All but eight families of the 32 killed will be compensated as a result of the settlement that was approved on Tuesday. As for the remaining families, four agreed to the deal, but were not prepared to go in front of the judge on Tuesday, while four other families did not take part. A pair of families filed notices of lawsuits, while two did not. Eighteen people who were injured in the massacre are also covered under the settlement, however their cases did not need court approval.

The state of Virginia has a $100,000 limit on liability in such cases. By agreeing to the proposal, family members cannot sue the state government, the university, area governments that serve Virginia Tech and the community services board that offers mental-health services locally.

Cho killed a male and female in the early morning hours of April 16, 2007 in a dorm room, then killed 25 students and five faculty members in a science building across campus before turning the gun on himself. It was the nation's deadliest school shooting ever.

Gunman kills 30 on Virginia Tech campus

Sun, 16 Apr 2007 18:25:00 GMT

posted by aperna1

Gunman kills 30 on Virginia Tech campus
By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 31.
Students complained that the university did not warn them about the first deadly burst of gunfire until hours later.
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."
It was not immediately clear whether the gunman was shot by police or took his own life. Investigators offered no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was not known if he was a student.
The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus. Witnesses reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom building to escape the gunfire. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. Students and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive.
The massacre took place at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed dormitory that houses 895 people, and continuing at least two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building about a half-mile away, authorities said.
Police said they were still investigating the shooting at the dorm when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building.
Some students bitterly questioned why the gunman was able to strike a second time, two hours after the bloodshed began.
"What happened today this was ridiculous," student Jason Piatt told CNN. He said the first warning from the university of a shooting on campus came in an e-mail about two hours after the first deadly burst of gunfire. "While they're sending out that e-mail, 22 more people got killed," Piatt said.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said there was no evidence to suggest it was a terrorist attack, "but all avenues will be explored."
Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they did not want to pre-empt an announcement by higher-ranking authorities, put the death toll at 31.
At least 26 people were being treated at three area hospitals for gunshot wounds and other injuries, authorities said. Their exact conditions were not disclosed, but at least one was sent to a trauma center and six were in surgery, authorities said.
Up until Monday, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.
The massacre Monday took place almost eight years to the day after the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo. On April 20, 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before he was shot to death by police.
Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, about 160 miles west of Richmond. With more than 25,000 full-time students, it has the state's largest full-time student population. The school is best known for its engineering school and its powerhouse Hokies football team.
The rampage took place on a brisk spring day, with snow flurries swirling around the campus. The campus is centered around the Drill Field, a grassy field where military cadets — who now represent a fraction of the student body — once practiced. The dorm and the classroom building are on opposites sides of the Drill Field.
A gasp could be heard at a campus news conference when Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum said at least 20 people had been killed. Previously, only one person was thought to have been killed.
Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began marking and recovering the large number of shell casings and will trace the weapon used, authorities said.
A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia.
"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said
After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed, and classes were canceled through Tuesday. The university set up a meeting place for families to reunite with their children. It also made counselors available and planned an assembly for Tuesday at the basketball arena.
After the shooting began, students were told to stay inside away from the windows.
Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.
Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks by authorities but said they have not determined a link to the shootings.
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
Last August, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/reuters/brand/SIG=pd7i95;_ylt=ArpRFht2CjiIV40K9BwXobRn.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMTFqaXBkBHNlYwNwcnZkbGluaw--/*http://www.reuters.com

I'll take a Big Mac, AK-47, and a side of ammo

Tue, 18 Apr 2007 02:29:00 GMT

posted by readyja
Here is an article that explains contends that, the reason for the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, is the lack of strong gun control laws in the United States.

I'm glad they cleared that up for me. Here I was, thinking the real cause was the fanatical bloodlust of this Cho Seung-Hui fellow.

His family must really be ticked off, seeing as his name is all over the news as the bad guy, when in fact, it's Charleston Heston's fault.

Perhaps that makes Mr. Cho Seung-Hui one of the "victims", given our senseless government and it's lack of gun controls.

