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Virginia Tech massacre
Students gather to mourn at the convocation after the shooting
LocationBlacksburg, Virginia, United States
DateApril 16, 2007
7:15 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m. (EDT)
TargetVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Attack type
School shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre, spree killer
Deaths33 (including the perpetrator)[1][2]
Injured29[2]
PerpetratorsSeung-hui Cho
MotiveUnknown[3]

The Virginia Tech massacre, or the Virginia Tech shootings, refers to the shootings that took place April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, in the United States. A total of 33 people, including the lone gunman, were shot and killed in two separate attacks approximately two hours apart within two separate buildings on the Virginia Tech campus,[4] making it the deadliest mass shooting by a civilian in U.S. history. At least two dozen other people were injured.

Seung-hui Cho, identified by authorities as the gunman, was born in South Korea and grew up in Virginia. He had permanent residence status and was a fourth-year English major at Virginia Tech. At the conclusion of the second attack, he committed suicide.[5][6]

West Ambler Johnston shootings

Aerial photo showing location of Norris and West Ambler Johnston Halls.

The first shooting occurred around 7:15 a.m. EDT in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 895 students. A young woman, Emily J. Hilscher of Woodville, Virginia, and a male resident assistant, Ryan C. Clark of Martinez, Georgia, were killed.[7][8] Authorities identified a "person of interest" in the first shooting, who is cooperating with them. According to the Washington Post, this "person of interest" was Hilscher's boyfriend; he was released after cooperating with authorities.[9] Although the administrators of the school were notified, they thought the shootings in this hall were isolated and did not evacuate the campus which would later cause controversy over whether the school should have done more.

Norris Hall shootings

Approximately two hours after the initial shootings, shots were reported in a classroom at Norris Hall, an engineering and science building that houses the Engineering Science and Mechanics program.[2][10] A ballistics test later showed that the same gun was used in both campus shootings.[11]

An eyewitness told a Collegiate Times reporter that a gunman shot about nineteen people attending a German class in Norris Hall including the professor.[12][13][14] Only four people emerged unscathed from the German class, with the rest either killed or wounded. Erin Sheehan, one of the four, said the shooter "peeked in twice, earlier in the lesson, like he was looking for someone, somebody, before he started shooting."

Twenty-seven gunshots can be heard in video footage captured with a cell phone, later broadcast on many news outlets.[15]

Student Nikolas Macko described to BBC News his experience at the center of the shootings. He had been attending a math class and heard gunshots in the hallway. Three people in the classroom barricaded themselves inside the room using a table. At one point, Macko said, the shooter even attempted to break down the door of the classroom and then shot twice into the room; one shot hit a podium and the other went out the window. The shooter reloaded and shot into the door again but the bullet did not penetrate into the room. He stated there were "many, many shots" fired.[10]

High winds prevented emergency medical services from using helicopters for the evacuations.[16] Victims injured in the event were treated at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in Radford, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, and Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem.[17]

Seung-hui Cho

Main article: Seung-hui Cho

Background

The shooter was identified as 23-year-old Seung-hui Cho,[5] a South Korean national living in Virginia as a United States permanent resident. He arrived in the US with his family as an eight-year-old child in 1992. His permanent address is listed as Centreville, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.[18] He attended and, in 2003, graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Virginia.[19][20] Victims Erin Peterson and Reema Samaha graduated from Westfield in 2006, but it is not known if Cho knew either of them.[21] He was an undergraduate student in his senior year, majoring in English. A spokesman for Virginia Tech has described him as a "loner", stating that the school was having difficulty finding information about him.[22] Cho lived in Harper Hall, a dormitory just to the west of West Ambler Johnston.

Possible motives

As of April 17, 2007, Cho's motives for the killings remain unclear.

When police investigated Cho's dorm, they found a note describing how his life was hell and his plan of suicide. In a note left in his dorm room he laid out a list of grievances in which he railed against "rich kids", "debauchery", and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. Another sentence on the note read "you caused me to do this".[23] The words "Ismail Ax" were found written on his arm in red ink.[24] His roommate told reporters that Cho had a normal expression on his face just two hours before the killing spree.

