Remembering the Virginia Tech shooting: Blacksburg, Virginia, 2007

Last updated: March 31, 2018

Date: April 16

Year: 2007

School: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Location: Blacksburg

State: Virginia

Wounded: 23

Fatalities: 32

Shots Fired: 174/100 hits
(60% fatality rate)
(carried an additional 200 rounds, 17 10 - 15 round spent magazines were found at the scene)

Time lapsed: 9 minutes

Police response time: 3 minutes, 5 to break through chains

How ended: Suicide as police approached

Civilians involved: No

Perpetrator: Seung Hui Cho,

Age: 23

Family history: Born in South Korea, his family emigrated to the U.S. when Cho was 8. Relatives were concerned about him from a young age, because he didn't speak or make eye contact, and he was believed to be selectively mute. He was considered well behaved and obedient child, he just showed no emotion. Grandfather reports Cho never called him grandfather or embraced him as a child.

Red flags: In the fall of 2005 Cho's poetry teacher said that students were complaining about him taking pictures of their legs and knees under the desks, and she considered him mean and a bully. She became upset about the sinister content of Cho's poetry, and asked him to change it. He refused, so the head of the co-director of the creative writing program tried tutoring him one on one. When he refused to attend counseling, she contacted the Division of Student Affairs, the Cook Counseling Center, the Schiffert Health Center, the Virginia Tech police and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. In the fall of 2005 yet another professor brought her concerns to the attention of the associate dean of students, after he displayed antisocial behaviors and turned in disturbing writings in her class, they found no records of concern in his file.
In the winter of 2005 Cho made unwanted and "annoying" contact on the internet with a female student he was contacted and referred to the schools disciplinary system. Two weeks later another female complained of "disturbing" contact from him, and police were sent to tell him that he wasn't to have contact with the female again.
In the fall of 2006 Cho was enrolled in a called "Special Studies: Contemporary Horror. - 'not for the faint of heart.' " Which explored horror films and how they have become a masochistic pleasure. The textbooks used tended to focus on women in horror.
In 2007 Cho began collecting weapons, extra magazines and ammunition about this time and going to shooting ranges, during this time he filmed an angry diatribe in several parts. He was seen filming one of these rants outside of a shooting range he practiced at.
Just before the shooting, on the 12th someone began reporting bomb threats to the school, and on the 13th a suspicious man was seen wandering the halls he would later shoot up, and chains were found on the doors. The day before the shooting he called his family. 

Mental illness history: After the police told him not to contact the female, Cho texted his roommate that he might as well kill himself. His roommate notified authorities and Cho was taken to a facility where he was evaluated and found to be a danger to himself or others, and the court was notified. He was then committed to another facility where they found him to be mentally ill but he did not present an imminent danger to anyone and did not meet the standards for involuntary commitment. The findings were reviewed by the court, and Cho was ordered to receive follow up treatment and nobody in the system caught it. 

Drug or medication use: Unknown

Inspiration: In his manifesto the shooter praised the Columbine killers and called them martyrs. He compared himself to Jesus. 

Possible motive: In his manifesto he talks of the power and fear he seeks and says he hopes to inspire others to follow his actions. 

Weapons:
Glock 19 pistol

Walther P22 pistol

Weapons obtained: Purchased legally after passing a background check

Training: Seen at several nearby shooting ranges practicing.

Aftermath: There was much criticism after the Virginia Tech shootings on many fronts. The email alerts, it took 2 hours and 10 minutes for staff to notify students that there had been a shooting on campus leaving 2 people dead. The warning email was sent at 9:26, the first 911 calls of shots fired at the second shooting scene came in at 9:42, at 9:50 they alerted students to a gunman on campus and he was dead by 9:51.

People also wanted to know how a man with so many red flags could pass a background check and obtain two weapons.

Cho's parents have remained in virtual seclusion since the shooting only speaking with authorities. Even family says they have not heard from them since. Though there were some threats and criticism for his parents after the shooting, many, including those who lost children that day have reached out on love and compassion to his family. Cho has also been included as a victim in some of the memorials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041104103_3.html?sid=ST2008041104178

Resulting actions: Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine singed an order forbidding anyone who has been court ordered to receive mental health treatment from buying a gun.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va proposed legislation that would make it easier for schools to share information about mentally ill students. The University did not contact his parents about his troubles, and that may have been one step in preventing this tragedy. 

The Shooting: Early that morning the shooter killed two people across campus. He mailed several packages before moving on to Norris Hall where classes were in session. He placed chains on the doors and opened fire on his trapped victims. He shot 47 people, killing 30 of them. The police were force to shoot through the chains to enter the building, the gunshots tipped the shooter off to their presence and the police heard the final gunshot ending the shooters life.

Many of the injuries were sustained when students tried to escape the gunfire through windows. 

Conspiracy Theories: Under construction

Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042500172_pf.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/seung-hui-chos-mental-health-records-released/story?id=8278195

https://schoolshooters.info/seung-hui-cho

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041104103_3.html?sid=ST2008041104178