Virginia Tech massacre
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
in Blacksburg, Virginia
, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho
, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide. The massacre
is the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. It was also the worst act of mass murder on college students since Syracuse University
lost 36 students in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
.
Cho, a senior English
major
at Virginia Tech, had previously been diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder
. During much of his middle school
and high school
years, he received therapy and special education
support. After graduating from high school, Cho enrolled at Virginia Tech. Due to federal privacy law
s, Virginia Tech was not informed of Cho's previous diagnosis or the accommodations he had been granted at school. In 2005, Cho was accused of stalking
two female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice declared Cho mentally ill
and ordered him to attend treatment. Lucinda Roy, a professor and former chairwoman of the English department, had also asked Cho to seek counseling. Cho's mother also turned to the church.
The attacks received international media coverage and drew widespread criticism of U.S. laws and culture. It sparked intense debate about gun violence
, gun law
s, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations, privacy laws, journalism ethics
, and other issues. Television news organizations that aired portions of the killer's multimedia manifesto were criticized by victims' families, Virginia law enforcement officials, and the American Psychiatric Association
.
The massacre prompted the state of Virginia to close legal loopholes that had previously allowed Cho, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to purchase handguns without detection by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also led to passage of the first major federal gun control measure
in more than 13 years. The law strengthening the NICS was signed by President George W. Bush
on January 5, 2008.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel, a state-appointed body assigned to review the incident, criticized Virginia Tech administrators for failing to take action that might have reduced the number of casualties. The panel's report also reviewed gun laws and pointed out gaps in mental health care as well as privacy laws that left Cho's deteriorating condition in college untreated.
Cho used two firearms during the attacks: a .22-caliber
Walther P22
semi-automatic handgun and a 9 mm
semi-automatic Glock 19
handgun. The shootings occurred in separate incidents, with the first at West Ambler Johnston Hall, during which Cho killed two pupils, and the second at Norris Hall, where the other 31 deaths, including that of Cho himself, as well as all the nonlethal injuries, occurred.
Cho shot his first victims around 7:15 a.m. in West Ambler Johnston Hall. At about that time, Cho entered the room that freshman Emily J. Hilscher shared with another student. Hilscher, a 19-year-old from Woodville
, Rappahannock County
, Virginia, was killed. After hearing the gunshots, a male resident assistant
, Ryan C. Clark, attempted to aid Hilscher. Clark, a 22-year-old-senior from Martinez
, Columbia County
, Georgia
, was fatally shot. Hilscher remained alive for three hours after being shot, but no one from the school, law enforcement or hospital notified her family until after she had died.
Cho left the scene and returned to his dormitory room. While police and emergency medical services
units were responding to the shootings in the dorm next door, Cho changed out of his bloodstained clothes, logged on to his computer to delete his e-mail, and then removed the hard drive. About an hour after the attack, Cho is believed to have been seen near the campus duck pond. Although authorities suspected Cho threw his hard drive and mobile phone into the water, a search was unsuccessful.
Almost two hours after the first killings, Cho appeared at a nearby post office and mailed a package of writings and video recordings to NBC News
; the package was postmarked 9:01 a.m. He then walked to Norris Hall. In a backpack, he carried several chains, locks, a hammer, a knife, two handguns with nineteen 10- and 15-round magazines, and almost 400 rounds of ammunition
.
About two hours after the initial shootings, Cho entered Norris Hall, which houses the Engineering Science and Mechanics program among others, and chained the three main entrance doors shut. He placed a note on at least one of the chained doors, claiming that attempts to open the door would cause a bomb to explode. Shortly before the shooting began, a faculty member found the note and took it to the building's third floor to notify the school's administration. At about the same time, Cho had begun shooting students and faculty on the second floor; the bomb threat was never called in. Within one or two minutes of the first shots, the first call to 9-1-1
was received.
According to several students, before the shooting began Cho looked into several classrooms. Erin Sheehan, an eyewitness and survivor who had been in room 207, told reporters that the shooter "peeked in twice" earlier in the lesson and that "it was strange that someone at this point in the semester would be lost, looking for a class". Cho's first attack after entering Norris occurred in an advanced hydrology engineering class taught by Professor G. V. Loganathan
in room 206. Cho first shot and killed the professor, then continued shooting, killing nine of the 13 students in the room and injuring two others. Next, Cho went across the hall to room 207, in which instructor Christopher James Bishop
was teaching German. Cho killed Bishop and four students; six students were wounded. Cho then moved on to Norris 211 and 204. In both of these classrooms, Cho was initially prevented from entering the classroom by barricades erected by instructors and students. In room 204, Professor Liviu Librescu
, a Holocaust survivor, forcibly prevented Cho from entering the room. Librescu was able to hold the door closed until most of his students escaped through the windows, but he died after being shot multiple times through the door. One student in his classroom was killed. Instructor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
and student Henry Lee were killed in room 211 as they attempted to barricade the door.
Cho reloaded and revisited several of the classrooms. After Cho's first visit to room 207, several students had barricaded the door and had begun tending the wounded. When Cho returned minutes later, Katelyn Carney and Derek O'Dell were injured while holding the door closed. Cho also returned to room 206. According to a student eyewitness, the movements of a wounded Waleed Shaalan distracted Cho from a nearby student after the shooter had returned to the room. Shaalan was shot a second time and died. Also in room 206, Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan may have protected fellow student Guillermo Colman by diving on top of him. Colman's various accounts make it unclear whether this act was intentional or the involuntary result of being shot. Multiple gunshots killed Lumbantoruan, but Colman was protected by Lumbantoruan's body.
Students, including Zach Petkewicz, barricaded the door of room 205 with a large table after substitute professor Haiyan Cheng and a student saw Cho heading toward them. Cho shot several times through the door but failed to force his way in. No one in that classroom was wounded or killed.
Hearing the commotion on the floor below, Professor Kevin Granata
brought 20 students from a nearby classroom into an office, where the door could be locked, on the third floor of Norris Hall. He then went downstairs to investigate and was fatally shot by Cho. None of the students locked in Granata's office were injured.
Approximately 10–12 minutes after the second attack began, Cho shot himself in the head. He died in Jocelyne Couture-Nowak's Intermediate French class, room 211. During this second assault, he had fired at least 174 rounds, killing 30 people and wounding 17 more. All of the victims were shot at least three times each; of the 30 killed, 28 were shot in the head. During the investigation, State Police Superintendent William Flaherty told a state panel that police found 203 live rounds in Norris Hall. "He was well prepared to continue...," Flaherty testified.
During the two attacks, Cho killed five faculty members and 27 students before committing suicide. The Virginia Tech Review Panel reported that Cho's gunshots wounded 17 other people; six more were injured when they jumped from second-story windows to escape. Sydney J. Vail, the director of the trauma center at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, said that Cho's choice of 9 mm hollow point
ammunition increased the severity of the injuries. Conversely, due to the limited penetration depth of hollow point bullets, it is likely that Colman would have died had they not been used.
, a South Korean citizen with U.S. permanent resident status
. An undergraduate at Virginia Tech, Cho lived in Harper Hall, a dormitory west of West Ambler Johnston Hall
.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel's August 2007 report devoted more than 127 pages to Cho's troubled history. At three years of age, Cho was described as shy, frail, and wary of physical contact. While early media reports carried speculation by South Korean relatives that Cho had autism
, the Review Panel report dismissed this diagnosis. In eighth grade, Cho was diagnosed with severe depression as well as selective mutism
, a social anxiety
disorder that inhibited him from speaking. Cho's family sought therapy for him, and he received help periodically throughout middle school and high school. Early reports also indicated Cho was bullied for speech difficulties in middle school, but the Virginia Tech Review Panel was unable to confirm this. High school officials worked with his parents and mental health counselors to support Cho throughout his sophomore and junior years. Cho eventually chose to discontinue therapy. When he applied and was admitted to Virginia Tech, school officials did not report his speech and anxiety-related problems or special education status because of federal privacy laws that prohibit such disclosure unless a student requests special accommodation.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel detailed numerous incidents of aberrant behavior beginning in Cho's junior year of college that should have served as warning signals of his deteriorating mental condition. Several former professors of Cho reported that his writing as well as his classroom behavior was disturbing, and he was encouraged to seek counseling. He was also investigated by the university for stalking
and harassing two female students. In 2005, Cho had been declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice and ordered to seek outpatient treatment
.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report faulted university officials for failing to share information that would have shed light on the seriousness of Cho's problems, citing misinterpretations of federal privacy laws. The report also pointed to failures by Virginia Tech's counseling center, flaws in Virginia's mental health laws, and inadequate state mental health services, but concluded that "Cho himself was the biggest impediment to stabilizing his mental health" in college.