Lucinda Roy, Cho's former creative writing professor, and former English department chairperson, says she was disturbed by the student's behavior and writing to the point of warning campus police and other officials about him, but was told they could not do much as no direct threat was involved and could not violate his rights of free speech.[25] Roy told ABC News that Cho seemed "extraordinarily lonely — the loneliest person I have ever met in my life." She said he always wore sunglasses and a cap inside, spoke in a whisper, and took cell phone pictures of her. Deeply concerned, she arranged to work one-on-one with Cho, and asked him to go to counseling, but he apparently never went.[26]

The website The Smoking Gun has obtained a copy of a play by Cho titled "Richard McBeef." The short play mentions graphic topics such as pedophilia, violence with chainsaws, and ends with the title character delivering "a deadly blow" to his thirteen year old stepson.[27] Cho also wrote a second play, entitled "Mr. Brownstone"; the play is named after a Guns N' Roses song and contains lyrics copied verbatim from the song.[28]

An unnamed professor who taught Cho characterized his work as "very adolescent" and "silly," with attempts at "slapstick comedy" and "elements of violence."[29]

Preparation

Officials believe he used a 9 mm Glock 19 and a .22 caliber Walther P22 handgun.[30] Cho purchased the 9 mm Glock 19 at Roanoke Firearms[31] on March 13, 2007, and the .22-caliber handgun was purchased February 9 at a pawnshop in Blacksburg.[32] In Virginia, permanent legal residents of the United States who are 21 years of age or older are eligible to purchase handguns provided they have not been convicted of any felonies or have other disqualifications.[33] Both guns were found with their serial numbers filed off, federal law enforcement officials said. The owner of Roanoke Firearms was reported to have been 'devastated' when he heard news that one of his weapons was used in the incident.[34] According to former FBI agent Brad Garrett, "This was no spur of the moment crime. He's been thinking about this for several months prior to the shooting."[35] It is not known what, if any, previous firearm experience or training Cho had completed before the massacre. It is not known where or how Cho obtained the chain with which he locked the doors.

One of the guns was used in both incidents. An official added that Cho was "heavily armed and wearing a vest."[36][37][38][39]

Victims

Further information: [[:List of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre]]

This is a partial list and only includes victims who have been specifically named in the media.

First shooting: West Ambler Johnston Hall Dormitory

  • Emily J. Hilscher[40]


Second shooting: Norris Hall Engineering Building

Students


Faculty

Responses to the incidents

University response

Virginia Tech cancelled classes for the rest of the week and closed Norris Hall for the remainder of the semester, and asked off-campus visitors not to come onto the campus.[1] The school is offering counseling assistance for students and faculty and held an assembly on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. Additionally, the Red Cross has dispatched several dozen crisis counselors to Blacksburg to help Virginia Tech students cope with the tragedy.[1]

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger stated at the first news conference that authorities initially believed the first shooting at the West Ambler Johnston dormitory was a domestic dispute and that the shooter had left campus.[61]

Steger indicated in a second press conference at around 5pm EDT on the day of the attack that several thousand students were already on their way to class:

You have to remember that of the 26,000 [students] that we have, over 9,000 are on campus. When the classes start at 8:00 A.M., thousands of people are in transit. The question is, where do you keep them where it is most safe? We concluded that the incident at the dormitory was domestic in nature. These other events occurred two hours later.

Steger further noted:

It is very difficult, because we are an open society and an open campus. We have 26,000 people here. The best thing that we can do is to have people report anything that they saw that was suspicious. We obviously cannot have an armed guard in front of every classroom every day of the year. …What we try to determine is are they kept out of harm’s way by staying in the dorms or staying in the academic buildings. We send out communications by e-mail, we have an emergency alert system to get the word to our students as quickly as we can. With 11,000 people driving in to campus, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to get the word out instantaneously.

Virginia Tech students mourn their fallen friends at a candlelight vigil.



