VA Tech Shooting...

[Tonichelle]

surprised no one has posted about this yet. I'm watching the coverage from MSNBC... it went from 22 dead to 31 dead... and there are so many injured... it would not surprise me to see it rise higher

this is now the deadliest shooting in US history... the number of fatalities was 23... now 31...

I'm literally sick to my stomach...

 

[millie]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the parents of these students and all those that are connected with this tragedy. There are a lot of "sick" people in this world! It seems that nobody is safe!

 

[Tonichelle]

Pres. Bush made a small statement, thought it was a really nice sentiment... he's just as confused as the rest of us it seems about the tragedy...

31 is the official count, but the media is saying possibly 32

with 31 dead there're 4 critically injured... we could hear of more deaths before the day is over

 

[gio]

It is in the news also here. All the news networks speak about that terrible shooting. I'm really shocked!!!
My prayers go to the injured and to the families of the victims.

This is happening way too often nowadays. I still remember what has happened in the Amish school.

I guess, we should BAN all the arms of the World! Unfortunately bussiness thinks differently. The fact that a sick or evil person could buy arms really scares me.

 

[Tonichelle]

I'm not on teh ban guns bandwagon... the technology and knowledge is there... there's no way to get rid of them all... that's a pipe dream

besides, some of us know when and where and how to use them properly.. I'm thankful I have that right to have them...


anyway back on topic... VA tech is keeping their site updated here - http://198.82.160.236/tragedy/

now they're saying that there were 2 shootings... they don't want to put the dorm shooting and the classroom shooting into one incident... so the count from what I understood it, is now 31 for the classroom 2 at the dorm which makes 33 dead.

 

[heyang]

I am really curious as to what triggered both shootings.

I feel bad for all the parents who have either lost their child or even just had a problem reaching their child. I can only imagine that circuits must 've gotten overloaded at some point where it would be difficult to dial the dorms and some kids might not even have known what was going on before their parents (i.e. if the kid was in class on the other side of campus, they might not have known til they exited the class. News does spread like wildfire on campus. I remember hearing about Challenger during a break between classes.)

 

[visaliakid]

The just concluded Va Tech Univ press conference only posed more questions... with little prepared facts or answers. Bad PR, and wasted time. Get some answers first then hold Press Conference.

What a tragedy!

 

[Tonichelle]

as they said on MSNBC - it's probably because they still have no idea what really went on so they don't want to have to backtrack their statements later

 

[SeaniBu]

I have been hearing info from Headline News as this was originally a Domestic shooting - indicating a boyfriend shooting 2 related to a relationship. Not clear if he was looking for his girlfriend - which is seeming to be the case - or any of the victims were his "girlfriend" he was looking for. The thing that is making me and likely everyone extremely angry, is that after the first 2 were shoot the campus was not closed and secured. They had no confirmation that the shooter had left campus yet they treated it like he was gone. 2 hours later fully armed and not caring if he killed anymore people the massacre happened in the classrooms and hallways.

Just now listening to a girls interview that was in a classroom where her classmates were killed. She also seems to think he was looking for someone the way he was acting, but he was not talking / asking. Some of her descriptions were quite disturbing.

There is a poster here at GS from that area, and I certainly hope she was not effected.

 

[anya_angie]

This is really sad and frightening. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the students, faculty and their families and friends.

 

[Tigger]

There are no words for when something such as this takes place.

My thoughts and prayers are w/all those affected by this horrible tragedy.

 

[heyang]

I gotta agree that the administraton did not handle this crisis well. I'm not sure what a lockdown at the dorms would have done. Would he have had his shooting spree in a locked dormitory instead of an academic building?

As for locking down a campus, it's pretty difficult. VA Tech is a largely commuter campus according to the news reports. There is no college campus that I know of where 'strangers' could not walk around easily. The campuses are too large and spreadout.

When I was in college, the dorms were all connected via basement passages - mostly too allow students to avoid going out in the cold. During sophomore year, they decided that elevators would be turned off at 2AM and that the front doors would be locked - only people who lived in the building had keys that would open the front doors. I remember many Friday's and Saturday's where I had to climb up 8 flights of stairs after going off campus for dancing and an early AM snack at Perkins'. One of my friends was a Resident Security Officer - if she knew were out, she would leave the elevators unlocked a bit longer for us.

There is a feeling of small town safety on most rural campses. Also, young adults have a feeling of invulnerability. It does make 'kids' careless about their safety. There were occassions where I and other female friends would walk across campus at night by ourselves. I think it was more at the insistence of my male friends that I allowed them to escort me back to the dorms.

 

[Tonichelle]

in all fairness to the campus authorities... when teh first shooting happened they did not think he would go and two hours later shoot up the school... they were trying to protect the dorm.

as for making the campus more protected, I'm not sure that's possible. WE have major issues at UAA with rape and other attacks... in the flipping campus police parking lot

you don't really know someone is dangerous unless you're looking for it... and even then you may not be able to tell until the gun is drawn-and by then it's too late.


Just praying that tomorrow does not bring copycat killings like what happened after columbine. I went to class tonight, but am really rethinking going tomorrow.

 

[Ladskater]

I can't believe the campus was not evacuated and locked down after the first shootings. Someone obviously was not taking this seriously. Unreal. "Shades of Columbine."

 

[iluvtodd]

I'm speechless. I just don't know what to say. This is horrible and my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families who are suffering through this terrible loss.

 

[R.D.]

I'm with Toni re. the response- it's easy to point fingers after the fact but at the time I could see why they took the first shooting as an isolated incident. Plus, with 26K students I'm sure the campus is really really big...why close the whole place down because of an incident in an isolated area? (just playing DA here)

 

[Wolfgang]

Banning stuff isn't the answer.
Part of the problem may be that (most) North American college campuses (campi?) are almost a little bit of a 'student Disneyland' insofar as they tend to be somewhat separated from the real world, perhaps instilling a somewhat false sense of security and safety in the students.
Many of the (often lifelong) professors certainly live in a fantasy land......
Being quite weird and atypical in many ways, The UNM campus here in Albuquerque does not have that problem (at least not to the same extent), sandwiched as it is between Gangland, Hookerville, Drug City and the Gay Ghetto.
All the real world you can handle and then some......

 

[Ptichka]

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Culture/11184.htm

 

[iluvtodd]

What a hero! How ironic that he was killed on Holocaust Remembrance Day. May his memory be for a blessing.

 

[SeaniBu]

Scenario -

First bodies found. All Campus sirens and warnings go off. Students are told to stay were they are. This should have happened because THEY DID NOT KNOW IF HE LEFT OR WHERE THE SHOOTER WAS. duh. Now if that would have prevented a second shooting, who knows? But it is safe to say his chances of getting into a facility with classrooms would have been lessened greatly.

This is so stinking duh to me. If the whole campus would have been on high alert, people would have been on the look out. duh. And if you want to try and stop someone you narrow the amount of people running around, this is called putting the odds in your favor. They left them in the killers hands by letting everyone go about their business so he could blend in.

Now if they thought he left fine, but it was a thought NOT a know fact. They didn't have him in custody, so why they decided to make it easier for him to get away by having everyone out and about - ALL BASED ON "THINKING" he was gone, not knowing, thinking. That is worth the risk of others lives as well shows how concerned they were with catching him in the first place? Yes they screwed up.

Also I do not think they should ever release his name. He should not go down in history with a name to glorify his action in the sick minds of the world.