Cho's underlying psychological diagnosis at the time of the shootings remains a matter of speculation.
Early reports suggested that the killings resulted from a romantic dispute between Cho and Emily Hilscher, one of his first two victims. However, Hilscher's friends said she had no prior relationship with Cho and there is no evidence that he ever met or talked with her before the murders. In the ensuing investigation, police found a suicide note
in Cho's dorm room that included comments about "rich kids", "debauchery", and "deceitful charlatans". On April 18, 2007, NBC News
received a package from Cho time-stamped between the first and second shooting episodes. It contained an 1800 word manifesto
, photos, and 27 digitally recorded videos, in which Cho likened himself to Jesus Christ and expressed his hatred of the wealthy. He stated, among other things, "You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option...You just loved to crucify me. You loved inducing cancer in my head, terror in my heart and ripping my soul all this time". Media organizations, including Newsweek, MSNBC
, Reuters
and the Associated Press
, even raised questions and speculated the similarity between a stance in one of Cho's videos, which showed him holding and raising a hammer, and a pose from promotional posters for the South Korean movie Oldboy
. Investigators found no evidence that Cho had ever watched Oldboy, and the professor who made the initial connection to Oldboy had since discounted his theory that Cho was influenced by the movie.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel concluded that because of Cho's inability to handle stress and the "frightening prospect" of being "turned out into the world of work, finances, responsibilities, and a family," Cho chose to engage in a fantasy where "he would be remembered as the savior of the oppressed, the downtrodden, the poor, and the rejected." The panel went further, stating that, "His thought processes were so distorted that he began arguing to himself that his evil plan was actually doing good. His destructive fantasy was now becoming an obsession."
In the aftermath, high winds related to the April 2007 Nor'easter
prevented emergency medical services from using helicopters for evacuation
of the injured. Victims injured in the shooting were treated at Montgomery Regional Hospital
in Blacksburg, Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
in Radford, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
in Roanoke, Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport, TN and Lewis-Gale Medical Center
in Salem.
The university first informed students via e-mail at 9:26 a.m., more than two hours after the first shooting, which was thought at the time to be isolated and domestic in nature. After the full extent of the massacre became evident, Virginia Tech canceled classes for the rest of the week and held an assembly and candlelight vigil
on April 17. Norris Hall was closed for the remainder of the semester. The university offered counseling for students and faculty, and the American Red Cross
dispatched several dozen crisis counselors to Blacksburg
to help students. University officials also allowed students, if they chose, to abbreviate their semester coursework and still receive a grade.
Within a day after the shootings, Virginia Tech, whose students call themselves The Hokies, formed the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund (HSMF) to help remember and honor the victims. The fund is used to cover expenses including, but not limited to: assistance to victims and their families, grief counseling, memorials, communications expenses, and comfort expenses. Early in June, 2007, the Virginia Tech Foundation announced that million was moved from the HSMF into 32 separate named endowment
funds, each created in honor of a victim lost in the shooting. This transfer brought each fund to the level of full endowment, allowing them to operate in perpetuity
. The naming and determination of how each fund will be directed is being developed with the victims' families. By early June, donations to the HSMF had reached approximately million. In July 2007, Kenneth R. Feinberg
, who served as Special Master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
of 2001, was named to administer the fund's distributions. In October 2007, the families and surviving victims received payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the fund.
Also early in June 2007, the university announced it would begin reoccupying Norris Hall within a matter of weeks. The building is used for offices and laboratories for the Engineering Science and Mechanics
and Civil and Environmental Engineering departments, its primary occupants before the shootings. The building is to be completely renovated over time, and it will no longer contain classrooms.
After the release of the Virginia Tech Review Panel Report, some parents of those killed called for Virginia's governor to relieve the university president and campus police chief of their positions. However, Governor Tim Kaine
rejected the notion, saying that the school officials had "suffered enough".
, each labeled with the name of a victim, in a semicircle
in front of the Drillfield viewing stand.
Tech students of South Korean descent initially feared they would be targeted for retribution. While no official claims of harassment were made, anecdotal evidence suggests that some Korean students were affected.
The shootings occurred as prospective students were deciding whether to accept offers of admission from colleges and universities. Despite this timing, Virginia Tech exceeded its recruiting goal of 5,000 students for the class of 2011.
attended the convocation at Virginia Tech the day after the shootings.
The Internal Revenue Service
and Virginia Department of Taxation granted six-month extensions to individuals affected by the shootings.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
returned early from a trade mission to Tokyo, Japan, and declared a "state of emergency
" in Virginia, enabling him to immediately deploy state personnel, equipment, and other resources in the aftermath of the shootings.
Governor Kaine later created an eight-member panel, including former United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Tom Ridge
, to review all aspects of the Virginia Tech massacre, from Cho's medical history to the school's widely criticized delay in warning students of danger and locking down the campus after the bodies of Cho's first two victims were discovered. In August 2007, the panel concluded, among more than 20 major findings, that the Virginia Tech Police Department "did not take sufficient action to deal with what might happen if the initial lead proved false". The panel made more than 70 preventative recommendations, directed to colleges, universities, mental health providers, law enforcement officials, emergency service providers, law makers and other public officials in Virginia and elsewhere. While the panel did find errors in judgment and procedure, the ultimate conclusion was that Cho himself was responsible for his own actions, and to imply that anyone else was accountable "would be wrong." The Review Panel validated public criticisms that university officials erred in "prematurely concluding that their initial lead in the double homicide was a good one," and in delaying a campus-wide notification for almost two hours. The report analyzed the feasibility of a campus lockdown and essentially agreed with police testimony that such an action was not feasible. The report concluded that the toll could have been reduced if the university had made an immediate decision to cancel classes and a stronger, clearer initial alert of the presence of a gunman.
The incident also caused Virginia Commonwealth elected officials to re-examine gaps between federal and state gun purchase laws. Within two weeks, Governor Kaine had issued an executive order designed to close those gaps (see Gun politics debate, below). Prompted by the incident, the federal government passed the most significant gun control law in over a decade. The bill, , mandates improvements in state reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in order to halt gun purchases by criminals, those declared mentally ill, and other people prohibited from possessing firearms and authorizes up to $1.3 billion in federal grants for such improvements. Both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Rifle Association
supported the legislation. The measure passed the United States House of Representatives
on a voice vote on June 13, 2007. The Senate
passed the measure on December 19, 2007. President Bush signed the measure on January 5, 2008. On March 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education
announced proposed changes in the regulations governing education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA). Certain of the changes address issues raised by the Virginia Tech incident and are intended to clarify for schools the appropriate balance to strike between concerns of individual privacy and public safety.
convened an emergency meeting to consider possible ramifications. A candlelight vigil was held outside the Embassy of the United States in Seoul
. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
expressed his deepest condolences. Although Cho came to the US as a third grader and was a permanent resident
of the US, many South Koreans felt guilt and mourned because they considered him a South Korean by blood.
South Korea's ambassador to the US and several Korean American religious leaders called on Korean Americans to participate in a 32-day fast, one day for each victim, for repentance. The foreign minister
, Song Min-soon
, announced that safety measures had been established for Koreans living in the US, in apparent reference to fears of possible reprisal attacks. A ministry official expressed hope that the shooting would not "stir up racial prejudice
or confrontation". No such incidents were ever reported.
