Update: 10:50 a.m.
I was in a meeting, so updates from the last press briefing are a little late. Here are the details I gleaned while keeping one eye on the meeting and one eye on the news conference:
The shooter at yesterday's Virginia Tech Massacre has been identified as Cho Seung-Hui (or Seung-Hui Cho; Cho is the surname). He was a 23 year old native of South Korea. Cho was in the US on an F1 student visa, studying English at Virgina Tech. He was a senior whose address lead to an apartment in Centreville, VA. At VTech, Cho was living in suite 2121 at the Harper Hall dorm.
Police have matched fingerprints and ballistics evidence to both shootings -- and to Cho Seung-Hui. They have also obtained a receipt for the purchase of a 9mm Glock handgun in March of this year. At this point, I have not heard anything about the purchase or ownership of the other gun used in the killing spree -- a Walther P22 .22 caliber pistol.
EDITORIAL: I would wager that police will end up finding a history of violent media as the mainstay of this demon's existence -- in violent video games, horror movies or extreme music such as gangsta rap or goth/death metal. Seung-Hui Cho (pronounced Sung Hue-wee Shoo) didn't just flip out and kill Emily Hilscher, and her West AJ dorm RA, Ryan Clark -- and then brood for almost two hours before heading over to Norris Hall to open fire on more than 40 other people. There is something deeper that an act of "passion" here. Cho's violence shows a rage that is not even close to normal in sane people. There is also evidence that the massacre was premeditated -- and at least partially planned over a period of more than 10 days.
UPDATE: A scrubbed Washington Post article from 4/17/07 stated, "...Several Korean youths who knew Cho Seung Hui from his high school days said he was a fan of violent video games, particularly Counterstrike, a hugely popular online game, in which players join terrorism or counterterrorism groups and try to shoot each other using..."
Since the text has been scrubbed from the original article, I did some investigating to make sure it was originally there. Here is what I found:
Washington Post Search Engine
Counter-Strike & Va. Tech
I wonder why the Post decided to redact the text -- possibly because they didn't want to show a link between violent media and violence acted out?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Manifestation of EVIL: Cho Seung-Hui
Massacre At Virginia Tech: Last Update for Tonight
Update: 2:31 a.m.
Additionally, MSNBC is currently reporting that one of the weapons was a .22 caliber and the other was a 44 Magnum, not a 9mm handgun, as widely stated. I guess we'll have to wait to see which is correct.
BTW, NBC has already started the blame game -- by interviewing some dweeb on "Massacre at Virgina Tech" -- airing as I type. Whodathunkit?!?
Monday, April 16, 2007
Chinese National Named VTech Massacre Killer
Update: 11:45 p.m. (Revised)
The gunman apparently brought the chains used to lock doors in Norris Hall on campus with him. He was a 20-something, six foot tall, Chinese man toting a 9mm handgun with at least one high capacity clip, along with a .22 caliber pistol. It is also now known that the shooter brought additional ammunition with him -- as noted by multiple student witnesses.
At least two people (Chief Flinchum and a Sun Times reporter) now say they have the name of this person, but will not yet release it to the public. The man, who was reportedly NOT a VTech student, was in the US on an F1 visa (aka student visa).
Federal authorities are saying that they still cannot definitively tie the West AJ murders to the Norris Hall massacre. I'm starting to believe, more and more, that the two scenes are unrelated. However, the facts are easy enough to establish. a) Did the murdered girl in West AJ know the Chinese man at Norris Hall? b) Who did witnesses see in the dorm? c) Who is the person of interest the Blacksburg police talked to this morning? d) Can he be quickly linked to either the Chinese gunman at Norris or the young woman at West Ambler Johnston?
FOX News is reporting that the Chinese man has a page on Facebook.com. On his profile, there are pictures of him holding several weapons. We are NOT sure the Facebook.com person is the SAME PERSON who massacred 30+ people today. However, if the profile does show the shooter, the situation is even more disturbing.
Virginia Tech Massacre: Gunman's Identity Coming to Light
Update: 9:45 p.m. (Revised)
The 24-year-old man arrived in San Francisco on United Airlines on August 7 on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said.His name has not yet been released, but more information is coming to light as the hours pass.
Before opening fire in Norris Hall, he first went to Randolph Hall. At this point, there are no reports that he harmed anyone there. The gunman murdered dozens of students before turning the gun on himself. Local law enforcement say that a .22 caliber pistol and a 9mm handgun were recovered at the scene.
No identification was found on the gunman's body, police said. Eyewitnesses described him as an Asian male about 6 feet tall. He apparently shot himself in the head after the killings; part of his face was missing when his body was found.
VICTIM STATUS: Most of the victims have been identified. Many of the bodies of those who died in Norris Hall have been removed from the building. Death notifications are being handled right now.
My question -- Why has the gunman's vehicle not been located yet?
Official Death Toll in Virginia Tech Massacre Is Now 32 Dead
Update: 2:25 p.m.
Eye witnesses are telling news organizations that a professor who was shot in the face died at the scene in Norris Hall. Others report that the shooter had an automatic long gun, a shotgun and two 9mm handguns -- one of which he used on himself during a gunfight with police.
Witnesses say they heard between 40 and 50 shots as they scurried from the engineering building. The shooter was wearing a vest covered in clips was just unloading on their door, going from classroom to classroom … they said it never seemed like it was going to stop and there was just blood all over.
Other people (including reporters) are already speculating on a connection between last week's bomb threats and this morning's massacre. The first was directed at Torgersen Hall, a classroom and laboratory building, while the second was directed at multiple engineering buildings.
Update: 2:00 p.m.
The death toll now OFFICIALLY stands at 32 people dead as a result of what is thought to be a lone gunman going on a rampage at Virginia Tech. Add the number of dead to the reports of 29 who were wounded, and the total of people injured or killed is more than 60.
Robert Bowman, Managing Editor of The Collegiate Times (CT), says that the prevalent rumor on campus is that the (reported) Asian gunman killed himself when confronted by law enforcement officers at Norris Hall. BTW, the Asian man being shown on news outlets (face down and handcuffed), is NOT the gunman. He is a reporter for CT.
Another rumor going around campus is that the shooter was looking for his girlfriend -- quite possibly at her dorm (West AJ) and later at class in Norris Hall.
Update: 12:55 p.m.
The twenty-two dead are as follows:
- One dead from shooting on 4th floor of West AJ dorm. Another person was shot in the dorm, but was not killed.
- Twenty dead from classroom numbers 205 & 206 at Norris Hall.
- The gunman is reportedly dead, as well.
