VA - Virginia Tech Shooting, 32 murdered, 23 injured, 16 April 2007

[real eyes]

Here is a link to mydeathspace.com. It has a lot of the victims listed there:

http://mydeathspace.com/article/200...at_Virginia_Tech_University_on_April_16,_2007

 

[Marthatex]

The shooter was probably silently planning something like this for a long time. He seemed very disassociated from the world around him. From what I've read, his social detachment goes back to his life in Centreville, long before he came to VTech. IMO, he was another example of an antisocial personality who chose to "vent his spleen" on his unsuspecting classmates and teachers before taking himself out. And if he refused to communicate with others, no-one, short of a real psychic, could have determined that he would act on his violent, vengeful thoughts.

I think the students' reactions were probably very normal in situations of unimaginable stress like this. It's basic human nature. They expect to feel safe in a school environment, especially in a classroom. When they're suddenly confronted with someone shooting live rounds at close range at them, they can barely shift mental gears to save themselves, much less tackle the shooter. Many of them may have been focused solely on the gun and not the person firing it.

Despite the violence that seems to go on around us all the time, we still can't imagine it happening to us (unless it has). It's a coping mechanism to deal with the uncertainty and chaos of everyday life. If we really thought about all the horrible things that could happen to us in any given situation, we'd never get out of bed in the morning.

Just adding my thoughts. My sympathies to VTech and the students.

Well, I think there is more reason to worry about violence now, than there was. You're right you have no idea this could happen. When I heard the shots from Charles Whitman, it just sounded like "pops" and I hadn't been around guns enough to know what it was.

I was startled but didn't understand until I saw people, men to be exact, go diving behind trees and to the ground and so forth. The girls were much slower to react and more confused. Whitman was the first time anything like this had happened in the U.S.

 

[reportertype]

Is it known for sure that he even went to see the counselor?

 

[reb]

i disagree 100% with you guys who are saying those violent video games are no big deal-- they are SICK. at least, much of what i have seen is really sick. it's all about shooting and killing, and shooting to kill as many people as you possibly can. and you're going to tell me that's not going to do something negative, on some level, to a kid's mind? if they spend HOURS doing this every day?? sorry, i do not buy it. just because it's so common now, and your kids do it, their kids do it, everyone else's kids do it.. does NOT make it OK or healthy. we as a nation are in serious denial about this and one of these days we are going to have to WAKE UP. NO.. video games do not "make you a killer" (duh, and double-duh). i never said that and if you think i'm saying that then you are missing the point entirely. i am saying there is a definite correlation to these psycho young people who go on shooting rampages and the violent video games. for those who are already mentally unstable, and anti-social, it's just going to exacerbate their problems, their disassociation with reality, their violent tendencies, their distorted sense of reality, 'good vs. evil' mentality.. AND it significantly reduces their time spent gaining important REAL-LIFE SOCIAL SKILLS.. which is so crucial especially at a young age. so.. no, there's nothing you can say to convince me that letting your kids play hours upon hours of these violent games is a good thing. parents just let their kids do it because we are such a permissive society, and 'all the kids do it'.. so nobodfy wants to be the 'bad uncool parent' who says NO to these games.

anyway.. we don't know yet is there was a correlation with this guy and obsessive gaming.. but just wait, i'm sure it will come out... once they review his computer. he fits the typical profile exactly.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Here is a link to mydeathspace.com. It has a lot of the victims listed there:

http://mydeathspace.com/article/200...at_Virginia_Tech_University_on_April_16,_2007

thanks for the link, but what a ghoulish name for a Web site!! My death space??

 

[MrsG728]

crap, I just realized I never pasted the story about the receipt/bag etc.

BRB i'll link it into my post. No wonder it makes no sense lol

MG

 

[reb]

reportertype- well, they are saying he was on psych drugs.. so i would think he did. and once again, we see this over & over.. 'was on antidepressant meds-- went on shooting spree'. it's so common, we even see these drugs coming with warnings now about the risk of causing 'suicidal/homicidal tendencies' in some people. but of course we don't know if it's just a parallel coincidence (i.e. he was psycho/sociopath anyway and also was on psych drugs).. or if it helped cause the rampage itself. kind of hard to do ao controlled study on this kind of thing, i guess.

 

[real eyes]

I agree, they could have named it a little better, but I think that the site is really neat. It lists all the myspace profiles (they are usually submitted by someone) and is kind of like a memorial.

At least that is my take on it.

 

[Nova]

That counselor is going to be on the hot seat.

Not unless Cho told the counselor that he was going to hurt people. Psychology is not that exact a science (or "art," which is what many practitioners say it really is) that a school counselor (hardly the apex of the profession) can be expected to predict unusual outbursts of violence.

