thebreakfast.info
General Discussions => Spunk => Topic started by: Spacey on April 16, 2007, 03:07:51 pm
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I\'m so sick of the CT news stations interviewing college students on their reactions/thoughts -- students have been describe as being worried about an attack happening in their school after the recent events... ENOUGH already! This was one sick psychopath... it doesn\'t mean that every college in America now needs to have heightened security and alarms. I feel bad for the victims of VTech, but this is not a "national crisis" [/rant]
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this whole situation is a prime example of why more people should carry guns.
Amen
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this whole situation is a prime example of why more people should carry guns. ever since I moved back to AL, I have been liscensed to carry a concealed weapon, and often do. I hope I never have to use it, but I will not hesitate to blow someone\'s head off if I feel my life in in danger.
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does not make a difference how his past "leads" up to this type of incident. you cannot stop people of the mindset. they snap. there is no way to tell when, where, or how bad. you cannot predict it, no matter what was in their past. ****, if I went on a shooting rampage i am sure there are plenty of things in my past that would have lead up to it and it could have been prevented. bull ****. i\'m not trying to stick up for the kid, and I do feel sorry for the victims and their families, but ****, people, especially the media, always try thinking of what could have been done to prevent it, showing the kids mug all over the place, talking about his troubled past. he\'s a **** celebrity now, what does all this attention do to the next troubled mind? nothing but help them on his/her way to their personal destruction. get the kid out of the news, **** him, talk about the kids and staff who died, talk to their families about THEM, not about the nutjob.
Oh, and that guy who works for AOL and posted those short play things and said in his opening letter that when he heard about this he said "I betchya it was Cho", what a **** idiot. There are 20,000 students at that school, there is no **** way he could have "bet it was Cho".
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Blacksburg - The gunman who killed 32 people in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech sent photographs and some writings to NBC, Steven Flaherty, Virginia state police superintendent, said on Wednesday.
He declined to give details about the documents, but a university official said they had been received by NBC in New York on Wednesday morning.
Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1839839120070418)
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read that earlier. it seems like 2005 they knew this cat was unstable.
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Va. Tech gunman accused of stalking
By ADAM GELLER, AP National Writer
2 minutes ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman involved in the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history had previously been accused of stalking two female students and had been taken to a mental health facility in 2005 after he parents worried he might be suicidal, police said Wednesday.
Cho Seung-Hui\'s actions had worried one woman enough with his calls and e-mail in 2005 that police were called in, said Police Chief Wendell Flinchum
He said the woman declined to press charges and Cho was referred to the university disciplinary system. In one of the incidents ? both in late 2005 ? the department received a call from Cho\'s parents who were concerned that he might be suicidal and he was taken to mental health facility, he said.
Flinchum said he knew of no other police incidents involving Cho until the deadly shootings Monday at a girl\'s dorm room and then a classroom building across campus. The gunman killed 32 people before fatally shooting himself.
Police searched Cho\'s door room on Tuesday and recovered, among other items, a chain and combination lock, according to documents filed Wednesday; the front doors of Norris Hall had been chained shut from the inside during the shooting rampage.
Other items seized include a folding knife; two computers, a hard disk and other computer disks; documents, books, notebooks and other writings; a digital camera; CDs; and two Dremel tools.
Cho\'s roommates and professors on Wednesday described a troubled, very quiet young man who rarely spoke to his roommates or made eye contact with them. His bizarre behavior became even less predictable in recent weeks, roommates Joseph Aust and Karan Grewal said.
Grewal said he had pulled an all-nighter on homework before the shootings and saw Cho at around 5 a.m.
"He didn\'t look me in the eye. Same old thing. I left him alone," He told CNN. He said when he saw Cho that morning and during the weekend, Cho didn\'t smile, didn\'t frown and didn\'t show any signs of anger. Grewal also said he never saw any weapons.
Several students and professors described Cho as a sullen loner. Authorities said he left a rambling note raging against women and rich kids. News reports said that Cho, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly erratic.
Professors and classmates were alarmed by his class writings ? pages filled with twisted, violence-drenched writing.
"It was not bad poetry. It was intimidating," poet Nikki Giovanni, one of his professors, told CNN Wednesday.
"I know we\'re talking about a youngster, but troubled youngsters get drunk and jump off buildings," she said. "There was something mean about this boy. It was the meanness ? I\'ve taught troubled youngsters and crazy people ? it was the meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak."
Giovanni said her students were so unnerved by Cho\'s behavior, including taking pictures of them with his cell phone, that some stopped coming to class and she had security check on her room. She eventually had him taken out of her class, saying she would quit if he wasn\'t removed.
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after that.
"He was so distant and so lonely," she told ABC\'s "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "It was almost like talking to a hole, as though he wasn\'t there most of the time. He wore sunglasses and his hat very low so it was hard to see his face."
