Senseless Killing of 32 Students and Teachers

I, like all people with a heart, feel sick over the senseless killing of 32 innocent students and teachers at Virginia Tech. I can not imagine the pain that the families and loved ones are experiencing. I can never fully comprehend how one person is able to cause such suffering.

My earlier thought was that How could anyone have guessed that this quite student had that much rage and such a careful put to kill all in his sights. However the more I read the clearer it becomes that not only were there warning signs, there were virtual Neon signs pointing to the danger this man represented.

It was more than a year ago that Cho Seung-Hui was accused of stalking two female students. According to the Virginia Tech Web Site,The first was Nov. 27, 2005, Cho contacted a female student through phone calls and in person. The student notified the Virginia Tech Police Department, and declined to press charges. However, Officers spoke with Cho concerning this matter, and the investigating officer referred Cho to the University disciplinary system. The second time that a stalking incident occurred was Dec. 12, 2005, Cho instant messaged a second female student. She made a complaint to Virginia Tech Police. In both instances there was never any direct threat made. Later that day police received a call from an acquaintance of Cho’s who was concerned that Cho might have been suicidal. Officers again met with Cho and talked with him at length. Virginia Tech Police Chief Flinchum said. they considered the messages "annoying," not threatening,Cho was however asked to speak to a counselor, after meeting with Cho, the counselor was so concerned that a temporary detention order was obtained and Cho was taken to, Carilion Saint Albans Behavioral Health Center. a mental health facility.

If that was not sufficient warning signs, his teachers began getting repeated complaints from others students in his classes. One of his teachers, poet Nikki Giovanni, said her students were so rattled by Cho's behavior, that some stopped coming to class altogether. Students complained of him taking pictures of them with his cell phone,and the violent nature of his writings. Ms. Giovanni called security to check on her room. She eventually threatened to quit if he wasn't removed from her class.

"I know we're talking about a youngster, but troubled youngsters get drunk and jump off buildings," she said. "There was something mean about this boy. It was the meanness - I've taught troubled youngsters and crazy people - it was the meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak that was intimidating,"

Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after he was removed from class. She said she tried to get him into counseling starting in late 2005 but he always refused. She became so concerned that she went repeatedly to university officials, and when told they could do nothing, she went to the Virginia Tech Police regarding Cho and his course writing assignments.

"He was so distant and so lonely," she told ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "It was almost like talking to a hole, as though he wasn't there most of the time. He wore sunglasses and his hat very low so it was hard to see his face."

So the question is, how was a person with such a detailed history of mental illness able to go into a gun store and in the same day buy a 9mm Glock semi-automatic and a second gun, extra clips and a large quantity of ammunition?

If there was ever a example of a person that should have been asked to wait 5 days for a background check, this is the one. Clearly the blame falls on the head of Cho Seung-Hui, he was the sick individual that carried out this way of terror. That said the system must do a better job of protecting us from this kind of bloodshed. He was a ticking bomb, a lot of people knew it, to steps to warn and get the guy the help he clearly needed, but the system let us all down. The school let him stay, the police had no power to hold him and the Virginia laws allowed a man with a track record of violent writings, stalking charges and obvious mental illness buy a stock pile of weapons.