Korean Americans criticized the fasting proposal, saying that it directed undue and irrelevant attention on Cho's ethnicity and not other, more salient, reasons behind the shooting. News reports noted that South Koreans seemed relieved that American news coverage of Cho focused on his psychological problems. The Korea Tourism Organization
(KTO) pulled its "Sparkling Korea" television advertisements off CNN after the shootings. A KTO official said it would be inappropriate to air the advertisements featuring images of Korea's culture and natural beauty in between the news reports of the rampage.
Hundreds of other colleges and universities throughout North America responded to the incident with official condolences and by conducting their own vigils, memorial services, and gestures of support. Some schools went beyond this and offered or provided cash donations and other forms of expertise and support, such as housing for officers and additional counseling support for Virginia Tech. Both inside the U.S. and abroad, the incident caused many universities to re-examine their own campus safety and security procedures as well as their mental health support services.
Some of Cho's family members expressed sympathy for the victims' families and described his history of mental and behavioral problems. Cho's maternal grandfather was quoted in The Daily Mirror
referring to Cho as a person who deserved to die with the victims. On Friday, April 20, Cho's family issued a statement of grief and apology, written by his sister, Sun-Kyung Cho.
Many heads of state
and international figures offered condolences and sympathy, including Pope Benedict XVI
, Queen Elizabeth II, and South Korean UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
. Sporting teams and leagues at both the college and professional levels, as well as sports figures from football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, and NASCAR racing, paid their respects and joined fundraising efforts to honor the victims.
EQUITAS, a Canada-based "Strategic Rule of Law
Think Tank" governed by international law, published a report pertaining to the Virginia Tech massacre which includes a review of measures for counter-terrorism and campus security adopted between 1993 and April 16, 2007. The report criticizes Virginia Tech's institutional decision-making process and summarizes the lethal effects of failing to “implement and administer valid procedural and substantive safeguards aimed at securing the broad Va Tech and Blacksburg community against Level II type incidents involving acts of terrorism and mass casualties". The report does not comment on gun control or mental health issues.
On July 30, 2007, after it came to light that Seung-Hui Cho had purchased on eBay two 10-round magazines for one of the guns used in the shootings, the online auctioneer prohibited the sale of firearms magazines, firearms parts, and ammunition components on its site.
AZA, in honor of the Holocaust survivor who used his body to barricade Cho from entering his room.
On September 4, 2009, the Marching Virginians took a 140 mile side-trip on their way to the season opening football game against the University of Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The 350 member band, 20 cheerleaders and members of the Corps of Cadets color guard performed at Lakeside High School
, alma mater of Ryan Clark, along with the Lakeside Marching Band and visiting Evans High's band. The event was organized by Central Savannah River Area Virginia Tech alumni chapter to honor Clark's memory and as a fundraiser for a scholarship in his name.
Beginning with the first anniversary of the attack and continuing since, the Queens' Guard
of The College of William and Mary, another public university in Virginia, has memorialized the victims with an honor guard at the head of the College's Sunken Garden
. The unarmed honor guard is modeled after the honor guard posted at the Tomb of the Unknowns
by soldiers of the US Army's Old Guard
.
Following the 2007 shootings, Virginia Tech began employing an alert system on their website, as well as text messages to warn students of danger. The alert system was first activated in 2008, when an exploded cartridge from a nail gun produced sounds similar to gunfire near a campus dormitory. It was later activated on August 4, 2011, during which the university was locked down, after three children attending a summer camp reported seeing a man near Dietrick Hall walking quickly toward the volleyball courts while carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. Police from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Christiansburg, as well as Virginia State Police and Montgomery County sheriff's deputies searched for the man, but could not find anyone matching the children's description.
legislation arguing that guns are too accessible, citing that Cho, a mentally unsound individual, was able to purchase two semi-automatic pistols
despite state laws which should have prevented such purchase. Opponents of gun control argued that Virginia Tech's gun-free "safe zone" policy ensured that none of the other students or faculty would be armed and that as a result they were unable to stop Cho.
pistol before he bought a second pistol, a Glock 19
. Cho used a 15-round magazine in the Glock and a 10-round magazine in the Walther. The serial numbers on the weapons were filed off, but the ATF National Laboratory
was able to reveal them and performed a firearms trace.
The sale of firearms by licensed dealers in Virginia is restricted to residents who successfully pass a background check. Virginia law also limits purchases of handguns to one every 30 days. Federal law
requires a criminal background check for handgun purchases from licensed firearms dealers, and Virginia checks other databases in addition to the federally mandated NICS. A 1968 federal law
passed in response to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
, also prohibits those "adjudicated as a mental defective" from buying guns. This exclusion applied to Cho after a Virginia court declared him to be a danger to himself in late 2005 and sent him for psychiatric treatment
. Because of gaps between federal and Virginia state laws, the state did not report Cho's legal status to the NICS. Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine addressed this problem on April 30, 2007, by issuing an executive order intended to close those reporting gaps. In August 2007, the Virginia Tech Review Panel report called for a permanent change in the Code of Virginia to clarify and strengthen the state's background check requirements. The federal government later passed a law to improve state reporting to the NICS nationwide.
holders. In April 2005, a student permitted by the state to carry concealed handguns was discovered possessing a concealed firearm in class. While no criminal charges were filed, a university spokesman said the University had "the right to adhere to and enforce that policy as a common-sense protection of students, staff and faculty as well as guests and visitors".
In January 2006, prior to the shootings, legislator Todd Gilbert had introduced a related bill into the Virginia House of Delegates
. The bill, HB 1572, was intended to forbid public universities
in Virginia from preventing students from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun on campus. The university opposed the bill, which quickly died in subcommittee. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker praised the defeat of the bill, stating, "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
The incident and its aftermath energized student activist efforts seeking to overturn bans that prevent gun permit holders from carrying their weapons on college campuses. Thirty-eight states throughout the U.S. ban weapons at schools; sixteen of those specifically ban guns on college campuses. A new group, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus
, formed after the massacre; as of March 2008, it claimed to have 16,000 members at 500 campuses nationwide. Several states are weighing legislation to allow gun permit holders to carry concealed firearms on university campuses. Another attempt by Delegate Gilbert to pass a law to allow concealed weapons on college campuses in Virginia was defeated in March 2008.
said that it was too easy for an individual to get powerful weapons and called for increased gun control measures.
National Rifle Association
board member Ted Nugent
, commenting on CNN, called for an end to gun-free zones and contrasted the Virginia Tech massacre with other incidents in which mass shootings have been ended by law-abiding gun owners. Texas Governor
Rick Perry
proposed that licensed gun owners be allowed to carry their weapons anywhere in Texas.
Some government officials in other countries joined in the criticism of U.S. gun laws and policies. For example, then Australian Prime Minister
John Howard
said that stringent legislation introduced after a 1996 mass shooting in Tasmania had prevented a problematic gun culture
in Australia.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
condemned the gun politics debate following the massacre, saying, "To those who want to make this into some sort of crusade, I say take this elsewhere."
The Department of Education fined the University $55,000 on March 29, 2011 for waiting too long to notify students of the initial shootings. The fine was the highest amount that the Department of Education could levy for the two violations of the Clery Act
resulting from the failure to notify students in a timely manner of the shootings in West Ambler Johnston. In announcing the fine against the University, the director of a department panel which reviewed the case was quoted as saying "While Virginia Tech's violations warrant a fine far in excess of what is currently permissible under the statute, the department's fine authority is limited". As of March 30, 2011, the University had announced its intention to appeal the decision.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
in Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...
, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide. The massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
is the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. It was also the worst act of mass murder on college students since Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
lost 36 students in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
.
Cho, a senior English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
major
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
at Virginia Tech, had previously been diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety. Conditions now considered anxiety disorders only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the end of the 19th century. Gelder, Mayou & Geddes explains that anxiety disorders are...