Student response

Some Virginia Tech students questioned why the school had not been locked down after the first shooting.[62] After becoming aware of the incident, students communicated with their family and peers about their conditions, using telephones or social networking websites such as Facebook or MySpace.[38][63] Many students created Facebook memorial pages for some of their fellow colleagues.[64] Fearing retribution from American students, Kim Min-kyung, a South Korean student at Virginia Tech, said South Korean students were gathering in groups "as it could be dangerous."[65] Lee Seung-wook, head of Virginia Tech's Korean Student Association, said "I am worried about possible racial prejudices that this horrible incident may bring to Asians, especially Koreans".[66]

Law enforcement response

After the second attack, the Virginia Tech Police, along with the Blacksburg Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police immediately responded following their active shooter protocols. Local SWAT teams were activated and responded.[67] In addition to the Virginia Tech campus police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the investigation. Bureau spokesman Richard Kolko stated there was no immediate evidence to suggest a terrorist incident, but that the agency is exploring all avenues.[63] The Virginia State Police are also investigating.[63] The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) immediately responded to the incident with 10 agents on-scene identifying the weapons and performing forensics.[68]

Government response

President George W. Bush shakes the hand of the Virginia Tech Student Government Association's President James Tyger following his speech at the school's convocation.

Virginia's U.S. Senators John Warner and Jim Webb have both offered their condolences.[69] Virginia Governor Tim Kaine returned early from a trip to Tokyo, Japan[63] and declared a "state of emergency" in Virginia, allowing the governor to immediately deploy state personnel, equipment, and other resources to help out in the aftermath of a tragedy.[70]

On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate observed a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims. The Senate also approved a resolution on Monday night extending condolences to the victims of the shooting.[71]Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy postponed by two days the scheduled April 17 testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales concerning the firings of eight United States prosecutors.[72] In a statement, Gonzales said that the Justice Department would provide support and assistance to the local authorities and victims as long as they were needed.[73]

Immediately following the news of the tragedy, White House spokesman said President George W. Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia. In response to questioning, Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed."[74][75] Bush also stated that the nation was "shocked and saddened" by the shooting but that Americans have the right to bear arms. He added that "schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community." He also pledged assistance to law enforcement and the local community.[76] President Bush and his wife Laura also attended the convocation at Virginia Tech on Tuesday.[77] Bush ordered the White House flag lowered to half staff and requested all flags be so lowered until sundown on Sunday, April 22.[77]

Sporting tributes

The Washington Nationals, during their April 17 game against the Atlanta Braves, wore Virginia Tech baseball caps in memory of the victims.[78]

Pre-game moments of silence were also held at several sporting events across the nation to commemorate the massacre.

International reaction

File:Frontpage18april.jpg
The Sydney Morning Herald front page April 18, 2007.

There was a widespread international response, including condolences and sympathy from many countries including officials in Australia,[79] Canada,[80] People's Republic of China,[81] France,[82] Germany,[83] India,[84] Iran,[85] Japan,[86] Mexico[87] and the UK[88]. Secretary-General of the United Nations, and former South Korean foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the massacre as "rampant killing of innocent citizens and children".[89]

In the Republic of Korea, President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his deepest condolences, saying, "I was so shocked and it was so unthinkable, and I would like to express, on behalf of South Korean people, our deep condolences to the families of the innocent victims and to those who were injured" right after the Virginia news. After the further news that the killer was identified as a South Korean student, he again expressed South Koreans' sincerest condolences on Tuesday night (Korean time) to the victims and to their families, and to all US citizens.[90][91] Their foreign minister, Song Min-soon, also mentioned that safety measures have been established for Koreans living in the US. He appeared to be referring to the possibility of reprisal attacks against Korean communities within the United States.[92] A ministry official also stated that he hoped the shooting would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation."[93]

Timeline

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

Friday, February 9

Cho purchases a Walther P22 at a pawnshop in Blacksburg.[94]

Tuesday, March 13

Cho purchases a 9 millimeter Glock 19 handgun[95][96] from Roanoke Firearms[97]

Monday, April 2 and Friday, April 13

On April 2 a bomb threat to Torgersen Hall is called in anonymously. On April 13 a bomb threat to Torgersen, Durham, and Whittemore Halls is also called in anonymously.[98] An additional bomb threat, this time to engineering school buildings, was found at the shooting scene at Norris Hall.[99] Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum has stated that the bomb threats are not linked to the April 16 massacre.[100] However a written bomb threat similar to the ones that were phoned in was found in Cho's dorm room.[101]

