Breaking News: At least 22 dead in Va. Tech shooting rampage

[method77]

I never said the whole nation is like that

[DudeAsInCool]

I never said the whole nation is like that

You said it's the system, read: it's inbred in all of us lol I think that notion is full of shit. When people begin stereotyping others, thats the problem--it creates these misconceptions that are only half-truths or less. It's the differences in people that make them unique--

[method77]

I guess I did but you know I don't mean that like it sounds. There are great places in the states like San Francisco, New York or LA. But there are lots of places that are not as open minded.

Keep in mind that I think this is a tragedy as well ok?

[DudeAsInCool]

I guess I did but you know I don't mean that like it sounds. There are great places in the states like San Francisco, New York or LA. But there are lots of places that are not as open minded.

Keep in mind that I think this is a tragedy as well ok?

I'm being just as vigilant about American misconceptions as you are about Arab misconceptions. I dont doubt you think its a tragedy...and its true we have a lot of narrowminded people here in this country; Im sure they exist outside this country too.

[Shawn]

It's not coincidence that this type of killings only happen in the US.

To be fair, this was 17 years ago and in Montreal. It's not a new phenomenon but it is getting more frequent.

And shhhhhhh, but this guy was a distant relative.

[DudeAsInCool]

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead, the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, was identified Tuesday as a senior English major from South Korea.

Ballistics tests show one gun was used in two attacks on the campus Monday morning—at a dormitory were two people were killed and in a classroom building where 31 people, including the gunman, died locked inside, Virginia State Police said.

Police identified the classroom shooter as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui (pronounced Choh Suhng-whee) of South Korea. There was no indication Tuesday of a possible motive for the attacks.

"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.

Read More

[Kooperman]

the killer

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18148802/

[method77]

Gun-loving student wrongly accused

He is an Asian-American student at Virginia Tech University, whose personal blogs reveal a recently wounded heart and an eye-opening gun fetish.

But Wayne Chiang - the subject of fevered speculation on the internet - is not the man responsible for this morning's massacre at the southern US university.

Rumours that Chiang, 23, was the mass murderer spread across the world after links to his various blogs were posted on social networking website Facebook and similar sites.

more...

[DudeAsInCool]

Gun-loving student wrongly accused

He is an Asian-American student at Virginia Tech University, whose personal blogs reveal a recently wounded heart and an eye-opening gun fetish.

But Wayne Chiang - the subject of fevered speculation on the internet - is not the man responsible for this morning's massacre at the southern US university.

Rumours that Chiang, 23, was the mass murderer spread across the world after links to his various blogs were posted on social networking website Facebook and similar sites.

more...

I saw this - this guy is an avid gun collector, but no relation to the real killer

[DudeAsInCool]

Chronology of Events by Wikipeida

[DudeAsInCool]

From all that I've read, it appears that no one reached out to the kid, except for a teacher who suggested counseling. If the kid was on meds, then who was monitoring him taking them? Maybe if a roommate or a classmate or someone had tried to include him in something none of this would have happened. There were plenty of signs he was troubled--he had set fire to his dorm room; his plays; etc - yet no one seemed to care. And according to this LA Times article, he actually posted that he was going to kill alot of people on one of the school's online services! How could they miss that?

[slum_goddess]

I agree--the Bush regime is responsible for a lot of things--but not this

from here: It's all Virginia Tech, all the time, now. Our own glorious Crawford Caligula and his reverse cameltoe pantsuited Laurabot Xanax 6000 are reportedly going to Blacksburg to attend this afternoon's convocation at Virginia Tech, likely to subconsciously associate themselves with the danger and stench of senseless, random death...

Meanwhile, this faux-codpiece turdhair hasn't attended a single funeral for a serviceman killed in his excellent Global War on Brown People. But if there's politically exploitable death, you need not look far for some Booshes wearing bad pantsuits and idiotic smirks.

and skunk's post before: '...it happens just in time to completely obliterate from the news cycle Abu G's congressional testimoy regarding the political takeover of the Department of Justice. But really. This time we're taking the global prize for bloodiest school massacre. Looks like a guy with a couple of pistols and an assload of spare mags took a stroll through a building shooting people after he chained some doors shut.'

[DudeAsInCool]

that may all be true, but the President should be at the convocation. given the tragedy, i find haveskunk's comments to be highly inappropriate--the focus should be with those kids and their familiies, not politicians.

i will agree with this much--any politicians exploiting this scenario have no right to be part of humanity

[rainbowdemon]

To blame this on Bush and his cronies is ludicrous.

[Shawn]

From all that I've read, it appears that no one reached out to the kid, except for a teacher who suggested counseling. If the kid was on meds, then who was monitoring him taking them? Maybe if a roommate or a classmate or someone had tried to include him in something none of this would have happened. There were plenty of signs he was troubled--he had set fire to his dorm room; his plays; etc - yet no one seemed to care.

Sad as it may be, nobody is forced to care for another person. It isn't for a person's teachers and associates to ensure that a person isn't going to fly off the handle and get murderous. I think that every person has to choose their own path in life and no blame can be put onto other people for this.

And according to this LA Times article, he actually posted that he was going to kill alot of people on one of the school's online services! How could they miss that?

How closely should the government and even NGO's be watching people? If a kid has a list of people in his locker that he would like to kill, should he be arrested? Detained? Involuntarily put into a mental institution? What about his civil rights to say and think whatever he chooses? No law has been broken until the person actually acts. I don't want to get too into the theory, but the type of constant monitoring that would have prevented this is the exact same we would decry if it was taking place.

This was/is an absolute tragedy but in truth I'm hoping it doesn't serve as justification for further rights intrusions. Sometimes the blame has to be put onto the individual and not filtered across all of society.

