More details on Va. Tech tragedy revealed

By Jewels Phraner

Published April 20, 2007

As Virginia Tech begins to rebuild after the tragic acts of violence on April 16, more details have been revealed about Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech student responsible for the fatal shootings of 33 Virginia Tech students and faculty, including himself, as well as the media's role in reporting the incident.

Thursday afternoon, the Virginia Tech Web site posted information stating the Virginia State Police had closed its on-scene phase of its investigation. From this point, investigators on a local, state and federal level will be "evaluating, reviewing, re-reviewing and building a case to explain what, and as much possible, why this tragedy occurred," the Web site stated.

Investigators are also reviewing the contents of a package Cho sent to NBC News in the time between the murder of Ryan Clark and Emily Hilscher in West Ambler Johnston Hall and the second attack in Norris Hall.

According to an article on MSNBC.com, the package arrived at NBC headquarters in New York at 11 a.m. Wednesday when a letter carrier noticed the return address was from Blacksburg, Va. The return address stated the package came from A. Ishmael. Investigators said "Ismael Ax" was written on the gunman's arm.

According to the NBC Web site, the package contained an 1,800-word manifesto in which Cho expresses his anger toward the world but states no specific motive. NBC turned the original materials over to Virginia State Police.

"While there was some marginal value to the package we received, the fact of the matter is ... the package merely confirms what we already knew," said Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, the lead agency investigating the shootings, in a brief statement Thursday.

Although Flaherty said he was glad NBC made the decision to turn the contents over to police, he said he was rather disappointed in the editorial decision to broadcast the disturbing images.

Charles Davis, MU associate professor of journalism studies, said broadcasting the contents of the package was an ethically sound decision.

"Anything like that is not an easy call to make, but the justification is that the package contained a telling piece of evidence," he said.

When the media knows things, it is their responsibility to tell the public, Davis said.

"We don't hold back," he said.

In addition to reviewing the evidence, investigators are attempting to determine whether the shootings could have been prevented with more careful surveillance of Cho or through better emergency procedures at Virginia Tech.

According to a New York Times article, Cho had been ordered to a mental health facility in late 2005 for outpatient care. The university was aware that Cho had gone to the mental health facility, but after he was released, the university was not told whether Cho was a danger to himself or others.

Virginia Tech Counseling Center Director Chris Flynn said in a news conference Thursday that the court would not have released Cho if he were a danger at that time.

Campus Safety Magazine Executive Director Robin Gray said she wasn't sure if the acts of Cho could have been prevented.

"There's only so much a campus to do," Gray said. "If someone fully intends to do this, he or she can do it, but hindsight is 20-20 and we're hoping to take lessons from this tragedy and suggest actions other campuses can take to prevent this in the future."

Following the Virginia Tech attacks, other universities received threats to their own campuses.

The Associated Press reported that Missouri State University locked down a campus building Thursday when a professor received a threatening e-mail from 30-year-old student Christopher Suttles.

According to a Reuters report, the University of California Hastings College of the Law evacuated 300-400 students Wednesday after an Internet posting referring to Hastings and Virginia Tech.

At the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, eight buildings were also evacuated Wednesday because of a bomb threat, the article stated.

Some Virginia Tech alumni led the declaration of a national Orange and Maroon Effect day Friday, the Virginia Tech Web site stated.