. During much of his middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
years, he received therapy and special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
support. After graduating from high school, Cho enrolled at Virginia Tech. Due to federal privacy law
Privacy law
Privacy law refers to the laws which deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organizations and its storage and use....
s, Virginia Tech was not informed of Cho's previous diagnosis or the accommodations he had been granted at school. In 2005, Cho was accused of stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
two female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice declared Cho mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and ordered him to attend treatment. Lucinda Roy, a professor and former chairwoman of the English department, had also asked Cho to seek counseling. Cho's mother also turned to the church.
The attacks received international media coverage and drew widespread criticism of U.S. laws and culture. It sparked intense debate about gun violence
Gun violence in the United States
Gun violence in the United States is an intensely debated political issue in the United States. Gun-related violence is most common in poor urban areas and in conjunction with gang violence, often involving juveniles or young adults...
, gun law
Gun law
A gun law is a law that pertains to firearms. Restrictions on gun ownership and use vary greatly both by country and the type of firearm used....
s, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations, privacy laws, journalism ethics
Journalism ethics and standards
Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by journalists. Historically and currently, this subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional "code of ethics" or the "canons of journalism"...
, and other issues. Television news organizations that aired portions of the killer's multimedia manifesto were criticized by victims' families, Virginia law enforcement officials, and the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
.
The massacre prompted the state of Virginia to close legal loopholes that had previously allowed Cho, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to purchase handguns without detection by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also led to passage of the first major federal gun control measure
Gun law in the United States
Gun law in the United States is defined by a number of state and federal statutes. In the United States of America, the protection against infringement of the right to keep and bear arms is addressed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution...
in more than 13 years. The law strengthening the NICS was signed by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on January 5, 2008.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel, a state-appointed body assigned to review the incident, criticized Virginia Tech administrators for failing to take action that might have reduced the number of casualties. The panel's report also reviewed gun laws and pointed out gaps in mental health care as well as privacy laws that left Cho's deteriorating condition in college untreated.
Attacks
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
Walther P22
Walther P22
The P22 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.Distribution in the United States is by Walther America, a joint venture with the Smith and Wesson Company.-Design details:...
semi-automatic handgun and a 9 mm
9 mm caliber
This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the caliber range. The most prevalent of these rounds is the 9x19mm Parabellum.*Length refers to the cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge....
semi-automatic Glock 19
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
handgun. The shootings occurred in separate incidents, with the first at West Ambler Johnston Hall, during which Cho killed two pupils, and the second at Norris Hall, where the other 31 deaths, including that of Cho himself, as well as all the nonlethal injuries, occurred.
West Ambler Johnston shootings
Cho was seen near the entrance to West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed residence hall that houses 894 students, at about 6:45 a.m. EDT. The hall was normally only accessible to its residents via magnetic key card before 10 a.m. Cho's student mailbox was in the lobby of the building, so he had a pass card access after 7:30 a.m., but it is unclear how he gained earlier entrance to the building.Cho shot his first victims around 7:15 a.m. in West Ambler Johnston Hall. At about that time, Cho entered the room that freshman Emily J. Hilscher shared with another student. Hilscher, a 19-year-old from Woodville
Woodville, Virginia
Woodville is an unincorporated community in Rappahannock County, Virginia, United States. It is located in the southern part of the county.-Notable residents:*Eugene McCarthy, politician *James J...
, Rappahannock County
Rappahannock County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 7,373 people, 2,788 households, and 2,004 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 3,303 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, Virginia, was killed. After hearing the gunshots, a male resident assistant
Resident assistant
A resident assistant , commonly shortened to RA is a trained peer leader who supervises those living in a residence hall or group housing facility...
, Ryan C. Clark, attempted to aid Hilscher. Clark, a 22-year-old-senior from Martinez
Martinez, Georgia
Martinez is a census-designated place in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is an affluent suburb of Augusta, Georgia and is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area...
, Columbia County
Columbia County, Georgia
Columbia County is a county located in the US state of Georgia along the Savannah River. As of 2010 the population was 124,054 a growth of 39% from the 2000 census figure of 89,288. The de jure county seat is Appling. Appling is an unincorporated area, making Columbia one of only three counties...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, was fatally shot. Hilscher remained alive for three hours after being shot, but no one from the school, law enforcement or hospital notified her family until after she had died.
Cho left the scene and returned to his dormitory room. While police and emergency medical services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
units were responding to the shootings in the dorm next door, Cho changed out of his bloodstained clothes, logged on to his computer to delete his e-mail, and then removed the hard drive. About an hour after the attack, Cho is believed to have been seen near the campus duck pond. Although authorities suspected Cho threw his hard drive and mobile phone into the water, a search was unsuccessful.
Almost two hours after the first killings, Cho appeared at a nearby post office and mailed a package of writings and video recordings to NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
; the package was postmarked 9:01 a.m. He then walked to Norris Hall. In a backpack, he carried several chains, locks, a hammer, a knife, two handguns with nineteen 10- and 15-round magazines, and almost 400 rounds of ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
.
Norris Hall shootings
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
was received.
According to several students, before the shooting began Cho looked into several classrooms. Erin Sheehan, an eyewitness and survivor who had been in room 207, told reporters that the shooter "peeked in twice" earlier in the lesson and that "it was strange that someone at this point in the semester would be lost, looking for a class". Cho's first attack after entering Norris occurred in an advanced hydrology engineering class taught by Professor G. V. Loganathan
G. V. Loganathan
Gobichettipalayam Vasudevan "G. V." Loganathan was an Indian-born American professor, whose most recent position was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering, part of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, United States...
in room 206. Cho first shot and killed the professor, then continued shooting, killing nine of the 13 students in the room and injuring two others. Next, Cho went across the hall to room 207, in which instructor Christopher James Bishop
Jamie Bishop
Christopher James Bishop , known as Jamie Bishop, was an instructor of the German language at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, as well as an artist and craftsman. He was among those shot in the Virginia Tech massacre...
was teaching German. Cho killed Bishop and four students; six students were wounded. Cho then moved on to Norris 211 and 204. In both of these classrooms, Cho was initially prevented from entering the classroom by barricades erected by instructors and students. In room 204, Professor Liviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu was a Romanian-Israeli-American scientist and academic professor whose major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics...
, a Holocaust survivor, forcibly prevented Cho from entering the room. Librescu was able to hold the door closed until most of his students escaped through the windows, but he died after being shot multiple times through the door. One student in his classroom was killed. Instructor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
Jocelyne M. Couture-Nowak was an instructor of French in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and was the only Canadian victim of the Virginia Tech massacre...
and student Henry Lee were killed in room 211 as they attempted to barricade the door.