Monday, April 16

  • 7:15 a.m.: A 9-1-1 emergency call to Virginia Tech Police reports a shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall, leaving one person dead and one injured.[102][103][104] The second person later died.
  • 7:30 a.m.: Investigators were following up on leads concerning a person of interest in relation to the double homicide. Investigators from VT PD and Blacksburg PD were actively following up on various leads. Meanwhile, Cho returns to his dorm room to re-load and leaves a "disturbing note."[105]
  • 8:00 a.m.: Classes begin.
  • 8:25 a.m.: Virginia Tech leadership team meets to develop a plan on how to notify students of the homicide. Meanwhile, police stop the unidentified "person of interest" in a vehicle off-campus and detain him for questioning.
  • 9:00 a.m.: Virginia Tech leadership team is briefed on the latest events in the ongoing dormitory homicide investigation.
  • 9:05 a.m.: Cho seen in Norris Hall, an Engineering building. Cho chains the doors shut from the inside to prevent escape.
  • 9:15 a.m.: While the "person of interest" was being interrogated by investigators, shots are fired in Norris Hall.[106]
  • 9:26 a.m.: E-mails go out to campus staff, faculty, and students saying there has been a shooting on campus (in reference to the Dorm shooting).[107]
  • 9:45 a.m.: Students in the engineering building Norris Hall call police to report more shots have been fired.[108] Cho kills 30 more people before turning the gun on himself. Police have breached the barricaded doors, but the shooter is dead before police arrive.
  • 9:50 a.m.: A second e-mail announcing: "A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows" is sent to all Virginia Tech email addresses. Loudspeakers broadcast a similar message.[108]
  • 10:17 a.m: A third e-mail cancels classes and advises people to stay where they are.[109]
  • 10:52 a.m.: A fourth e-mail warns of a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall, saying the shooter has been arrested and that police are hunting for a possible second shooter. The entrances to the campus buildings are locked.[110]
  • 12:00 p.m.: At a press conference, authorities said there may have been more than 21 people killed and 28 injured.[111]
  • 12:42 p.m.: University President Charles Steger announces that police are releasing people from buildings and that counseling centers are being set up.
  • 4:01 p.m.: President Bush speaks from the White House regarding the shooting.[112]
  • 7:30 p.m.: A final confirmation that there have been 31 deaths at Norris Hall, including the shooter. (mp3)

Tuesday, April 17

  • 9:15 a.m.: Virginia Tech Police Department releases name of shooter as Cho Seung-Hui and confirms the death toll of 33.[1]
  • 9:30 a.m.: Virginia Tech announces that classes would be canceled "for the remainder of the week to allow students the time they need to grieve and seek assistance as needed."[1]
  • 2:00 p.m.: A convocation ceremony is held for the University community at the Cassell Coliseum. Speakers included (in order) Virginia Tech VP for Student Affairs Zenobia L. Hikes, Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (who had returned from Japan), President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, as well as local religious leaders (representing the Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian communities), Provost Dr. Mark G. McNamee, Dean of Students Tom Brown, Counselor Dr. Christopher Flynn, and poet and Professor Nikki Giovanni. One person seated behind the President and First Lady apparently fainted during a moment of silence, causing medical personnel to assist them out of the coliseum. The ceremony was concluded by all in attendance chanting "We are Hokies!" and "Let's go Hokies!"
  • 8:00 p.m.: A candlelight vigil is held on the University Drillfield[113]

Friday, April 20

  • All Day: "Hokie Hope" will be an alumni-led declaration of a national "Orange and Maroon Effect" day.[1]

Historical context

With a death toll of 33,[114] this is the deadliest single-perpetrator civilian shooting in United States history, surpassing the Luby's massacre of 1991, in which 24 people were killed.[114] Internationally, it is surpassed by the 1982 massacre of 57 South Koreans by off-duty police officer Woo Bum-Kon and the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in the Australian state of Tasmania where 35 people were killed by gunman Martin Bryant.