Roy also described using a code word with her assistant to call police if she ever felt threatened by Cho, but she said she never used it.
Cho\'s writing was so disturbing, though, he was referred to the university\'s counseling service, said Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university\'s English department.
In screenplays Cho wrote for a class last fall, characters throw hammers and attack with chainsaws, said a student who attended Virginia Tech last fall. In another, Cho concocted a tale of students who fantasize about stalking and killing a teacher who sexually molested them.
"When we read Cho\'s plays, it was like something out of a nightmare," former classmate Ian MacFarlane, now an AOL employee, wrote in a blog posted on an AOL Web site.
"The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn\'t have even thought of."
He said he and other students "were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter."
"We always joked we were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did," said another classmate, Stephanie Derry. "But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling."
Despite the many warning signs that came to light in the bloody aftermath, police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set Cho off.
Cho ? who arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., where his parents worked at a dry cleaners ? left a note that was found after the bloodbath.
A law enforcement official described it Tuesday as a typed, eight-page rant against rich kids and religion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"You caused me to do this," the official quoted the note as saying.
Cho indicated in his letter that the end was near and that there was a deed to be done, the official said. He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.
The official said the letter was either found in Cho\'s dorm room or in his backpack. The backpack was found in the hallway of the classroom building where the shootings happened, and contained several rounds of ammunition, the official said.
With classes canceled for the rest of the week, many students left town.
Tuesday night, thousands of Virginia Tech students, faculty and area residents poured into the center of campus to grieve together. Volunteers passed out thousands of candles in paper cups, donated from around the country. Then, as the flames flickered, speakers urged them to find solace in one another.
As silence spread across the grassy bowl of the drill field, a pair of trumpets began to play taps. A few in the crowd began to sing Amazing Grace.
Afterward, students, some weeping, others holding each other for support, gathered around makeshift memorials, filling banners and plywood boards with messages belying their pain.
"I think this is something that will take a while. It still hasn\'t hit a lot of people yet," said Amber McGee, a freshman from Wytheville, Va.
Monday\'s rampage consisted of two attacks, more than two hours apart ? first at a dormitory, where two people were killed, then inside a classroom building, where 31 people, including Cho, died. Two handguns ? a 9 mm and a .22-caliber ? were found in the classroom building.
According to court papers, police found a "bomb threat" note ? directed at engineering school buildings ? near the victims in the classroom building. In the past three weeks, Virginia Tech was hit with two other bomb threats. Investigators have not connected those earlier threats to Cho.
Cho graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003. His family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse in Centreville, Va.
At least one of those killed in the rampage, Reema Samaha, graduated from Westfield High in 2006. But there was no immediate word from authorities on whether Cho knew the young woman and singled her out.
"He was very quiet, always by himself," neighbor Abdul Shash said. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him.
Some classmates said that on the first day of a British literature class last year, the 30 or so students went around and introduced themselves. When it was Cho\'s turn, he didn\'t speak.
On the sign-in sheet where everyone else had written their names, Cho had written a question mark. "Is your name, `Question mark?\'" classmate Julie Poole recalled the professor asking. The young man offered little response.
Cho spent much of that class sitting in the back of the room, wearing a hat and seldom participating. In a small department, Cho distinguished himself for being anonymous. "He didn\'t reach out to anyone. He never talked," Poole said.
"We just really knew him as the question mark kid," Poole said.
One law enforcement official said Cho\'s backpack contained a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol. Cho held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony.
Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell said his shop sold the Glock and a box of practice ammo to Cho 36 days ago for $571.
"He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won\'t sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious," Markell said.
Investigators stopped short of saying Cho carried out both attacks. But State Police ballistics tests showed one gun was used in both.
And two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been announced, said Cho\'s fingerprints were on both guns. Their serial numbers had been filed off.
Gov. Tim Kaine said he will appoint a panel at the university\'s request to review authorities\' handling of the disaster. Parents and students bitterly complained that the university should have locked down the campus immediately after the first burst of gunfire and did not do enough to warn people.
Kaine warned against making snap judgments and said he had "nothing but loathing" for those who take the tragedy and "make it their political hobby horse to ride."
"I\'m satisfied that the university did everything they felt they needed to do with the heat on the table," Kaine told CBS\' "The Early Show" on Wednesday. "Nobody has this in the playbook, there\'s no manual on this."
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Associated Press writers Stephen Manning in Centreville, Va.; Matt Barakat in Richmond, Va.; Lara Jakes Jordan and Beverley Lumpkin in Washington; and Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey, Matt Apuzzo and Justin Pope in Blacksburg contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting
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wow!
I have never read worse plays. the grammar is awful (especially being an english major), and the story-lines are ridiculous. i wonder how much of the content from them is a true reflection of his life? both plays have a common factor...sexual assault...hmmm...
