VA Tech Shooting

[Siouxper]

I don't see any threads about this so far, so I'll just post this.

Well today a gunmen went to VA Tech and killed 32 people, and then died, for a total death count of 33 people. Also, 21 people are wounded. He actually locked the doors with chains so no one could enter or leave. People jumped out windows too. This is sick. This is the worst shooting, school or non, in US history.

http://www.vt.edu/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18148802/?GT1=9246




((All stats are from Virginia Tech website, the first link on this post))

EDIT: I have updated the stats about this, and changed the link to an active one.

The gunman has been identified as Cho Seung-Hui, the second link here has more information.

Last edited by Siouxper on Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:15 pm, edited 5 times in total.

[Pickles]

I'd read about it at CNN this morning, but hadn't gone back to follow up yet. They've upped the death count to 32? Wow. When I read about it earlier it was only 20.

And I agree...this is definitely sick. It makes me depressed to think that there are people out there who would purposefully go around killing others, especially in schools. {sigh}

[Matt]

This kind of thing makes me think about what could possibly motivate someone to do something like this...

[Uncle Xyzzy]

That's horrible.

Wow, why do people do this? Can't people just accept the fact that sometimes life just sucks and it'll get better? I'm sure the shooter had a terrible homelife, and he probably didn't think too great of the world around him (I'm assuming the shooter's male... I don't know?), but why can't people realize that life does get better?

I feel really sorry for the victims, because they're victims of his inability to cope with emotional distress in a proper way. Society demands that people respond to difficult things better than this.

[FrankieG]

Yeah, this really sucks. I have a friend that goes there..she's fine, but, being at a big school myself, this really hits home hard.

The scariest part about it is that I can't even think of anything that could be done to prevent something like this than what is already done. I heard they have the doors lock and you can't get into a dorm without an ID card, its the same here..and thats really the best I can think of. With a campuses as big as that one, anything more might just be too far out of reach.

[Asthaloth]

This kind of thing makes me think about what could possibly motivate someone to do something like this...

I could explain -seriously here- but it would be pushing the boundaries of sensibility and reveal rather more about my own mental health than I want to admit too.
Sufficed to say, he rationalised it in his own mind.

[Dragonfire]

I just heard about this a few minutes ago when someone on another forum made a topic. The death count is staggering, and it surpassed what used to be the deadliest campus shooting in US history, which was at UT Austin in 1966.

I've seen several numbers for the death toll, but the one that's mentioned the most is 33 (including the gunman).

And like what FrankieG said, with big campuses it's hard to know what's going on, and there's not much you can do to improve security because of so many students living and going there.

[Matt]

This kind of thing makes me think about what could possibly motivate someone to do something like this...

I could explain -seriously here- but it would be pushing the boundaries of sensibility and reveal rather more about my own mental health than I want to admit too.
Sufficed to say, he rationalised it in his own mind.

Perhaps I phrased myself badly. Anyone can rationalise anything in their own mind, I know that as well as anyone here.

What I meant to say is, that it makes me just stop and think about how different people think and react and value things in life, and how their mind must work differently to mine and many other people.

[Siouxper]

Yep, it is now 33 People Dead including Gunman, and 15 wounded. I'll update the first post to reflect the current stats.

It's a big campus, and it would be hard to secure everyone. It is really sick. If you hate life, go to counseling or if you can't think of anything else, don't bring others down to your level.

I think those complaining about how good the security are being a little hard on the police. They didn't know there was going to be a second shooting, although I wish they could've found him before the second incident, I believe they did the best they could.

I may make a ribbon or graphic for this event, if I do I will post it here.

[FrankieG]

Another thing to consider is that even though I personally think VT was stupid for not closing sooner..its very hard to just close down a school of that size. My school has 40,000 students, and I find it extremely hard to believe they could do a full lockdown. The campus is the size of a large town. It would be like closing down a state capitol. Another problem is getting ahold of everyone to even do a lockdown..the only realistic way is to email, and most students probably only check their email once a day.

Nonetheless, its a very sad thing and I'm sure campuses around the nation will be seeing at least some minor changes soon.

[ahoteinrun]

I had a bit of a scare with this earlier in which my ex boyfriends cousin (who attends the school) was injured. And he couldn't figure out how. But apparently it was due to being trampled rather then being shot.

I can't imagine this situation, I can't play it in my head. It's awful and ugh. Just ugh.

[Cerise]

I heard about this on the radio earlier. When the newsman said "32 dead" I thought it was a mistake, and that they'd meant 'wounded.' Any number of deaths is horrible, but 32 surprised me. News of violence and murder doesnt often do that anymore.

[Mongrel]

Senseless.

You aren't safe anywhere you go. No one can protect you. And maybe one day somebody will go over the edge and kill you simply because you happened to be in his crosshairs. You'll be denied the chance of a long life or at least of a meaningful death. And that's the risk of existence.

Senseless.

[Matterbug]

I heard a little about it in school, but I didn't get the full news until I got home and turned on CNN. So horrible to think something so tragic like this just happened out of the blue to all the victims.

It's so awful, gosh.

[Morningstar]

I am sadder than sad. My heart goes out to the families of these victims. And to the many members here who are in school right now. You have to live with fears that I never had to live with when I was your age. I am old. *smile* Well, not in a nursing home, YET, but you know what I mean. We didn't have school shootings when I was in high school or college. So, I was blessed with an innocence that many of you don't have.

I am watching the news and seeing these students being interviewed. Appearing so calm and collected, maybe because they want to be brave and not break down on TV, but, as a mom, I want to just grab them and hug them and say, hey, it's OK to cry. I hope that the survivors get the psychological help that they will surely need. Many of them will be experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

And, don't even get me started on the things that should have been done here. This school should have erred on the side of caution. They've had several incidents in the recent past to warn them to take more precautions. Why did they wait so long to warn people after the first shooting? In this age of technology, it seems, to me anyway, that more should have been done. We have sirens to warn us of upcoming tornadoes. Shouldn't there be some type of warning to tell people to stay in their rooms and not go to class? Particularly since they didn't have the shooter from the first incident in their custody. Oh, don't get me started. I may just start to rant and rave.

God bless those who died. May God give peace to their families and to all who were affected by this incident.