The incident is the deadliest shooting on a college campus, exceeding the 16 deaths[114] of the University of Texas shooting of 1966; and is the second deadliest school-related killing in U.S. history, behind the 1927 Bath School disaster which claimed 45 lives through the use of explosives, including 38 school children.[114]

The shooting has been referred to as the "College Columbine"[citation needed], referring to the infamous April 20 school massacre in which 2 senior students assaulted their school, killing 13 and wounding 24. The Virginia Tech massacre is more than double the death toll of Columbine, although differs in circumstances significantly.

Gun control debate

Main article: Gun politics in the United States

The massacre reignited the debate over gun control in the United States, and what effect, if any, that gun control did or would have had to the events that happened.

Background

Law enforcement officials have described finding a purchase receipt for at least one of the guns used in the assault[115] and note that permanent residents in Virginia may legally purchase firearms with proof of residency;[116] in addition, Federal law also requires a criminal background check for handgun purchases from licensed firearms dealers. Virginia has a one handgun per month policy, meaning that the shooter apparently waited one month after buying a Glock 19 before he could buy his second gun, a .22 caliber.[117]

Virginia Tech has a policy forbidding unauthorized possession or storage of firearms on campus, even by state licensed concealed weapons permit holders. This policy has been challenged in recent years. In April of 2005, a student licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to carry concealed weapons was discovered possessing a concealed firearm in class. While no criminal charges were filed, it is unknown what disciplinary action was taken by the school for violating Tech policy due to student confidentiality. University spokesman Larry Hincker, in response to challenges over the authority of the university to enforce such a policy, said "We think we have the right to adhere to and enforce that policy because, in the end, we think it's a common-sense policy for the protection of students, staff and faculty as well as guests and visitors."[118]

Virginia bill HB 1572, intended to prohibit public universities from making "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit … from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun" was introduced into the Virginia House of Representatives by delegate Todd Gilbert. The university opposed the bill, which died in subcommittee in January of 2006. Spokesman Larry Hincker responded "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."[119]

Prior to the shootings, Bradford B. Wiles, a graduate student at Virginia Tech, published an editorial in 2006 in the Roanoke Times calling for a change in Virginia Tech's policy prohibiting the carrying of licensed firearms.[120]

Media response

The response to how gun control affected the massacre was predominantly split – while some believe the university's ban on students carrying concealed weapons contributed to the massacre as students were unable to defend themselves against the perpetrator, others believe that the United States', and Virginia's, relatively liberal gun control laws allowed the gunman to purchase the guns and ammunition that allowed the shootings to happen.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, an American gun control group, said that it was easy for an individual to get powerful weapons and called for "common-sense actions to prevent tragedies like this from continuing to occur".[121] The New York Times ran an editorial calling for more gun control: "Yesterday’s mass shooting at Virginia Tech—the worst in American history—is another horrifying reminder that some of the gravest dangers Americans face come from killers at home armed with guns that are frighteningly easy to obtain."[122] On the other side of the issue, the Conservative Voice contrasted the Virginia Tech massacre with the Appalachian School of Law shooting, which occurred in Virginia in 2002, and declared, "All the school shootings that have ended abruptly in the last ten years were stopped because a law-abiding citizen—a potential victim—had a gun."[123]

The Washington Post described both sides of the gun control debate in an editorial, asking how and when the shooter obtained his weapons, but also asking if the tragedy would have occurred if Virginia law did not prohibit the carrying of lawfully concealed weapons on college campuses.[124]

Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, an American gun control will of course omit the fact that according to CNN, on April 17, stated that the Mayor of Nagasaki Japan was killed by a gun in a country that claims to have banned guns and made the streets safer. The story also runs in the April 17 edition of the Seattle times. [125]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia Tech massacre.