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I still would like to see proof that those were his and not someone making it up for publicity.
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These are two plays written by the shooter and submitted to class. Unbelievable. If you\'re the really emotional type or are easily upset or frequently have nightmares, etc., do not read these. I\'m serious.
http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/04/17/cho-seung-huis-plays/
those two plays are just awful! i dont find them disturbing because he uses too many poor references and adjectives to describe the themes in his plays. he also uses up a page and a half for guns n roses lyrics to mr. brownstone. how was this kid an english major in his senior year? his grammer is just as bad as his stories. i would have failed him years ago.
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don\'t worry, this time tomorrow the whole investigation will begin on how this could happen, how the police failed to act in a reasonable amount of time and then, after all that is done, the media will speculate on the shooters\' movies/gaming/music preference.
underneath all of that, the victims won\'t even be mentioned.
sad, really.
sad, but true. :(
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I have seriously contemplated getting into firearm ownership all day. Never thought I\'d say that.
:thumbsup:
I\'ve had Firearms training "camp" on my \'to do\' list for the last year.
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just wow.
If you think you\'re saying "just wow" now, get a load of this...
These are two plays written by the shooter and submitted to class. Unbelievable. If you\'re the really emotional type or are easily upset or frequently have nightmares, etc., do not read these. I\'m serious.
http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/04/17/cho-seung-huis-plays/
Check out the note from the kid who posted them too.
This whole thing obviously sucks and reminds me how lucky I am to make it through the day. I have seriously contemplated getting into firearm ownership all day. Never thought I\'d say that.
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just wow.
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Can you please provide a list of these towns/cities, so that I can make a note to myself to never move there .
Here\'s one I found, though I know there are others like it in more conservative states.
GUN OWNERSHIP MANDATORY IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA (Crime Rate Plummets)
GUN OWNERSHIP MANDATORY IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA
Crime Rate Plummets - Why Doesn\'t The Media Visit Kennesaw?
"The New American magazine reminds us that March 25th marked the 16th anniversary of Kennesaw, Georgia\'s ordinance requiring heads of households (with certain exceptions) to keep at least one firearm in their homes. The city\'s population grew from around 5,000 in 1980 to 13,000 by 1996 (latest available estimate). Yet there have been only three murders: two with knives (1984 and 1987) and one with a firearm (1997). After the law went into effect in 1982, crime against persons plummeted 74 percent compared to 1981, and fell another 45 percent in 1983 compared to 1982. And it has stayed impressively low. In addition to nearly non-existent homicide (murders have averaged a mere 0.19 per year), the annual number of armed robberies, residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, and **** have averaged, respectively, 1.69, 31.63, 19.75, and 2.00 through 1998. With all the attention that has been heaped upon the lawful possession of firearms lately, you would think that a city that requires gun ownership would be the center of a media feeding frenzy. It isn\'t. The fact is I can\'t remember a major media outlet even mentioning Kennesaw. Can you? The reason is obvious. Kennesaw proves that the presence of firearms actually improves safety and security. This is not the message that the media want us to hear. They want us to believe that guns are evil and are the cause of violence. The facts tell a different story. What is even more interesting about Kennesaw is that the city\'s crime rate decreased with the simple knowledge that the entire community was armed. The bad guys didn\'t force the residents to prove it. Just knowing that residents were armed prompted them to move on to easier targets. Most criminals don\'t have a death wish. There have been two occasions in my own family when the presence of a handgun averted potential disaster. In both instances the gun was never aimed at a person and no shot was fired."
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The worst thing about this is that now, all of a sudden, nobody cares about Don Imus being fired for calling a bunch of nappy headed ho\'s, nappy headed ho\'s.....His whole show for like 30 years has been about calling a spade a spade, and now, all of a sudden, he\'s fired for some bullshit.....**** Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson, and all the media watchdogs. **** them up their stupid asses....Why dont those two morons focus on lifting up people instead of bringing down people?
amen.
and this VaTech incident will be all over the news until the next \'big\' thing happens, whether it be a week or a month. mass media makes me laugh. I don\'t know, maybe I\'m wrong for what I\'m about to say, but **** it. The people out there saying this could have been prevented should be shot themselves (not literally, I\'m not a violent person). You cannot prevent something like this. It happens. Bad? yes. Disgusting? sure. Preventable? absolutely **** not. All people are crazy. Every single one of us. You may not believe that you are, but trust me, it\'s there, in the back of your mind somewhere, waiting to be let out. Luckily, for most people, it stays put. But there is no way in hell anyone, anywhere, can predict these types of actions from someone, whether or not his creative writing was \'disturbing\', or because they listen to death music. That\'s how people express themselves, and by trying to label them as a \'problem\' people are just adding to the person\'s internal crazy clock, whether just starting it or making it move full speed. Not that that makes sense in anyone else\'s head, but it does in mine. Anyway, back to preventing these things with laws and the like. I say **** THAT. Let it be. I\'m an **** for saying it but I\'d much rather see events like this once every 8-10 years, than an event like 9/11 once every 50. Do the math, it\'d take 100 more of these incidents to equal what happened in one day on 9/11. So basically, **** trying to focus on preventing these incidents, and prevent the bigger, deadlier ones.