| Victims |
| 1. Ryan Clark (22) Martinez, Georgia Martinez, Georgia Martinez is a census-designated place in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is an affluent suburb of Augusta, Georgia and is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area... —senior in Psych/Biology/English |
| 2. Emily Hilscher (19) Woodville, Virginia Woodville, Virginia Woodville is an unincorporated community in Rappahannock County, Virginia, United States. It is located in the southern part of the county.-Notable residents:*Eugene McCarthy, politician *James J... —freshman in Animal Sciences |
| 3. Minal Panchal (26) Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million... , India —masters student in Architecture |
| 4. G. V. Loganathan G. V. Loganathan Gobichettipalayam Vasudevan "G. V." Loganathan was an Indian-born American professor, whose most recent position was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering, part of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, United States... (53) Erode Erode Erode is a city, a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Erode district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about southwest from the state capital Chennai and on the banks of the rivers Cauvery and Bhavani, between 11° 19.5"... , Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh... , India —professor of Engineering |
| 5. Jarrett Lane (22) Narrows, Virginia Narrows, Virginia Narrows, named for the narrowing of the New River that flows past it, is a town in Giles County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,111 at the 2000 census... —senior in Civil Engineering |
| 6. Brian Bluhm (25) Louisville, Kentucky Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096... —masters student in Civil Engineering |
| 7. Matthew Gwaltney (24) Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 316,236. Chesterfield County is now the fourth-largest municipality in Virginia . Its county seat is Chesterfield... —masters student in Environmental Engineering |
| 8. Jeremy Herbstritt (27) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Bellefonte is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies about twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area... —masters student in Civil Engineering |
| 9. Partahi Lumbantoruan (34) Medan Medan - Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang.... , Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an... —PhD student in Civil Engineering |
| 10. Daniel O'Neil (22) Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 21,105 at the 2010 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence.... —masters student in Environmental Engineering |
| 11. Juan Ortiz (26) Bayamón, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... —masters student in Civil Engineering |
| 12. Julia Pryde (23) Middletown, New Jersey —masters student in Biological Systems Engineering |
| 13. Waleed Shaalan (32) Zagazig Zagazig Zagazig is a town in Lower Egypt. Situated in the eastern part of the Nile delta, it is the capital of the governorate of Sharqia.As of 1999, its population was approximately 279,000. It is built on a branch of the Fresh Water or Ismaïlia Canal and on al-Muˤizz Canal , and is 47 miles by rail... , Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... —PhD student in Civil Engineering |
| 14. Jamie Bishop Jamie Bishop Christopher James Bishop , known as Jamie Bishop, was an instructor of the German language at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, as well as an artist and craftsman. He was among those shot in the Virginia Tech massacre... (35) Pine Mountain, Georgia —German instructor |
| 15. Lauren McCain (20) Hampton, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts... —freshman in International Studies |
| 16. Michael Pohle Jr. (23) Flemington, New Jersey Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 4,581. It is the county seat of Hunterdon County.... —senior in Biological Sciences |
| 17. Maxine Turner (22) Vienna, Virginia Vienna, Virginia Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to... —senior in Chemical Engineering |
| 18. Nicole White (20) Smithfield, Virginia Smithfield, Virginia Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census.... —junior in International Studies |
| 19. Liviu Librescu Liviu Librescu Liviu Librescu was a Romanian-Israeli-American scientist and academic professor whose major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics... (76) Ploieşti Ploiesti Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest.... , Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... —professor of Engineering |
| 20. Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Jocelyne M. Couture-Nowak was an instructor of French in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and was the only Canadian victim of the Virginia Tech massacre... (49) Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may... —professor of French |
| 21. Ross Alameddine (20) Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 26,628 at the 2010 census.-History:Saugus was first settled in 1629. Saugus is an Indian name believed to mean "great" or "extended"... —sophomore in English/Business |
| 22. Austin Cloyd (18) Champaign, Illinois Champaign, Illinois Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of... —freshman in Int'l Studies/French |
| 23. Daniel Perez Cueva (21) Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge, Virginia -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,941 people, 10,687 households, and 7,769 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,047.8 people per square mile . There were 11,026 housing units at an average density of 1,052.1/sq mi... —junior in International Studies |
| 24. Caitlin Hammaren (19) Westtown, New York Westtown, New York Westtown is a hamlet in Orange County in the U.S. state of New York. It is located along New York State Route 284 north of Unionville and Minisink, and north of the New Jersey state border. The town is intersected mainly by Orange County Rt. 1. Westtown is a community or populated place located... —sophomore in Int'l Studies/French |
| 25. Rachael Hill (18) Richmond County, Virginia Richmond County, Virginia Richmond County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 9,254. Its county seat is Warsaw. The rural county should not be confused with the large city and state capital Richmond, Virginia, which is over... —freshman in Biological Sciences |
| 26. Matthew La Porte (20) Dumont, New Jersey Dumont, New Jersey Dumont is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 17,479 at the 2010 Census.Dumont was formed on July 20, 1894, as the Borough of Schraalenburgh from portions of Harrington Township and Palisades Township, at the height of the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping... —sophomore in Political Science |
| 27. Henry Lee (20) Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010... /Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –... —freshman in Computer Engineering |
| 28. Erin Peterson (18) Centreville, Virginia Centreville, Virginia Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,... —freshman in International Studies |
| 29. Mary Karen Read (19) Annandale, Virginia Annandale, Virginia Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:... —freshman in Interdisciplinary Studies |
| 30. Reema Samaha (18) Centreville, Virginia —freshman in Urban Planning |
| 31. Leslie Sherman (20) Springfield, Virginia —junior in History/Int'l Studies |
| 32. Kevin Granata Kevin Granata Kevin P. Granata was an American professor in multiple departments including the Departments of Engineering, Science and Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia, United States... (45) Toledo, Ohio Toledo, Ohio Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan... —professor of Engineering |
| Perpetrator (suicide) |
| 1. Seung-Hui Cho Seung-Hui Cho Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law... (23) Centreville, Virginia —senior in English |
Cho reloaded and revisited several of the classrooms. After Cho's first visit to room 207, several students had barricaded the door and had begun tending the wounded. When Cho returned minutes later, Katelyn Carney and Derek O'Dell were injured while holding the door closed. Cho also returned to room 206. According to a student eyewitness, the movements of a wounded Waleed Shaalan distracted Cho from a nearby student after the shooter had returned to the room. Shaalan was shot a second time and died. Also in room 206, Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan may have protected fellow student Guillermo Colman by diving on top of him. Colman's various accounts make it unclear whether this act was intentional or the involuntary result of being shot. Multiple gunshots killed Lumbantoruan, but Colman was protected by Lumbantoruan's body.
Students, including Zach Petkewicz, barricaded the door of room 205 with a large table after substitute professor Haiyan Cheng and a student saw Cho heading toward them. Cho shot several times through the door but failed to force his way in. No one in that classroom was wounded or killed.
Hearing the commotion on the floor below, Professor Kevin Granata
Kevin Granata
Kevin P. Granata was an American professor in multiple departments including the Departments of Engineering, Science and Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia, United States...
brought 20 students from a nearby classroom into an office, where the door could be locked, on the third floor of Norris Hall. He then went downstairs to investigate and was fatally shot by Cho. None of the students locked in Granata's office were injured.
Approximately 10–12 minutes after the second attack began, Cho shot himself in the head. He died in Jocelyne Couture-Nowak's Intermediate French class, room 211. During this second assault, he had fired at least 174 rounds, killing 30 people and wounding 17 more. All of the victims were shot at least three times each; of the 30 killed, 28 were shot in the head. During the investigation, State Police Superintendent William Flaherty told a state panel that police found 203 live rounds in Norris Hall. "He was well prepared to continue...," Flaherty testified.
During the two attacks, Cho killed five faculty members and 27 students before committing suicide. The Virginia Tech Review Panel reported that Cho's gunshots wounded 17 other people; six more were injured when they jumped from second-story windows to escape. Sydney J. Vail, the director of the trauma center at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, said that Cho's choice of 9 mm hollow point
Hollow point bullet
A hollow point is an expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip, generally intended to cause the bullet to thin upon entering a target in order to decrease penetration and disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target. It is also used for controlled penetration, where...
ammunition increased the severity of the injuries. Conversely, due to the limited penetration depth of hollow point bullets, it is likely that Colman would have died had they not been used.
Perpetrator
The shooter was identified as 23-year-old Seung-Hui ChoSeung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...
, a South Korean citizen with U.S. permanent resident status
United States Permanent Resident Card
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
. An undergraduate at Virginia Tech, Cho lived in Harper Hall, a dormitory west of West Ambler Johnston Hall
Virginia Tech campus
The Virginia Tech campus is located in Blacksburg, Virginia; the central campus is roughly bordered by Prices Fork Road to the northwest, Plantation Drive to the west, Main Street to the east, and U.S. Route 460 bypass to the south, although it also has several thousand acres beyond the central...
.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel's August 2007 report devoted more than 127 pages to Cho's troubled history. At three years of age, Cho was described as shy, frail, and wary of physical contact. While early media reports carried speculation by South Korean relatives that Cho had autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, the Review Panel report dismissed this diagnosis. In eighth grade, Cho was diagnosed with severe depression as well as selective mutism
Selective mutism
Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder in which a person, most often a child, who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations, or to specific people...
