Virginia Tech: lives could have been spared
New York. Sen-Hui Cho had a lot of time after he killed two people at around 7.00 a.m on April 16 in a dormitory of Virginia Tech. More than two hours went by before he chained the doors of Norris Hall and began shooting students and teachers, killing 30 more people before committing suicide. Mr Cho had time to go to the post office in downtown Blacksburg to mail a parcel with photos and videos to NBC. Virginia Tech officials sent out the first email alert about the double homicide at 9.26 a.m., twenty minutes before the blood bath inside Norris Hall. A panel appointed by Virginia governor Tim Kaine found on Wednesday August 29 that Virginia Tech officials could have saved lives if they had quickly warned the campus that two students had been shot dead and their killer had not been caught. The eight experts also found that the university had failed to properly care for the mentally troubled student gunman. In 2005, two girls had complained that Seung-Hui Cho, 23, had been harassing them. In both cases, police officers spoke with the student, eventually asking him to meet with a counselor. In late 2005, a judge a ordered Mr Cho to be briefly treated in an outpatient mental health institution after authorities were warned of his suicidal tendencies. When Mr. Cho came back to Virginia Tech, he voluntarily scheduled an appointment at the counseling center but was given only a pre-appointment interview. No one ever followed with him despite the fact his writings had prompted his professor to pull him out of a creative writing class. One such writing, a one-act play named “Richard McBeef”, tells the story of a 13-year old boy who is violently accusing his stepfather of molesting him. “I must kill Dick”, the boy says. The play ends with the stepfather killing the boy. Mr Cho’s parents had never been notified about their son’s mental problems before the mass killing on April 16. The report did not blame Virginia Tech officials for not having imposed a campus lockdown. It concluded such a measure would probably have not been effective in stopping Mr Cho from murdering 32 people before committing suicide. In a conference call with the governor’s office on August 29, family members of victims voiced frustration with Virginia Tech officials. One mother called for the university president to be fired. Governor Kaine refused, saying officials had already suffered enough without losing their jobs. Jean-Cosme Delaloye CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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