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^original papa^
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The worst thing about this is that now, all of a sudden, nobody cares about Don Imus being fired for calling a bunch of nappy headed ho\'s, nappy headed ho\'s.....His whole show for like 30 years has been about calling a spade a spade, and now, all of a sudden, he\'s fired for some bullshit.....**** Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson, and all the media watchdogs. **** them up their stupid asses....Why dont those two morons focus on lifting up people instead of bringing down people?
amen.
and this VaTech incident will be all over the news until the next \'big\' thing happens, whether it be a week or a month. mass media makes me laugh. I don\'t know, maybe I\'m wrong for what I\'m about to say, but **** it. The people out there saying this could have been prevented should be shot themselves (not literally, I\'m not a violent person). You cannot prevent something like this. It happens. Bad? yes. Disgusting? sure. Preventable? absolutely **** not. All people are crazy. Every single one of us. You may not believe that you are, but trust me, it\'s there, in the back of your mind somewhere, waiting to be let out. Luckily, for most people, it stays put. But there is no way in hell anyone, anywhere, can predict these types of actions from someone, whether or not his creative writing was \'disturbing\', or because they listen to death music. That\'s how people express themselves, and by trying to label them as a \'problem\' people are just adding to the person\'s internal crazy clock, whether just starting it or making it move full speed. Not that that makes sense in anyone else\'s head, but it does in mine. Anyway, back to preventing these things with laws and the like. I say **** THAT. Let it be. I\'m an **** for saying it but I\'d much rather see events like this once every 8-10 years, than an event like 9/11 once every 50. Do the math, it\'d take 100 more of these incidents to equal what happened in one day on 9/11. So basically, **** trying to focus on preventing these incidents, and prevent the bigger, deadlier ones.
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your right, Al.
He was a legal U.S. resident.
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In fact, there are towns/cities in the U.S. that mandate that all non-criminal adults own weapons. .[/QUOTE]
:no: Can you please provide a list of these towns/cities, so that I can make a note to myself to never move there.
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the kid was a legal US citizen since 1992.
Legal citizen or resident? People do not not usually receive citizenship upon arrival.
Either way, this is an absolute tragedy.
I just wish our freedoms didn\'t have to be up for debate so often; the constitution was a well-crafted document that was based on hundreds of years of historical learnings; there\'s nothing whimsical about it.
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the kid was a legal US citizen since 1992.
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obviously there will always come times when you have to stand up and fight back, but I dont think firearms are the answer to anything.......
Not even when confronted by a lethal threat?
Was this kid even a U.S. citizen? Why are we even continuing the debate on further limitations to a constitutional amendment, especially if this kid is likely a Korean national? Though guns can do more harm than words, it is almost as absurb as Sharpton calling for more controls on Amendment #1 after his condemnation of Imus.
I personally think that every school should have teachers/principals trained in weapons and also have them on all campuses with undisclosed teachers/administrators. Let\'s face it, it takes a while for cops to show up and enter the building after assessing the threat. An armed populace can end events like the one at Virginia Tech much quicker than the police can.
There are more than 60 million legitimate gun owners in the U.S. and almost all the gun crime comes from illegally-obtained weapons. We already have in excess of 20,000 gun laws in the U.S., few of which stop determined criminals from inflicting harm. Further restrictions on the law-abiders is only going to aid the motivated criminal.
In fact, there are towns/cities in the U.S. that mandate that all non-criminal adults own weapons. From what I have heard, crime is very low since criminals know not to mess with an armed populace. The places with the most stringent controls and low gun ownership rates tend to have more violence. I see a strong link between responsible gun ownership and lower crime levels, but don\'t exepct to hear about in the mainstream press.
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he also might have been taking medication for depression.
any one watch the memorial?
A look at some of the victims killed in the Virginia Tech massacre:
Ross Abdallah Alameddine
Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., was a sophomore who had just declared English as his major.
Friends created a memorial page on Facebook.com that described Alameddine as "an intelligent, funny, easygoing guy."
"You\'re such an amazing kid, Ross," wrote Zach Allen, who along with Alameddine attended Austin Preparatory School in Reading, Mass. "You always made me smile, and you always knew the right thing to do or say to cheer anyone up."
Alameddine was killed in the classroom building, according to Robert Palumbo, a family friend who answered the phone at the Alameddine residence Tuesday.
Alameddine\'s mother, Lynnette Alameddine said she was outraged by how victims\' relatives were notified of the shooting.