Confidentiality laws are pretty clear (and must be or else NO one would speak candidly with any counselor): the counselor cannot violate confidentiality unless the patient is a clear danger to himself or others.

The fact that some of Cho's classmates now say they thought he was the mass-murderer "type" doesn't mean much. It's a pretty common expression among kids (and many adults) for anyone who seems "weird." At this point, it isn't proof that they could distinguish between Cho (an eventual shooter) and the majority of odd people who never shoot anybody.

ETA to correct typos. I type very, very fast; I just don't necessarily hit the intended keys.

 

[Nova]

Why didn't they expell him? Well, it was just his writing and the Admin. said it was "freedom of speech". Do you suppose they were worried about being ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATION?

Universities can't expel students for writing about violence. It's a very common theme in drama. (As you know from reading Oedipus and Hamlet.)

So, no, I don't think a discrimination claim would have been their worry.

 

[MagicRose99]

The article doesn't state that the gun store sold the gun with the numbers filed off... it just states that the numbers were filed off. Most of these sick creeps file them off themselves.

 

[Shadow205]

Thanks Jeana, that thread grew fast!

 

[squeaky]

Can someone please explain how it is "known" that the shooter had no prior relationship with the first victim (Emily) ?

 

[reb]

well, of course i understand about hamlet and that sort of thing. but obviously there has got to be a point where some serious red flags go up (which in this case apparently they did)... and still, when it comes to creative writing in a university setting... is that really considered kosher- or accetpable- to submit a play that goes "f this and f that, f you, dad, you mother-fing son of a b*tch *sshole,, i'm gonna kill you, you f8cking f8ckhead.." etc. etc. etc.. i mean come on. freedom of speech and expression aside, there has GOT to be some kind of standards that professors use,, and surely this not only raised concern about his mental state but probably didn't get him very good marks in the talent/originality/skill department.. and how many cuss words does it take to make something obscene?? that's not creative writing, that's insane, violent RANTING.

there is no way that i could imagine a student submitting something like this in my school... no way. the teacher probably woudn't even accept it.
and if you all are telling me that most colleges would be empty if they did not accept writing like this, then those are the colleges that i want to be going to (the empty ones!!)

 

[reb]

i wonder if it's a girl he was obsessed with.. so he kills her, along with 32 other people.. you know, the typical story.

 

[capps]

well, of course i understand about hamlet and that sort of thing. but obviously there has got to be a point where some serious red flags go up (which in this case apparently they did)... and still, when it comes to creative writing in a university setting... is that really considered kosher- or accetpable- to submit a play that goes "f this and f that, f you, dad, you mother-fing son of a b*tch *sshole,, i'm gonna kill you, you f8cking f8ckhead.." etc. etc. etc.. i mean come on. freedom of speech and expression aside, there has GOT to be some kind of standards that professors use,, and surely this not only raised concern about his mental state but probably didn't get him very good marks in the talent/originality/skill department.. and how many cuss words does it take to make something obscene?? that's not creative writing, that's insane, violent RANTING.

there is no way that i could imagine a student submitting something like this in my school... no way. the teacher probably woudn't even accept it.
and if you all are telling me that most colleges would be empty if they did not accept writing like this, then those are the colleges that i want to be going to (the empty ones!!)

Or maybe it was a warped cry for help?

 

[curiositycat]

What we know is that 32 people are dead and 15 were wounded by a man who appears to have had major problems.
The rest is stuff we are being fed by the media.
The best friend of the girl who was killed in the dorm killing(the one who was at first speculated to have been the "girlfriend" who jilted him) said that to her knowledge her best friend (Emily) did not even know this guy.
Right now I think we should all realize that not all of what we are currently hearing may be fact based.
IMHO

 

[Shadow205]

I just heard a comment on the news about LE looking into whether or not Cho Seung-Hui was associated with Michael Kennedy, click here to read more on Kennedy http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39626&highlight=Michael+Kennedy

http://www.nbc4.com/news/9180915/detail.html


Cho graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003
Kennedy graduated from Westfield High School in 2005

I guess that it is possible that you knew each other. Whether they did or not it's pretty darn weird that they attended the same school.

Oh now this is interesting. Seems that Kennedy's father was just arrested on April 7th and charged with providing the weapons that his son used to kill the police officers.

A Centreville man whose son killed two Fairfax County police officers outside a police station last year was ordered released on $100,000 bond yesterday, one day after being charged with providing the arsenal of weapons his son used in the attack.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601632.html?nav=hcmodule

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I saw some of the coverage of this professor on Fox. So sad, so very sad. Well, of course it all was/is.

 

[Shadow205]

There is a candlelight vigil tonight at 8:00pm at VA Tech. They are expecting 30,000 to 40,000 people.