By Vincent Mercogliano
On Monday morning at about 7:15, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior at Virginia Tech, opened fire and killed two students on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a coed dormitory. More than two hours later, at about 9:45 a.m., the gunman again opened fire across campus in the academic building Norris Hall, killing another 31 including himself, and wounding many others. It was the deadliest shooting incident in United States history with a total of 33 deaths.
Investigators have still not given a definitive motive, but information about Seung-Hui has begun to surface. An English major, Seung-Hui’s writing raised eyebrows among professors and classmates. Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the Virginia Tech’s English department, said Seung-Hui ‘s writing was so disturbing that he had been referred to the university’s counseling service. He was described by classmates as very quiet, and school spokesman, Larry Hincker, called him a “loner,” which makes it difficult to find out much about his personal life.
On Wednesday morning, NBC News announced that they had received a package from Seung-Hui containing photographs, video footage and a written passage. The pictures include images of him aiming handguns at the camera, while the video captures his reasoning and anger. The written passage expresses Seung-Hui’s hatred toward the wealthy and wrongs that have been done to him, although authorities claim the rant is difficult to follow.
The package was immediately turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which concluded that that package was put together within the two hour time period between the shootings.
“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today,” Seung-Hui said in the video. “But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”
Seung-Hui also talked about “martyrs like Eric and Dylan,” referring to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two students responsible for the Columbine shooting in 1999, which killed 15, including the two gunmen.
After the initial shooting in West Ambler Johnston dormitory, the police determined that it was an isolated incident and felt there was no threat of any further bloodshed. Although they had not caught the gunman, it was thought at first that he had fled. The school decided to allow classes that day to proceed as scheduled, and sent out precautionary e-mails to all students informing them of the shooting and asking them to report any suspicious activity. The e-mail was sent at approximately 9:26 a.m., about 20 minutes before the second shooting began.
Much criticism has been directed at school president Charles Steger, as well as the local police force for allowing classes to continue that day. “We can only make decisions based on the information [we] had at the time,” said Steger. “You don’t have hours to reflect on it.”
With classes going on as scheduled, Seung-Hui entered Norris Hall, chained certain doors to prevent students from escaping, and proceeded to open fire on students and faculty. Students jumped out of windows and turned over desks for protection as Seung-Hui went from classroom to classroom, leaving bodies scattered throughout the building. As police began to close in, the bloodshed was ended by Seung-Hui taking his own life.
Andy Lawlor, a sophomore at Virginia Tech from Ashburn, Va., was in class about a quarter of a mile away from Norris Hall at the time of the shooting spree. He says he was on his way to class that morning when he received a phone call from his roommate informing him of the first shooting. Not sure if classes had been canceled or not, he said he went to his class and found that his professor was proceeding as normal. During class, his professor announced that the building was on lockdown and no one could leave, but did not tell them a second shooting had occurred.
“Everyone’s jaw dropped,” he recalled. “It was horrifying.”
Eventually, the students were released and classes for the rest of the week have been canceled. Lawlor said he expected to stay at school, but also said it seemed most people intended to go home.
Investigators are investigating whether Seung-Hui acted alone, armed with a nine millimeter handgun and .26 caliber. The reaction around the country has been that of shock and terror, now called the “college-Columbine,” referencing the school shooting at a high school in Colorado in 1999 when 15 were killed, including the two gunmen.
Opinions around Hofstra’s campus about how officials at Virginia Tech handled the situation have been mixed.
Sophomore Brian McElwaine said, “The second there are gun shots things should be shut down, bottom line.”
Others say the finger should not be pointed at the university. “I don’t think the school was in the wrong, but they need to learn from what happened,” sophomore Sarah Petro said.
A vigil was conducted on the campus of Virginia Tech in the basketball arena Tuesday afternoon. Michael Cangiolosi, a sophomore at Virginia Tech from Arlington, Va., said he attempted to attend the event, but it was sold out early in the morning. He claims he has no problem with how the situation was handled by the school because there was no way to predict the second shooting spree.
“It’s going to be really hard to get back into the swing of things and even think about work,” he said. “I just think Tech is a great school and I hope this one incident doesn’t define the university.”
Lawlor echoed those same sentiments.
“It’s easy to look back and say what could have been done differently, but the president was in a tough position. It was a horrible, freak event but I’ve always felt safe here and I still believe this is a good place to go to school.”