"It happened in the morning and I did not hear (about her son\'s death) until a quarter to 11 at night," she said. "That was outrageous. Two kids died, and then they shoot a whole bunch of them, including my son."
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Ryan Clark
Clark was called "Stack" by his friends, many of whom he met as a resident assistant at Ambler Johnson Hall, where the first shootings took place.
Clark, 22, was from Martinez, Ga., just outside Augusta. He was a fifth-year student working toward degrees in biology and English, and a member of the Marching Virginians band.
"He was just one of the greatest people you could possibly know," friend Gregory Walton, 25, said after learning from an ambulance driver that Clark was among the dead.
"He was always smiling, always laughing. I don\'t think I ever saw him mad in the five years I knew him."
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Daniel Perez Cueva
Perez Cueva, 21, from Peru, was killed while in a French class, said his mother, Betty Cueva, who was reached by telephone at the youth\'s listed telephone number.
Perez Cuevas as a student of international relations, according to the Virginia Tech Web site.
His father, Flavio Perez, spoke of the death earlier to RPP radio in Peru. He lives in Peru and said he was trying to obtain a humanitarian visa from the U.S. consulate here. He is separated from Cueva, who said she had lived in the United States for six years.
A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Lima said the student\'s father "will receive all the attention possible when he applies" for the visa.
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Kevin Granata
Granata, a professor of engineering science and mechanics, served in the military and later conducted orthopedic research in hospitals before coming to Virginia Tech, where he and his students researched muscle and reflex response and robotics.
The head of the school\'s engineering science and mechanics department called Granata one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy.
Engineering professor Demetri P. Telionis said Granata was successful and kind.
"With so many research projects and graduate students, he still found time to spend with his family, and he coached his children in many sports and extracurricular activities," Telionis said. "He was a wonderful family man. We will all miss him dearly."
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Caitlin Hammaren
Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., was a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to officials at her former school district.
"She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I\'ve had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator," said John P. Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, where she graduated in 2005. "Caitlin was a leader among our students."
Minisink Valley students and teachers shared their grief Tuesday at a counseling center set up in the school, Latini said.
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Emily Jane Hilscher
Hilscher, a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences, was known around her hometown as an animal lover.
"She worked at a veterinarian\'s office and cared about them her whole life," said Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend.
Hilscher, 19, of Woodville, was a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences. She lived on the same dorm floor as victim Ryan Clark, McCarthy said.
A friend, Will Nachless, also 19, said Hilscher "was always very friendly. Before I even knew her, I thought she was very outgoing, friendly and helpful, and she was great in chemistry."
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Liviu Librescu
Librescu, an Israeli engineering and math lecturer, was known for his research, but his son said he will be remembered as a hero for protecting students as the gunman tried to enter his classroom.
Librescu taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years and had an international reputation for his work in aeronautical engineering.
"His research has enabled better aircraft, superior composite materials, and more robust aerospace structures," said Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department.
Librescu\'s son, Joe, said his father\'s students sent e-mails detailing how the professor saved their lives by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Librescu\'s son, Joe Librescu, said Tuesday in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."
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G.V. Loganathan
Loganathan was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai and had been a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech since 1982.
Loganathan, 51, won several awards for excellence in teaching, had served on the faculty senate and was an adviser to about 75 undergraduate students.
"We all feel like we have had an electric shock. We do not know what to do," his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. "He has been a driving force for all of us, the guiding force."
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Mary Karen Read
Read was born in
South Korea into an Air Force family and lived in Texas and California before settling in the northern Virginia suburb of Annandale.
Read, 19, considered a handful of colleges, including nearby George Mason University, before choosing Virginia Tech. It was a popular destination among her Annandale High School classmates, according to her aunt Karen Kuppinger.
She had yet to declare a major.
"I think she wanted to try to spread her wings," said Kuppinger, of Rochester, N.Y.
Kuppinger said her niece had struggled adjusting to Tech\'s sprawling 2,600-acre campus. But she had recently begun making friends and looking into a sorority.
Kuppinger said the family started calling Read as news reports surfaced.
"After three or four hours passed and she hadn\'t picked up her cell phone or answered her e-mail ... we did get concerned," Kuppinger said. "We honestly thought she would pop up."
(A previous version of this story referred incorrectly to Martinez, Ga., as an Atlanta suburb. It is a suburb of Augusta.)
Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_victim_vignettes_2)
Haven\'t had a chance to read the Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/virginiaTechShootings?src=041707_1541_TOPSTORY_victims_remembered) story.
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I got your point, read the signature.;)
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I don\'t believe that disturbing writing should be a prerequisite for going on a shooting spree. If that was true, Stephen King would be the biggest mass murderer we\'ve ever seen.
This kid was a nut, plain and simple. I can only hope that this opens some eyes to their surroundings and prompts some safety measures at our local universities.