References

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  75. ^ Bush statement on VT shootings, White House, April 16, 2007
  76. ^ a b Riechman, Deb (2007-04-17). "Bush to Speak at Virginia Tech Service". Forbes. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  77. ^ "Nationals show support by sporting Virginia Tech caps". Associated Press. 2007-04-17. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  78. ^ Doorstop Interview – Lowood Show Hall – Lowood, Prime Minister of Australia Homepage, 2007–04–17.
  79. ^ "Harper expresses condolences to the families of the victims", April 16, 2007
  80. ^ Xinhua News Agency
  81. ^ France 3. April 17, 2007.
  82. ^ [4]
  83. ^ [5]
  84. ^ "Iran condemns Virginia shooting", Ministry of foreign affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran, April 17, 2007
  85. ^ Virginia governor, in Japan, says it's too early to blame school in shooting rampage, Mainichi Daily News, April 17, 2007
  86. ^ "Mexico condemns Virginia shootings"
  87. ^ "Blair's 'sadness' at US shootings", BBC News, April 17, 2007
  88. ^ "Korea fears prejudice with shooting link", Yahoo, April 17, 2007
  89. ^ "Korea fears prejudice with shooting link". Chron.com. April 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  90. ^ "?? ??' ??, ??? 23? ??? (The killer is Cho Seung-hui, a South Korean)" (in Korean). Chosunilbo. April 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  91. ^ "Seoul expresses shock as gunman identified as Korean", ChannelNewsAsia.com, April 18, 2007
  92. ^ "Korea Fears Prejudice With Shooting Link", Associated Press via Breitbart.com, April 17, 2007
  93. ^ [6]
  94. ^ [7]
  95. ^ Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This', ABC News, April 17, 2007
  96. ^ "Source: Gunman angry at 'rich kids'". CNN.
  97. ^ Bomb threat closes Torgersen Hall, Virginia Tech News, April 2, 2007
  98. ^ Shooting victims at Tech massacre named, The Roanoke Times, April 17, 2007
  99. ^ Police: Virginia Tech shooter an English major, 23, CNN.com, April 17,2007.
  100. ^ THe Va.Tech Gunman: Well Prepared, 23, CNN.com, April 17,2007.
  101. ^ At least one dead in campus shooting, WDBJ7 Roanoke. April 16, 2007
  102. ^ Front page, Collegiate Times, April 16, 2007
  103. ^ Larry Hincker. "Shooting at Virginia Tech", Virginia Tech bulletin, April 16, 2007.
  104. ^ Virginia Tech Police Still Search for Motive After Identifying Shooter, April 17, 2007
  105. ^ Photo from Collegiate Times
  106. ^ Pierre, Robert (April 16, 2007). "33 Dead in Virginia Tech Shootings, At Least 24 Injured". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-04-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  107. ^ a b Timeline of Virginia Tech Shooting Spree WDBJ7
  108. ^ "Students: School's warning came too slow", Newsday.com, April 17, 2007.
  109. ^ "US university shooting: Timeline of events." Geelong Advertiser, retrieved on 2006-04-16.
  110. ^ Virginia Tech Authorities Confirm 20 Fatalities, WDBJ, April 16 2007
  111. ^ "Bush 'horrified, concerned' by Virginia Tech massacre", Chicago Tribune, April 16, 2007.
  112. ^ AP. (17 April 2007) Va. Tech Community Mourns at Candlelight Vigil Washington Post. Accessed 17 April 2007.
  113. ^ a b c d These totals includes the murderer or murderers. In the University of Texas shooting, different sources claim 15, 16 or 17 victim deaths. In the Bath disaster, 44 were killed by the bombs, with the killer's wife beaten to death earlier.
  114. ^ "Gunman ID'd as student; tests tie same gun to both attacks". New York Newsday. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  115. ^ "Shooter Identified as Cho Seung-Hui". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  116. ^ http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/first_gun_bough.html
  117. ^ Virginia Tech's ban on guns may draw legal fire
  118. ^ Gun bill gets shot down by panel
  119. ^ "Unarmed and vulnerable". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  120. ^ News Release: Nation Again Grieves Over A Tragedy Of Monumental Proportions, CNN, April 17.
  121. ^ Eight Years After Columbine, New York Times, April 17.
  122. ^ "Virginia Tech Shooting — Gun Bans Are The Problem, Not The Solution" by Ed Isler, The Conservative Voice, April 16, 2007, accessed April 17, 2007. Also "Second Amendment: designed for Virginia Tech" by Bryan Fischer, Renew America, April 17, 2007, accessed April 17, 2007.
  123. ^ A Killer in Blacksburg, Washington Post, April 17.
  124. ^ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003670021_webnagasaki17.html Mayor of Nagasaki assassinated by gangster],Seattle times,April 17.

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