[DudeAsInCool]

Sad as it may be, nobody is forced to care for another person. It isn't for a person's teachers and associates to ensure that a person isn't going to fly off the handle and get murderous. I think that every person has to choose their own path in life and no blame can be put onto other people for this.

How closely should the government and even NGO's be watching people? If a kid has a list of people in his locker that he would like to kill, should he be arrested? Detained? Involuntarily put into a mental institution? What about his civil rights to say and think whatever he chooses? No law has been broken until the person actually acts. I don't want to get too into the theory, but the type of constant monitoring that would have prevented this is the exact same we would decry if it was taking place.

This was/is an absolute tragedy but in truth I'm hoping it doesn't serve as justification for further rights intrusions. Sometimes the blame has to be put onto the individual and not filtered across all of society.

the point was that people already knew he was troubled--people wanted to help, but somehow they stopped helping

[method77]

dude Shawn is right. You can't act unless someone actually harms another person. Writing a play about killings is thread? Anyone who thinks like that is crazy

[DudeAsInCool]

dude Shawn is right. You can't act unless someone actually harms another person. Writing a play about killings is thread? Anyone who thinks like that is crazy

The play didn't bother me in the least. What bothered me is the following: he set fire to his dorm room; he stalked some girls, who didnt press charges, but his parents were concerned enough that they had him examined for a potential suicide watch; last but not least the same english teacher reported to school authorities that he seriously troubled. Case in point:

VT Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit

Harassed Two Female Students; Concerns He Was Suicidal

April 18, 2007 — - A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was "mentally ill" and potentially dangerous. Then the state let him go.

In 2005, after a district court in Montgomery County, Va., ruled that Cho was either a danger to himself or to others -- the necessary criteria for a detention order -- he was evaluated by a state doctor and ordered to undergo outpatient care.

According to the "Temporary Detention Order" obtained by ABC News, the doctor found Cho's "mood is depressed." "He denies suicidal ideation. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder," the doctor wrote. "His insight and judgment are normal."

The evaluation came from a psychiatric hospital near Virginia Tech, where Cho was taken by police in December 2005, after two female schoolmates said they received threatening messages from him, and police and school officials became concerned that he might be suicidal.

Source

[DudeAsInCool]

Gunman contacted NBC News during massacre

Rambling communication, video being examined by FBI, network says

Sometime after he killed two people in a Virginia university dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui sent NBC News a rambling communication and videos about his grievances, the network said Wednesday.

Source

Cho Reads His Manifesto On Video

[DudeAsInCool]

The inspiration for perhaps the most inexplicable image in the set that Cho Seung-Hui mailed to NBC news on Monday may be a movie from South Korea that won the Gran Prix prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2004.

The poses in the two images are similar, and the plot of the movie, “Oldboy,” seems dark enough to merit at least some further study. Following is The Times’s plot summary:

The film centers on a seemingly ordinary businessman, Dae-su (the terrific Choi Min-sik), who, after being mysteriously imprisoned, goes on an extensive, exhausting rampage, seeking answers and all manner of bloody revenge.

Read more at the NY Times

[DudeAsInCool]

Related News Items:

McCain Says He Backs No Gun Control

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate John McCain declared Wednesday he believes in "no gun control," making the strongest affirmation of support for gun rights in the GOP field since the Virginia Tech massacre.

The Arizona senator said in Summerville, S.C., that the country needs better ways to identify dangerous people like the gunman who killed 32 people and himself in the Blacksburg, Va., rampage. But he opposed weakening gun rights and, when asked whether ammunition clips sold to the public should be limited in size, said, "I don't think that's necessary at all."

Read More

Laws Limit Options When a Student Is Mentally Ill

Federal privacy and antidiscrimination laws restrict how universities can deal with students who have mental health problems.

For the most part, universities cannot tell parents about their children’s problems without the student’s consent. They cannot release any information in a student’s medical record without consent. And they cannot put students on involuntary medical leave, just because they develop a serious mental illness.

Read More

[DudeAsInCool]

Tribute To The Slain

They came to Blacksburg, Va., from all over the country — and all over the world. They came to study, and they came to teach. They had plans. They had friends. They had families.

As the list of confirmed victims in Monday's massacre on the Virginia Tech campus grew, so too did the number of stories about the individuals who fell victim to the gunman, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui of Centreville, Va.

There were stories of heroism. Students of Liviu Librescu, an engineering science and mechanics lecturer, say he blocked the door of his classroom with his body to protect those inside. Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor.

Read more at MSNBC

The university will award post humous awards to the victims...

[DudeAsInCool]

This was/is an absolute tragedy but in truth I'm hoping it doesn't serve as justification for further rights intrusions. Sometimes the blame has to be put onto the individual and not filtered across all of society.

Agreed--but the things I'm referring to weren't private...

[DudeAsInCool]

Tech Shooter Was Picked on in School

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Long before he boiled over, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui was pushed around and laughed at as a schoolboy in suburban Washington because of his shyness and the strange, mumbly way he talked, former classmates say.

Chris Davids, a Virginia Tech senior who graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., with Cho in 2003, recalled that the South Korean immigrant almost never opened his mouth and would ignore attempts to strike up a conversation.

Once, in English class, the teacher had the students read aloud, and when it was Cho's turn, he just looked down in silence, Davids recalled. Finally, after the teacher threatened him with an F for participation, Cho started to read in a strange, deep voice that sounded "like he had something in his mouth," Davids said. "As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, 'Go back to China,'" Davids said.

Read more at Sky News

[DudeAsInCool]

Blogger warned off copycat shootings before Virginia Tech tragedy