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The press stated that his creative writings were extremely distrubing and was sent to a school counsler.
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But the Chicago Tribune quoted investigative sources as saying Cho, who was studying English literature, left behind an invective-filled note and had shown recent signs of aberrant behavior, including setting a fire in a dorm room and allegedly stalking some women.
Why was this fucker still in school?
I see what you are saying Todd, but who would have suspected that he would have gone on a 30+ person killing spree? As a country I dont think we can live like that......
**** happens. People die unfairly all day every day. How is this any different than someone getting shitfaced drunk and driving into a car full of kids on their way to school?
I am just trying to spark conversation as opposed to enciting a riot. I just dont see how we can screen people who "have the potential for major mental snapping".....It\'s just not possible....I am sure we could get some, but who knows why people do what they do?
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But the Chicago Tribune quoted investigative sources as saying Cho, who was studying English literature, left behind an invective-filled note and had shown recent signs of aberrant behavior, including setting a fire in a dorm room and allegedly stalking some women.
Why was this fucker still in school?
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Steve -
I couldn\'t agree more. One must respect the sheer magitude what the weapon represents before firing or owning one. Enough said.
As for Imus, I don\'t really care that he\'s off the air (mainly because I never listened to him. I always found his voice annoying and his format corny). That being said, do I think that he should have been fire, absolutely not! I feel that the 2 week suspension was enough and should have appeased his critics. Do I feel the comments that me made towards the Rutgers Women\'s BB team were offensive and uncalled for, yes (but that might be a local thing for me). Don\'t fret though, I\'m sure that he\'ll turn up on XM or Sirius in a couple of months.
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Ry, I hear you lound and clear.
Back in 2003 I was able to go to a shooting range and fire 9 mil, 30/30 hunting rifle, and a semi automatic M-16 (i think). I was taught respect and safety for the weapon before even being allowed to touch a gun. After I fired the first shot out of the 9mil, the only thought that went through my mind was, "How can one human being point this instrument at another human being?". The sheer power was, and still is, mindblowing to me. However I was, and still am, more of a pacifist, choosing dialogue and common sense to try and settle disputes. Now, obviously there will always come times when you have to stand up and fight back, but I dont think firearms are the answer to anything.......
The worst thing about this is that now, all of a sudden, nobody cares about Don Imus being fired for calling a bunch of nappy headed ho\'s, nappy headed ho\'s.....His whole show for like 30 years has been about calling a spade a spade, and now, all of a sudden, he\'s fired for some bullshit.....**** Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson, and all the media watchdogs. **** them up their stupid asses....Why dont those two morons focus on lifting up people instead of bringing down people?
Sorry for the rant....
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Steve -
I get your point and I agree that we should live our live as if there\'s no tomorrow!
I also feel that people carrying guns to make themselves feel safe isn\'t the answer either. I can\'t speak for anyone else, but I\'ve been in the situation where a gun was pulled on me and all I wanted to do was do was get me out of there safely, which is what I did. Let\'s look at this from a different point of view. If I had a gun, I could have pulled it while the other gun was pointed at me, but what would that have solved. Most likely I would have been shot regardless of whether I was able to fire back - would carrying a gun really make the situation any better?
I\'m sure that I\'m making sense to myself and no one else. Oh well.
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Drugs are banned? :wah:
I knew my point would be missed on a wookie scenester like yourself.......
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Reuters Link to information on the shooter (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1631133620070417?&src=041707_0954_TOPSTORY_gunman_identified)
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The next person that tells me that this can be directly correlated to the rise of violence in entertainment and the media is getting kicked right in the **** nuts. They have that stuff everywhere in the world yet we are the only society that does disgusting things like this on the regular.
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Drugs are banned? :wah:
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They should ban guns the way they have banned drugs....
I mean there isnt a drug problem anymore so, if we ban guns then all these disgusting acts will just go away......
But you can make a bomb out of fertilizer and other household chemicals......so lets ban those too......
**** is always gonna happen. Its called life....... that is why we should enjoy every day like it may be our last one......cause you never know...........
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hey, i\'d never want to shoot a person
and i imagine a gun-toting civilian isn\'t likely to use their weapon unless a gun-toting psycho criminal came around
basically, i think this psychonutbag would have obtained a gun and shot all these innocent people regardless of gun possession laws... he was obviously planning something out
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I understand where you are coming from; my brother-in-law is a federal agent and he has to carry everywhere he goes. What I\'m saying is that we make it too easy to obtain a gun. I personally don\'t own a gun and refuse to allow one in my home besides my brother-in-law, but I think that if you are going to allow people to own a gun for protection, it should be for the home only, we don\'t need gun-toting civilians walking through NYC or Boston or whatever your local city is. I\'ve been in some states like Virginia where I saw a biker carrying a Colt 45 as he was going into a 7-11 to get coffee; is that really necessary? I\'m not saying ban all guns, but there should definitely be restrictions on where you can carry your legally obtained gun and stricter means in which you can obtain a gun. Those of you that know me, know that I\'m not a huge fan of cops and such, but they\'re trained professionals paid to deal with criminals, we\'re not and shouldn\'t take it into our own hands to supply justice (that would make you a criminal also). How often do you really find yourself in a situation that requires you to have a gun? If you find yourself in that situation often, then you might need to rethink why that is and there might be some personal decisions to make that would keep you out of those situations. Owning a gun is not the answer, learning how to deal with your environment and being well-informed about the non-violent means available to you might be a better solution.