And perhaps I am Mickey Mouse.

I mean, seriously folks: 3,000 people died on 9-11 because of a group of fanatics, armed with box cutters, wanted to kill them. Box cutters. Do you really think that this guy would have otherwise been sitting in his dorm room thinking, "Oh hey, I was going to shoot up the entire campus, but since I can't buy a gun from Wal-Mart anymore, I think I'll join the chess club instead."

Probably the most entertaining quote from this particular article comes under the caption of the first picture:

In America, "buying a machine gun is often easier than getting a driver's license."

A machine gun? Come one now. Granted, Amy points out that it's usually the trip to the DMV that *makes* you want to buy a machine gun, but I don't think that's what Der Speigel is getting at here. LOL.

In Britain, the Independent writes:

"The passionate feelings of the gun lobby may be traced to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, enshrining 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms'. Although the provision stems from the times when 'well regulated militias' were deemed necessary to protect against a British attempt to regain the lost colonies, it is the default position of any argument against greater gun control here."

Ugh. Not that I'd expect the Independent to be fully up-to-speed on the reasons for the second amendment, but the purpose of Constutional Rights is to protect citizens from their *own government*, not from a foreign government. We don't have the freedom of speech because we were worried the King of Spain would censor our newspapers, do we? I'd think the basic mechanics of why we have a Bill of Rights and a Constitution would be obvious to a journalist assigned to such political topics, but I guess that's not he case.

I'm sure that somewhere in the back offices of the Independent, there rests a dusty old dictionary like Webster's, which defines "bill of rights" as the following:

a summary of fundamental rights and privileges guaranteed to a people against violation by the state

Of course, we all know that Webster was just a ultra-right-wing militia-joining nut-job who was in cahoots with the shadow-government war cabal.

Or not.

On the other hand, all the "great" gun control laws in the U.K. aren't helping matters there. There rate of assault in this gun-free utopia is 7.5 per 1,000 residents. In the USA it's 7.6 per 1,000.

(And I certainly wouldn't want to try to, say, rob the home of the family shown in this picture I snagged from Google. Someone's getting the raw end of that deal, and I don't think it's going to be the young ladies picture here!)

In fairness, I will grant that the assault rate with firearms is much greater in the US than it is in the UK. Not that I'd feel much better if someone assaulted me with a chainsaw, kitchen knife, or large collection of Benny Hill tapes.

When discussing this article, my friend Scott quipped: "As if I'm going to listen to a bunch of socialist fools who's record on freedom adds up to 2,000 years of wars and serfdom."

But is that really fair? It's got to be really hard to overthrow all those kings, emperors, and warlords when all you can do is throw Benny Hill tapes at them, after all.

Virginia Tech Tragedy ~ Many Victims Crying Out

Fri, 21 Apr 2007 03:40:00 GMT

posted by doulos

The tragic violence at Virginia Tech this week has generated an immense volume of sensational media coverage, genuine sorrow and a collective examination of the heart-rending events. Whether one looks at the precious faces and lives of the brutally murdered, the mysterious and tormented life of Seung-Hui Cho, the shame and remorse of his family or the families of all impacted we see in each and every person a victim crying out. The cries for mercy, hope, understanding and healing love resonate to the heart of God. But many would ask: "Where was God in all this?" God could well ask "Where were we when the cries for help came? Where are we when cries come yet again from those in anguish, rejected and tormented by the realities of mental afflictions, sorrow or hopelessness? God longs to reach out through you and I to comfort, help heal. We may wisely realize we have not the wisdom, the answers, the power to respond to such needs. Yet as we but pray and yield to God we experience the grace that St. Therese affirmed when she said: "Christ has no body, now on earth..but yours". As we yield our words, hands, feet to Christ we may well then pray with St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Instead of afflicting and perpetuating the stigma that helped fuel Seung-Hui Cho's increasing isolation and ultimate terrors may we instead share the healing stigmata, the wounds of Christ where hope and healing can be found.