, a social anxiety
Social anxiety
Social anxiety is anxiety about social situations, interactions with others, and being evaluated or scrutinized by other people...
disorder that inhibited him from speaking. Cho's family sought therapy for him, and he received help periodically throughout middle school and high school. Early reports also indicated Cho was bullied for speech difficulties in middle school, but the Virginia Tech Review Panel was unable to confirm this. High school officials worked with his parents and mental health counselors to support Cho throughout his sophomore and junior years. Cho eventually chose to discontinue therapy. When he applied and was admitted to Virginia Tech, school officials did not report his speech and anxiety-related problems or special education status because of federal privacy laws that prohibit such disclosure unless a student requests special accommodation.
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
and harassing two female students. In 2005, Cho had been declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice and ordered to seek outpatient treatment
Outpatient commitment
Outpatient commitment refers to mental health law that allows the compulsory, community-based treatment of individuals with mental illness.In the United States the term "assisted outpatient treatment" or "AOT" is often used and refers to a process whereby a judge orders a qualifying person with...
.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report faulted university officials for failing to share information that would have shed light on the seriousness of Cho's problems, citing misinterpretations of federal privacy laws. The report also pointed to failures by Virginia Tech's counseling center, flaws in Virginia's mental health laws, and inadequate state mental health services, but concluded that "Cho himself was the biggest impediment to stabilizing his mental health" in college.
Cho's underlying psychological diagnosis at the time of the shootings remains a matter of speculation.
Early reports suggested that the killings resulted from a romantic dispute between Cho and Emily Hilscher, one of his first two victims. However, Hilscher's friends said she had no prior relationship with Cho and there is no evidence that he ever met or talked with her before the murders. In the ensuing investigation, police found a suicide note
Suicide note
A suicide note or death note is a message that states the author has died by suicide, and left to be discovered and read in anticipation of suicide....
in Cho's dorm room that included comments about "rich kids", "debauchery", and "deceitful charlatans". On April 18, 2007, NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
received a package from Cho time-stamped between the first and second shooting episodes. It contained an 1800 word manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
, photos, and 27 digitally recorded videos, in which Cho likened himself to Jesus Christ and expressed his hatred of the wealthy. He stated, among other things, "You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option...You just loved to crucify me. You loved inducing cancer in my head, terror in my heart and ripping my soul all this time". Media organizations, including Newsweek, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, even raised questions and speculated the similarity between a stance in one of Cho's videos, which showed him holding and raising a hammer, and a pose from promotional posters for the South Korean movie Oldboy
Oldboy
Oldboy is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. It is based on the Japanese manga of the same name written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. Oldboy is the second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr...
. Investigators found no evidence that Cho had ever watched Oldboy, and the professor who made the initial connection to Oldboy had since discounted his theory that Cho was influenced by the movie.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel concluded that because of Cho's inability to handle stress and the "frightening prospect" of being "turned out into the world of work, finances, responsibilities, and a family," Cho chose to engage in a fantasy where "he would be remembered as the savior of the oppressed, the downtrodden, the poor, and the rejected." The panel went further, stating that, "His thought processes were so distorted that he began arguing to himself that his evil plan was actually doing good. His destructive fantasy was now becoming an obsession."
Emergency services response
Police took nearly six minutes to enter the barricaded building. When they could not break the chains, an officer shot out a deadbolt lock leading into a laboratory; they then moved to a nearby stairwell. As police reached the second floor, they heard Cho fire his final shot; Cho's body was discovered in Jocelyne Couture-Nowak's classroom, room 211.In the aftermath, high winds related to the April 2007 Nor'easter
April 2007 Nor'easter
The April or Spring Nor’easter of 2007 was a nor'easter that affected mainly the eastern parts of North America during its four day course April 14 to April 17, 2007. The combined effects of high winds, heavy rainfall, and high tides led to flooding, storm damages, power outages, and evacuations,...
prevented emergency medical services from using helicopters for evacuation
MEDEVAC
Medical evacuation, often termed Medevac or Medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities using...
of the injured. Victims injured in the shooting were treated at Montgomery Regional Hospital
Montgomery Regional Hospital
Montgomery Regional Hospital is a hospital in the town of Blacksburg, in Montgomery County, Virginia. The hospital is a subsidiary of Hospital Corporation of America.-2006 shooting:...
in Blacksburg, Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
Carilion New River Valley Medical Center is a hospital in Montgomery County, Virginia, USA, about two miles from Radford. The hospital has 146 beds, and is part of Carilion Clinic.-Services:...
in Radford, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital is a hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. The hospital has 825 beds, and is part of Carilion Clinic.-Services:Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital's emergency department is a certified level I trauma center...
in Roanoke, Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport, TN and Lewis-Gale Medical Center
Lewis-Gale Medical Center
Lewis-Gale Medical Center is a hospital in Salem, Virginia, USA. The hospital has 521 beds, and is part of Hospital Corporation of America.-Virginia Tech massacre:...
in Salem.
University response
Candlelight vigil
A candlelight vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of people, or in memory of lives lost to some disease, disaster, massacre or other tragedy. In the latter case, the...
on April 17. Norris Hall was closed for the remainder of the semester. The university offered counseling for students and faculty, and the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
dispatched several dozen crisis counselors to Blacksburg
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
to help students. University officials also allowed students, if they chose, to abbreviate their semester coursework and still receive a grade.
Within a day after the shootings, Virginia Tech, whose students call themselves The Hokies, formed the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund (HSMF) to help remember and honor the victims. The fund is used to cover expenses including, but not limited to: assistance to victims and their families, grief counseling, memorials, communications expenses, and comfort expenses. Early in June, 2007, the Virginia Tech Foundation announced that million was moved from the HSMF into 32 separate named endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
funds, each created in honor of a victim lost in the shooting. This transfer brought each fund to the level of full endowment, allowing them to operate in perpetuity
Perpetuity
A perpetuity is an annuity that has no end, or a stream of cash payments that continues forever. There are few actual perpetuities in existence...
. The naming and determination of how each fund will be directed is being developed with the victims' families. By early June, donations to the HSMF had reached approximately million. In July 2007, Kenneth R. Feinberg
Kenneth Feinberg
Kenneth Feinberg is an American attorney, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Feinberg was appointed Special Master of the U.S...
, who served as Special Master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was created by an Act of Congress, the AirTransportation Safety and System Stabilization Act , shortly after 9/11 to compensate the victims of the attack in exchange for their agreement not to sue the airline corporations involved...
of 2001, was named to administer the fund's distributions. In October 2007, the families and surviving victims received payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the fund.
Also early in June 2007, the university announced it would begin reoccupying Norris Hall within a matter of weeks. The building is used for offices and laboratories for the Engineering Science and Mechanics
Engineering science and mechanics
Engineering Science and Mechanics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary engineering program and/or academic department at the Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, or University of Alabama. B.S., M.S., M.Eng., or...
and Civil and Environmental Engineering departments, its primary occupants before the shootings. The building is to be completely renovated over time, and it will no longer contain classrooms.
After the release of the Virginia Tech Review Panel Report, some parents of those killed called for Virginia's governor to relieve the university president and campus police chief of their positions. However, Governor Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is a Virginia politician. Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011...
rejected the notion, saying that the school officials had "suffered enough".
Campus response
In the hours and days following the shooting, makeshift memorials to those killed or injured began appearing in several locations on the campus. Many people placed flowers and items of remembrance at the base of the Drillfield observation podium in front of Burruss Hall. Later, members of Hokies United placed 32 pieces of Hokie StoneHokie Stone
Hokie Stone is a grey dolomite limestone named for the Hokie mascot of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where the stone is the primary finishing material on campus buildings. Hokie Stone is limestone infused with magnesium and calcium under intense pressure and temperature....