Just my 2-cents.
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im sayin
criminals will always have guns
so taking them away from non criminals doesnt seem fair to me
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i disagree. you are not trained in crisis mediation, therefore you having a gun in a crisis is a bad idea.
yes, i understand that american have the right to their guns. hell, i literally live in the shadow of the nra\'s national headquarters and museum building. however, to say that arming people will make things safer is the most assinine thing i\'ve ever heard. yes, people kill people. but guns sure do make it a hell of a lot easier!
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Since we don\'t live in a time where colonial tyrany (excluding George W. Bush) is a problem, it might be time to take a look at the legitimacy of the 2nd Ammendment.
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
however tragic this situation may be, i dont think i agree with your statement...
people should always be able to protect themselves
if your saying only the governement (i.e. police or other law enforement) should have access to guns, i would remind you that criminals will always find a way to obtain guns if they want.
True Dat!!
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:rip:
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Since we don\'t live in a time where colonial tyrany (excluding George W. Bush) is a problem, it might be time to take a look at the legitimacy of the 2nd Ammendment.
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
however tragic this situation may be, i dont think i agree with your statement...
people should always be able to protect themselves
if your saying only the governement (i.e. police or other law enforement) should have access to guns, i would remind you that criminals will always find a way to obtain guns if they want.
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like ant said, it was confirmed on the news (i believe right after Bush gave his 2 second speech) that the gunman committed suicide. they have no idea if he\'s even a student (which i think he is) because he had no identification on him. they\'re also saying that he was probably the same shooter for both incidences, but are not sure....what f\'n bullshit. they should know all of this by now.
as for victims, they said that they were still in the process of IDing bodies. i was under the impression that this process is going to take them until tomorrow because they said they wanted to do a really thorough job...and then they\'ll start the investigation of motive, and who this killer was, and all that jazz.
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I assume that it was a male student from the science and engineering department.
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gunman killed himself, pretty sure that was confirmed on the 3.5 minutes of news I watched. had to turn it off though cos it sickened me that the president of the university admitted that they had not canceled classes after the dorm incident because they \'thought it was an isolated incident that was over and done\'. something like that anyway. they only said the gunman was an asian-american, did not know if it was a current or former student.
on a lighter note. do the roommates of the deceased get straight A\'s for the semester? (sorry, had to do it, as awful and cruel it may be)
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Has it been confirmed that the gunman killed himself? Last i heard they were still unclear as to if he was killed by police or if he had taken his own life. I also heard that they reported the gunman had 2 pistols and many rounds of ammo. Nothing has been released that pertains to who the gunner.
Has anyone heard anything about who the victims were?
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what a mess this situation is. i thought i had it tough last night with that storm and a branch lodging into my roof...then i wake up to hear about this and i was thanking god to be in the situation i was in. these poor kids. it was just a huge massacre. shame the gunman killed himself, i would\'ve preferred to hear that he was being brutally **** and beaten behind bars for the rest of his life...hope that doesn\'t offend anyone.
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Ryan....Good God its been too long broseph....
Hope you are well...
Glad to hear your coworkers daughter was not amongst the unfortunate ones......
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The daughter of a woman that I work with was in the dorm where the first murder took place. Fortunately she\'s okay, but her mother was a wreck. Completely unecessary. It might be time to look into why it is so easy for someone to obtain a gun, legally or illegally in this country. Since we don\'t live in a time where colonial tyrany (excluding George W. Bush) is a problem, it might be time to take a look at the legitimacy of the 2nd Ammendment.
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:( horrible world we live in.
the world we live in is the most amazing and beautiful place i can imagine.......
however its some of the people in this world that make it seem so shitty.......
Word.
This is some horrible news.
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They say all last week the campus and specifically the Science/Engineering building was targeted with bomb threats.
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You would think and hope by now that they\'d have plans in place for such bullshit.
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the whole 2 hours thing is inexcusable.
I agree, I just heard on MSNBC from one student that said the 1st shooting happened @ 7 or so and there was no mention of it to the student body until an email was sent out @ 930 or so, classes were not cancelled or anything else to that effect. That place should have been flooded with Cops and the campus either locked down or evacuated.
