Kendall Giles

News reports are still coming in, but it looks as though today's shooting spree at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Virginia, may be one of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history. The death toll is up to 30 students and faculty killed. From University President Charles Steger:

The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions. There were two shootings on campus. In each case, there were fatalities. The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus. I want to extend my deepest, sincerest and most profound sympathies to the families of these victims which include students.

Technorati Tags: academia, defense, security, virginia

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, defense, guns, living, security, virginia

The killer of yesterday's massacre at Virginia Tech has been identified as Cho Seung-hui, 23, a native of South Korea and in the US as a resident alien.

Evidently he was an English major at Tech. A former classmate commented on a playwriting class with Cho:

When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.

After hearing about the mass shootings, I sent one of my friends a Facebook message asking him if he knew anything about Seung Cho and if he could have been involved. He replied: "dude that's EXACTLY what I was thinking! No, I haven't heard anything, but seriously, that was the first thing I thought when I heard he was Asian."

Technorati Tags: academia, living, virginia