Shooter, 23, identified
By Sara Taylor
April 17, 2007 10:35 p.m.
Following Monday’s shooting at Virginia Tech ““ the deadliest such incident in the nation’s history ““ students at the Blacksburg, Va., campus mourned as details of the events became clearer.
Police identified the shooter ““ Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old student ““ and released some of the names of the victims.
On Monday morning, there were two shootings on the Virginia Tech campus ““ one at a dormitory and one at a classroom building. Counting Cho, who took his own life, 33 people were killed, including professors and students.
And though UCLA students mostly went about their business as usual on Tuesday, a glance up at the flag flying near Royce Hall or a quick skim of recent updates on Facebook showed that things were not quite normal.
Flags across the nation were lowered to half-mast as per President Bush’s order, a candlelight vigil was planned for Thursday night, and the news of the shooting lingered in students’ thoughts.
“It’s something in the back of your mind ““ if that can happen at that university, it can happen here as well,” said Shawn Do, a fourth-year statistics and math applied science student.
“All students really relate ““ a student walked around and killed other students,” he said.
Though investigators did not say for certain that Cho was the shooter in both attacks, they were able to determine that one of the two guns was used both in locations.
Cho, who came to the United States from South Korea in 1992, seems to have had few friends, and even his roommates reported knowing little about him. But several pieces of evidence which are now being viewed as warning signs have surfaced, namely writings some professors and students characterized as disturbing and violent.
One screenplay he wrote about a fight between a stepson and a stepfather included an attack with a chain saw, and another depicted students fantasizing about stalking and killing a teacher who had molested them.
He once turned in a creative writing assignment so disturbing that he had been referred to counseling services, professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the Virginia Tech English department, told the Associated Press.
Some of the names of the victims ““ as well as their stories of heroism ““ also came out Tuesday.
One of the first people to be killed was Ryan Clark, a member of the marching band and a resident adviser who was shot during the first shooting.
Another victim was a professor, a Holocaust survivor who was apparently killed after he protected students’ lives by blocking the door of his classroom, preventing the gunman from entering.
And another was Emily Jane Hilscher, a freshman who loved animals, especially horses.
Professors at UCLA opened their lectures with words of sympathy for these victims and those who knew them. Many students used Facebook to express their emotions.
Some students changed their profile pictures to the Virginia Tech logo over a black ribbon, and others changed their statuses to include such phrases as “praying for those at Virginia Tech” or “sending … love out to all those who were affected from the shooting at Virginia Tech.”
Hundreds of Facebook groups were started in the last two days, some at UCLA, expressing sympathy and solidarity.
Nationwide, the shooting has brought up several issues ““ should lawmakers consider more strict gun-control laws? Should the local police and university have reacted more quickly? Should the perpetrator’s friends and professors have responded to what are now seen as clear warning signs that something was wrong?
But UCLA students focused on two questions ““ how different is UCLA from Virginia Tech? And what happened during the two hours that passed before the campus was notified of the first shooting?
“What devastates us … is the two-hour gap between the shootings,” said Lily Huynh, a second-year neuroscience student.
And though Huynh commented that there was really likely no way to prevent such an event as what happened at Virginia Tech on Monday, she was not the only one who expressed concern about the university’s response.
“Why didn’t anyone know about (the shooting)?” asked Angelica Andersson, a second-year economics student. “It could have been prevented.”
But what others focused on was the bond between students at UCLA and students at Virginia Tech.
Jesse Rogel, the chief of staff of the Undergraduate Students Association Council President’s Office, which is planning the vigil, said the event was meant to show support for Virginia Tech, as well as give students at UCLA an opportunity to express their grief.
He said the vigil is tentatively set for 8:00 p.m. on Thursday in De Neve Plaza.
“It’s for everyone on campus to come together and show our respect to Virginia Tech as fellow colleagues,” Rogel said. “We’re all students.”