"The worst mass shooting in US history"
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I do however, want to learn more about the actual gunman and see what his motive is.
don\'t worry, this time tomorrow the whole investigation will begin on how this could happen, how the police failed to act in a reasonable amount of time and then, after all that is done, the media will speculate on the shooters\' movies/gaming/music preference.
underneath all of that, the victims won\'t even be mentioned.
sad, really.
the whole 2 hours thing is inexcusable.
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:( horrible world we live in.
the world we live in is the most amazing and beautiful place i can imagine.......
however its some of the people in this world that make it seem so shitty.......
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i have been down in the bar at work watching the news for the last 30 min or so. this is just insane. what a horrible tragedy to take place on a college campus or anywhere in this country for that matter. virginia tech is a great school. beautiful campus. i was down visiting a friend during the school year in \'05. what a shame to hear about something like this happening.
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This truly is a horrible incident and it is unfortunate that these things happen. Fell sorry for the people who have been directly affected by this outrageous incident.
I do however, want to learn more about the actual gunman and see what his motive is.
I can understand a murder with people you directly know but to open fire on an entire university is a whole other story.
This is quite an interesting event to unfold.
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Holy crap!!
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There were 2 seperate incidents 2hrs apart, so this kid was able to get from one end of campus to the other withouut someone stopping him. Sad story.
:( I can\'t believe the gunman had TWO chances for these attacks.
I\'m glad, at least, that the killer\'s dead... hopefully he/she was working alone. :rip:
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:( horrible world we live in.
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Fox news according to this report states 32 dead.
Sad really. This is something you heard about in history and watch on TV but never think that it would actually happen, especially on your own campus. School sucks on Monday, these students didn\'t need this.
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Watching the news right now, 31 confirmed dead, seems to already be a Columbine copycat in certain methods from what they\'re saying on the news. There were 2 seperate incidents 2hrs apart, so this kid was able to get from one end of campus to the other withouut someone stopping him. Sad story.
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I have been following the story on BigD103 this afternoon....
I am hearing that the body count is 30 and growing.....
A Horrible Tragedy Indeed......
Hopefully no copycat incidents will ensue....
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At least 22 people and as many as 32 were killed and more than two dozen wounded at Virginia Tech university on Monday in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.
Fox News, quoting federal sources, said the death toll was 32.
The rampage by what police believed was a lone gunman took place in two separate areas about two hours apart. Students who had begun crisscrossing the large campus for morning classes rushed for cover.
"This is a tragedy of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech president Charles Steger told reporters.
Virginia Tech campus police chief Wendell Finchum said the suspected gunman was dead and that police were trying to determine whether he killed himself or was shot by officers.
"At this time we believe it\'s only one gunman," said Finchum.
President George W. Bush was "horrified" by the shooting White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
"He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," she said.
A student journalist\'s video of the chaos was replayed repeatedly on U.S. television networks, showing people scurrying around the campus and volleys of shots ringing out.
The death toll was worse than a massacre at the University of Texas in Austin on August 1, 1966, when trained marksman Charles Whitman killed 15 people, including his mother and wife the night before, and wounded 31 others.
The first shooting at Virginia Tech, a state university, was reported to campus police at about 7:15 a.m. (1115 GMT) in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a dormitory housing some 900 students.
It was followed by more shooting at Norris Hall, site of the science and engineering school that has given the university much of its fame as a leading technical institute in the United States.
MULTIPLE BOMB THREATS
The wounded were taken to hospitals in the area for treatment.
Students told CNN there were multiple bomb threats to the campus last week. Two of the threats were aimed at the science and engineering school.
Virginia Tech, with 26,000 students, is located in the town of Blacksburg and set in lush rolling hills in the southwest corner of the state, about 240 miles from Washington.
"It\'s just shock and anger around here right now," graduate student Elizabeth Stewart told CNN, adding she saw the shootings as "freak incidents" that would not stop her attending Virginia Tech.
"I love my school with all my heart and soul."
The university had already sent out an e-mail canceling classes after the first shooting when students heard more shots, another student, Laura Spaventa, told CNN.
Classes were canceled for Monday and Tuesday and counselors were being brought in to talk to the students.
"We continue to work to identify the victims that have been impacted by this tragedy," said Steger, the university president.
"I cannot begin to convey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless and incomprehensible heinous act."
Virginia Tech closed for a day last August 21 because of a manhunt for an escaped prisoner. William Morva, accused of shooting and killing a hospital guard and then a sheriff\'s deputy near the Virginia Tech campus while on the run, was captured a day after escaping custody on August 20.
U.S. News & World Report, which produces well-regarded annual ratings of U.S. universities, ranked Virginia Tech\'s College of Engineering 17th for an engineering school in the United States, tied with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Texas A&M University, and the University of Minnesota.
Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1631133620070416?src=041607_1443_TOPSTORY_shooting_rampage&pageNumber=1)