, each labeled with the name of a victim, in a semicircle
Semicircle
In mathematics , a semicircle is a two-dimensional geometric shape that forms half of a circle. Being half of a circle's 360°, the arc of a semicircle always measures 180° or a half turn...
in front of the Drillfield viewing stand.
The shootings occurred as prospective students were deciding whether to accept offers of admission from colleges and universities. Despite this timing, Virginia Tech exceeded its recruiting goal of 5,000 students for the class of 2011.
Government response
President Bush and his wife LauraLaura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
attended the convocation at Virginia Tech the day after the shootings.
The Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
and Virginia Department of Taxation granted six-month extensions to individuals affected by the shootings.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is a Virginia politician. Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011...
returned early from a trade mission to Tokyo, Japan, and declared a "state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
" in Virginia, enabling him to immediately deploy state personnel, equipment, and other resources in the aftermath of the shootings.
United States Secretary of Homeland Security
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the...
Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
, to review all aspects of the Virginia Tech massacre, from Cho's medical history to the school's widely criticized delay in warning students of danger and locking down the campus after the bodies of Cho's first two victims were discovered. In August 2007, the panel concluded, among more than 20 major findings, that the Virginia Tech Police Department "did not take sufficient action to deal with what might happen if the initial lead proved false". The panel made more than 70 preventative recommendations, directed to colleges, universities, mental health providers, law enforcement officials, emergency service providers, law makers and other public officials in Virginia and elsewhere. While the panel did find errors in judgment and procedure, the ultimate conclusion was that Cho himself was responsible for his own actions, and to imply that anyone else was accountable "would be wrong." The Review Panel validated public criticisms that university officials erred in "prematurely concluding that their initial lead in the double homicide was a good one," and in delaying a campus-wide notification for almost two hours. The report analyzed the feasibility of a campus lockdown and essentially agreed with police testimony that such an action was not feasible. The report concluded that the toll could have been reduced if the university had made an immediate decision to cancel classes and a stronger, clearer initial alert of the presence of a gunman.
The incident also caused Virginia Commonwealth elected officials to re-examine gaps between federal and state gun purchase laws. Within two weeks, Governor Kaine had issued an executive order designed to close those gaps (see Gun politics debate, below). Prompted by the incident, the federal government passed the most significant gun control law in over a decade. The bill, , mandates improvements in state reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in order to halt gun purchases by criminals, those declared mentally ill, and other people prohibited from possessing firearms and authorizes up to $1.3 billion in federal grants for such improvements. Both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
supported the legislation. The measure passed the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
on a voice vote on June 13, 2007. The Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
passed the measure on December 19, 2007. President Bush signed the measure on January 5, 2008. On March 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
announced proposed changes in the regulations governing education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 is a United States federal law.It allows students with access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records...
(FERPA). Certain of the changes address issues raised by the Virginia Tech incident and are intended to clarify for schools the appropriate balance to strike between concerns of individual privacy and public safety.
South Korean response
When the citizenship of the shooter became known, South Koreans expressed shock and a sense of public shame, while the Government of South KoreaGovernment of South Korea
The Government of South Korea is divided into executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The executive and judicial branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and...
convened an emergency meeting to consider possible ramifications. A candlelight vigil was held outside the Embassy of the United States in Seoul
Embassy of the United States in Seoul
The Embassy of the United States in Seoul is the embassy of the United States in the Republic of Korea , in the capital city of Seoul. The embassy is charged with diplomacy and South Korea–United States relations...
. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...
expressed his deepest condolences. Although Cho came to the US as a third grader and was a permanent resident
Permanent residency
Permanent residency refers to a person's visa status: the person is allowed to reside indefinitely within a country of which he or she is not a citizen. A person with such status is known as a permanent resident....
of the US, many South Koreans felt guilt and mourned because they considered him a South Korean by blood.
South Korea's ambassador to the US and several Korean American religious leaders called on Korean Americans to participate in a 32-day fast, one day for each victim, for repentance. The foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
, Song Min-soon
Song Min-soon
Song Minsoon is a Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and serves on the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee . Previously, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the National Security Adviser of the Republic of Korea...
, announced that safety measures had been established for Koreans living in the US, in apparent reference to fears of possible reprisal attacks. A ministry official expressed hope that the shooting would not "stir up racial prejudice
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
or confrontation". No such incidents were ever reported.
Korean Americans criticized the fasting proposal, saying that it directed undue and irrelevant attention on Cho's ethnicity and not other, more salient, reasons behind the shooting. News reports noted that South Koreans seemed relieved that American news coverage of Cho focused on his psychological problems. The Korea Tourism Organization
Korea Tourism Organization
The Korea Tourism Organization is a statutory organization of the Republic of Korea under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and is commissioned to promote the country's tourism industry.-Overview:...
(KTO) pulled its "Sparkling Korea" television advertisements off CNN after the shootings. A KTO official said it would be inappropriate to air the advertisements featuring images of Korea's culture and natural beauty in between the news reports of the rampage.
Other responses
Some of Cho's family members expressed sympathy for the victims' families and described his history of mental and behavioral problems. Cho's maternal grandfather was quoted in The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
referring to Cho as a person who deserved to die with the victims. On Friday, April 20, Cho's family issued a statement of grief and apology, written by his sister, Sun-Kyung Cho.
Many heads of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
and international figures offered condolences and sympathy, including Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, Queen Elizabeth II, and South Korean UN Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
. Sporting teams and leagues at both the college and professional levels, as well as sports figures from football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, and NASCAR racing, paid their respects and joined fundraising efforts to honor the victims.
EQUITAS, a Canada-based "Strategic Rule of Law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
Think Tank" governed by international law, published a report pertaining to the Virginia Tech massacre which includes a review of measures for counter-terrorism and campus security adopted between 1993 and April 16, 2007. The report criticizes Virginia Tech's institutional decision-making process and summarizes the lethal effects of failing to “implement and administer valid procedural and substantive safeguards aimed at securing the broad Va Tech and Blacksburg community against Level II type incidents involving acts of terrorism and mass casualties". The report does not comment on gun control or mental health issues.
On July 30, 2007, after it came to light that Seung-Hui Cho had purchased on eBay two 10-round magazines for one of the guns used in the shootings, the online auctioneer prohibited the sale of firearms magazines, firearms parts, and ammunition components on its site.
Continuing response
A Northern Virginia chapter, founded in November 2008 by Aaron Adler and Ethan Blonder, of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization took on the name Liviu LibrescuLiviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu was a Romanian-Israeli-American scientist and academic professor whose major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics...
AZA, in honor of the Holocaust survivor who used his body to barricade Cho from entering his room.
On September 4, 2009, the Marching Virginians took a 140 mile side-trip on their way to the season opening football game against the University of Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The 350 member band, 20 cheerleaders and members of the Corps of Cadets color guard performed at Lakeside High School
Lakeside High School (Evans, Georgia)
Lakeside High School is a public high school located in Evans, Georgia.-History:Construction on the school was completed in 1988, and the first classes at the school started session in the fall of that same year. The first students to attend and graduate from Lakeside were mainly transfers from...
, alma mater of Ryan Clark, along with the Lakeside Marching Band and visiting Evans High's band. The event was organized by Central Savannah River Area Virginia Tech alumni chapter to honor Clark's memory and as a fundraiser for a scholarship in his name.
Beginning with the first anniversary of the attack and continuing since, the Queens' Guard
Queens' Guard (College of William and Mary)
The Queens' Guard is a ceremonial unit at the College of William & Mary. The unit is recognized by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and is composed of students of the College. It is the only unit called "Queens' Guard" recognized by the British monarchy in the United States of America...
of The College of William and Mary, another public university in Virginia, has memorialized the victims with an honor guard at the head of the College's Sunken Garden
Sunken Garden (Virginia)
The Sunken Garden is the central element of the Old Campus at the College of William and Mary. The garden consists of a long stretch of grass, lower than the surrounding area, that runs west from the rear of the Wren Building to Crim Dell pond. The area is very popular for students wanting to...
