2008 Woodie Awards
A brief summary of the Virginia Tech events
Luba Bogopolskaya
Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: News
The week of Monday, April 16 started off with a haunting reminder of the Columbine High School shooting which took place a little less than eight years ago. Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior, fatally shot 32 students and then turned the gun on himself.
Recent police reports indicate that Cho planned the massacre ahead of time as the information was released about his purchase of two guns in March and April, the acquisition of a van and the clothes Cho wore during the event. He used the firearms to shoot two residents of the West Ambler Johnston Hall sometime around 7:15 a.m. when the first 911 call was made. It is believed that the shooter then mailed a package, which included a written statement, video clips and photos of himself and his ammunition to NBC headquarters.
Following a two-hour gap after the first shooting, Cho chained the entrance to the Norris Hall, an Engineering building. There he killed 30 students and professors in four classrooms and shot himself in the head.
Cho Seung-Hui, who called the Columbine shooters "martyrs" in his video, which was mailed to NBC during the two-hour gap, had been showing warning signs all along, authorities say. He had been referred to a mental institution and had evident symptoms of a thought disorder. However, the student was considered "an imminent danger to self or others" only by the judge who sent him for an evaluation, not by the doctor.
Many questions were also raised about the fact that the e-mail warnings for the students and the faculty did not go out until 9:26 a.m., way after the first shots were heard.
University police Chief Wendell Flinchum has explained that the incident was believed to be "an isolated event … and the decision was made not to cancel classes." At the same time the police were questioning another man thought to be responsible for the two murders in the dormitory.
Recent police reports indicate that Cho planned the massacre ahead of time as the information was released about his purchase of two guns in March and April, the acquisition of a van and the clothes Cho wore during the event. He used the firearms to shoot two residents of the West Ambler Johnston Hall sometime around 7:15 a.m. when the first 911 call was made. It is believed that the shooter then mailed a package, which included a written statement, video clips and photos of himself and his ammunition to NBC headquarters.
Following a two-hour gap after the first shooting, Cho chained the entrance to the Norris Hall, an Engineering building. There he killed 30 students and professors in four classrooms and shot himself in the head.
Cho Seung-Hui, who called the Columbine shooters "martyrs" in his video, which was mailed to NBC during the two-hour gap, had been showing warning signs all along, authorities say. He had been referred to a mental institution and had evident symptoms of a thought disorder. However, the student was considered "an imminent danger to self or others" only by the judge who sent him for an evaluation, not by the doctor.
Many questions were also raised about the fact that the e-mail warnings for the students and the faculty did not go out until 9:26 a.m., way after the first shots were heard.
University police Chief Wendell Flinchum has explained that the incident was believed to be "an isolated event … and the decision was made not to cancel classes." At the same time the police were questioning another man thought to be responsible for the two murders in the dormitory.
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