. The unarmed honor guard is modeled after the honor guard posted at the Tomb of the Unknowns
Tomb of the Unknowns
The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States...
by soldiers of the US Army's Old Guard
3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the US Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is Noli Me Tangere...
.
Following the 2007 shootings, Virginia Tech began employing an alert system on their website, as well as text messages to warn students of danger. The alert system was first activated in 2008, when an exploded cartridge from a nail gun produced sounds similar to gunfire near a campus dormitory. It was later activated on August 4, 2011, during which the university was locked down, after three children attending a summer camp reported seeing a man near Dietrick Hall walking quickly toward the volleyball courts while carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. Police from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Christiansburg, as well as Virginia State Police and Montgomery County sheriff's deputies searched for the man, but could not find anyone matching the children's description.
Incident within gun politics debate
The incident reignited the gun politics debate in the United States, with proponents of gun controlGun politics
Gun politics addresses safety issues and ideologies related to firearms through criminal and noncriminal use. Gun politics deals with rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use, ownership, and distribution of firearms.-National sovereignty:...
legislation arguing that guns are too accessible, citing that Cho, a mentally unsound individual, was able to purchase two semi-automatic pistols
Semi-automatic self-loading pistol
A semi-automatic pistol is a type of handgun which uses a single chamber and barrel, with a mechanism powered by the previous shot to load a fresh cartridge into the chamber...
despite state laws which should have prevented such purchase. Opponents of gun control argued that Virginia Tech's gun-free "safe zone" policy ensured that none of the other students or faculty would be armed and that as a result they were unable to stop Cho.
Virginia context
Law enforcement officials found a purchase receipt for one of the guns used in the assault among Cho's belongings. The shooter waited one month after buying a Walther P22Walther P22
The P22 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.Distribution in the United States is by Walther America, a joint venture with the Smith and Wesson Company.-Design details:...
pistol before he bought a second pistol, a Glock 19
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
. Cho used a 15-round magazine in the Glock and a 10-round magazine in the Walther. The serial numbers on the weapons were filed off, but the ATF National Laboratory
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
was able to reveal them and performed a firearms trace.
The sale of firearms by licensed dealers in Virginia is restricted to residents who successfully pass a background check. Virginia law also limits purchases of handguns to one every 30 days. Federal law
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is an Act of the United States Congress that, for the first time, instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States....
requires a criminal background check for handgun purchases from licensed firearms dealers, and Virginia checks other databases in addition to the federally mandated NICS. A 1968 federal law
Gun Control Act of 1968
The Gun Control Act of 1968 , by president Lyndon Johnson, is a federal law in the United States that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners...
passed in response to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, also prohibits those "adjudicated as a mental defective" from buying guns. This exclusion applied to Cho after a Virginia court declared him to be a danger to himself in late 2005 and sent him for psychiatric treatment
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
. Because of gaps between federal and Virginia state laws, the state did not report Cho's legal status to the NICS. Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine addressed this problem on April 30, 2007, by issuing an executive order intended to close those reporting gaps. In August 2007, the Virginia Tech Review Panel report called for a permanent change in the Code of Virginia to clarify and strengthen the state's background check requirements. The federal government later passed a law to improve state reporting to the NICS nationwide.
Campus firearms ban
The shootings also renewed debate surrounding Virginia Tech's firearms ban. The university has a general ban on possession or storage of firearms on campus by employees, students, and volunteers, or any visitor or other third parties, even if they are concealed handgun permitCarrying concealed weapon
Concealed carry, or CCW , refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in proximity....
holders. In April 2005, a student permitted by the state to carry concealed handguns was discovered possessing a concealed firearm in class. While no criminal charges were filed, a university spokesman said the University had "the right to adhere to and enforce that policy as a common-sense protection of students, staff and faculty as well as guests and visitors".
In January 2006, prior to the shootings, legislator Todd Gilbert had introduced a related bill into the Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
. The bill, HB 1572, was intended to forbid public universities
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
in Virginia from preventing students from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun on campus. The university opposed the bill, which quickly died in subcommittee. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker praised the defeat of the bill, stating, "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
Impact on state and local law
In August 2007, the Virginia Tech Review Panel Report recommended that the state's General Assembly adopt legislation "establishing the right of every institution of higher education to regulate the possession of firearms on campus if it so desires" and went on to recommend campus gun bans, "unless mandated by law." The report also recommended gun control measures unrelated to the circumstances of the massacre, such as requiring background checks for all private firearms sales, including those at gun shows. Governor Kaine made it a priority to enact a private sale background check law in the 2008 Virginia General Assembly, but the bill was defeated in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.The incident and its aftermath energized student activist efforts seeking to overturn bans that prevent gun permit holders from carrying their weapons on college campuses. Thirty-eight states throughout the U.S. ban weapons at schools; sixteen of those specifically ban guns on college campuses. A new group, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a national grassroots, non-partisan organization of U.S. college students, faculty, staff, and others who support allowing law-abiding citizens with concealed carry permits to bring their legal guns to campus for the purpose of self-defense...
, formed after the massacre; as of March 2008, it claimed to have 16,000 members at 500 campuses nationwide. Several states are weighing legislation to allow gun permit holders to carry concealed firearms on university campuses. Another attempt by Delegate Gilbert to pass a law to allow concealed weapons on college campuses in Virginia was defeated in March 2008.
Political response
The response to how gun laws affected the massacre was divided. According to a White House statement, "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed". The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun ViolenceBrady Campaign
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated non-profit organizations in the United States. They are named after James Brady who was permanently disabled as a result of an assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
said that it was too easy for an individual to get powerful weapons and called for increased gun control measures.
National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
board member Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, commenting on CNN, called for an end to gun-free zones and contrasted the Virginia Tech massacre with other incidents in which mass shootings have been ended by law-abiding gun owners. Texas Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
proposed that licensed gun owners be allowed to carry their weapons anywhere in Texas.
Some government officials in other countries joined in the criticism of U.S. gun laws and policies. For example, then Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
said that stringent legislation introduced after a 1996 mass shooting in Tasmania had prevented a problematic gun culture
Gun culture
The gun culture is a culture shared by people in the gun politics debate, generally those who advocate preserving gun rights and who are generally against more gun control...
in Australia.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is a Virginia politician. Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011...
condemned the gun politics debate following the massacre, saying, "To those who want to make this into some sort of crusade, I say take this elsewhere."
Legal aftermath
On June 17, 2008, Virginia Circuit Court Judge Theodore J. Markow approved an $11 million settlement in a suit against the state of Virginia by 24 of the 32 victims' families. Of the other eight victims, two families chose not to file claims, while two remain unresolved. The settlement also covered 18 people who were injured; their life-long health care needs included in the settlement.The Department of Education fined the University $55,000 on March 29, 2011 for waiting too long to notify students of the initial shootings. The fine was the highest amount that the Department of Education could levy for the two violations of the Clery Act
Clery Act
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S...
resulting from the failure to notify students in a timely manner of the shootings in West Ambler Johnston. In announcing the fine against the University, the director of a department panel which reviewed the case was quoted as saying "While Virginia Tech's violations warrant a fine far in excess of what is currently permissible under the statute, the department's fine authority is limited". As of March 30, 2011, the University had announced its intention to appeal the decision.
External links
- Timeline of legislative and executive events that unfolded before and after 04.16.07., including chronological review of Campus Security policies and legislative counterparts.
- Flash video compilation of all currently available clips from Cho's manifesto video package sent to NBC
- Streaming video of the convocation ceremony on April 17, 2007—HokieSports.com
- Massacre at Virginia Tech, Top Documentary Films (1 hour)
- April 16 Archive (Digital Archive project based at Virginia Tech)
- Virginia Tech Review Panel
- Archive of images of newspaper front page world wide from April 17, April 18, and April 19, 2007
- Archive of images of newspaper front pages world wide from April 16 and April 17, 2008