33 Dead, 15 Wounded On The Campus Of Virginia Tech University Today

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1247179' date='Apr 17 2007, 03:49 PM']They need to FIRE the president, police chief and the counselors and english teachers who did not do anything.

Yes, it was the same killer in both spots.

Yes, you made a mistake by letting TWO hours go before sending out any word.

Yes, you failed to protect the students by letting them walk into their own sentence unknownly.

Yes, it was all because you did not want to cause your school more scandal by its insecurities and incapabilities to provide a safe environment for your students, and left them defenseless against a killer.

I'm angry at these people. All they've given us is excuses and excuses.

Lord, have mercy on them[/quote]

The president and police chiefs were simply doing their jobs. You don't expect what appears to be a case of domestic violence [ which is tragic] to become mass murder. The original crime scene had to be investigated and analysed. This takes TIME.
It appeared to be confined to one dorm and those people were told. The sad fact is 1400 kids die a year ODing and 1000+ commit suicides at college. THis appeared to be NO DIFFERENT.
There are 100 buildings on 2800 acres with 28,000 students, 7000 employees, and about 2000 visitors there at any one time. Most of those people not living on campus would have been commuting in the hour after the dorm tragedy. What would you have the school do? Have 35,000 people milling around outside of buildings being a perfect target for any gunman with a high powered rifle?
Hindsight is 20/20, and armchair blaming is easy. Prayers and clear thinking produce much better results.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='morostheos' post='1247216' date='Apr 17 2007, 04:27 PM']Virginia Tech is a public, state university, not a Catholic one. It is in an area where about 2% of the population is Catholic, so that's probably why you don't see a priest there. There are a lot of Catholics on the campus though, and a campus ministry.

Edit: They no longer have a priest for a campus minister, because of the priest shortage in the diocese, so the lady you saw is probably the Catholic campus minister.[/quote]
There was a muslim, buddhist, jew, and lutheran speaking.

[Socrates]

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.


I don't think this should be an occasion for bickering or political posturing, but of prayer for the victims. What this kid did was a heinous crime and completely inexcusable. We should pray for his soul, but what he did was ultimately his fault, so let's not run around figuring who else to blame for it. (Though I fear in our increasingly godless and nihilistic society, such things will only become more common.)

I had been down to Blacksburg/VA Tech for the first time a few months ago to visit someone, so somehow this felt more close to home in a way. (And the killer came from Centreville in NoVa less than an hour away from here, where my sister currently lives.)

[littleflower+JMJ]

I guess this wasn't the thread to make the comment in, my apologies, it was done with no bad intention....

Everyone at VTech has my prayers.

I've been praying extra hard for them, they have alot of healing to do.

may the perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace....

[Socrates]

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1247589' date='Apr 17 2007, 08:34 PM']I guess this wasn't the thread to make the comment in, my apologies, it was done with no bad intention.... and out of respect will not comment on the topic.

Everyone at VTech has my prayers.

I've been praying extra hard for them, they have alot of healing to do.

may the perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace....[/quote]
My post wasn't referring specifically to yours - it was just than in general this thread seemed on the verge of turning into a debate; and I know the politicians will use it as an opportunity for promoting gun control and such - just was pointing out that the tone of this particular thread should be reflective and prayerful, and the debates should go on the debate table.

[cmotherofpirl]

[url="http://www.collegemedia.com/stories/417-300am-none.html"]http://www.collegemedia.com/stories/417-300am-none.html[/url]

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='littleflower+JMJ' post='1247179' date='Apr 17 2007, 02:49 PM']They need to FIRE the president, police chief and the counselors and english teachers who did not do anything.

Yes, it was the same killer in both spots.

Yes, you made a mistake by letting TWO hours go before sending out any word.

Yes, you failed to protect the students by letting them walk into their own sentence unknownly.

Yes, it was all because you did not want to cause your school more scandal by its insecurities and incapabilities to provide a safe environment for your students, and left them defenseless against a killer.

I'm angry at these people. All they've given us is excuses and excuses.

Lord, have mercy on them[/quote]
Hindsight is 20/20. It's easy to point fingers at the authorities who "should have" done something. But really, what could they have done? The guy was an adult. The university did not have any place to go to his parents. And people can't be arrested for writing disturbing things (as much as we would like to turn back the clock and make that happen....)

[N/A Gone]

This is pretty big

[url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776/?GT1=9246"]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776/?GT1=9246[/url]

[alicemary]

How difficult it is to watch these videos. And how frightening. May the good Lord begin to heal the wounds of all those suffering.

[Birgitta Noel]

Yes, I watched them on the NBC evening news when they first aired them. May God have mercy on his soul.

[Resurrexi]

Requiescant in pace.

[cappie]

In the aftermath of the worst university massacre in US history, survivors and families in grieving have turned to God for comfort and support.

With scores of prayer vigils ongoing throughout churches in Virginia, US, students have come forward with a clear message that God is with those in need at this difficult time.

Megan Martin, 24, was with two-dozen fellow students travelling to a prayer vigil on campus when she told reporters, “God cares about Virginia Tech."

Many others in the devastated university carried placards saying ‘Jesus loves you’, ‘God knows and He cares’, and ‘Can we pray with you?’

A memorial service took place Tuesday with US President George Bush telling those hurting to unite in prayer. He urged students to persevere in hope, and to comfort one another with prayers as they struggled to come to terms with the shocking events.

Offering comfort in a biblical message to the residents of Blacksburg, a Bible Belt town in southwest Virginia, President Bush stated: “As the scripture tells us, don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”


On a day when a clearer picture of what had happened developed rapidly, the community was left in disbelief as they found out it was a fellow student that had carried out the atrocities. South Korean-born Cho Seung-Hui, 23, and English literature student, was named as the only known shooter in the tragedy which killed 33 students, including Cho himself.

Students have attempted to deal with their grief by creating a number of memorials throughout the campus area in remembrance of the dead. One memorial left for victim Jarrett Lane, an engineering student read: “God bless you Jarrett, your family, friends, and all of the victims and those around you. Enjoy the Lord's kingdom.”

At the same memorial another note left a quote from the Bible: "Be strong and courageous, Do not be terrified; for the Lord God is with you wherever you go.”

The reaction from the churches around the shattered community has been one of compassion, with churches all over Blacksburg leaving their doors open welcoming those in need of refuge, prayer and comfort.

Following a prayer vigil at St Francis Anglican Church 22-year-old Adam Henry testified: “You've got to keep your focus on faith.”

[goldenchild17]

What I don't get is how the warning signs are so often ignored. I'm all for a person expressing themselves in interesting ways, but the reports of some of this dude's "creative writing" pieces is beyond disturbing to me. I can understand that these things can often, most times, be overlooked because a lot of times these types of writings are private diaries/journals/whatever else. But from what I'm seeing, these works of his were previously known about and some had even been turned in as class assignments. I'm not sure what should be done in a situation like that, but I would think that it's time to start thinking about it.

[alicemary]

If you know anything about how our mentally ill are treated you will understand how this man slipped through the cracks. It happens all the time. The fact that a man who has spent time in treatment for mental illness and stalking can so easily obtain a gun is absolutely frightening to me.
As to his writings, how can we complain about that when people line up to see such movies as The chainsaw massacre and the like. When video games contain gratutous violence and are well played by the masses. Our society is inherently violent and seeks it out. And that is indeed a sad commentary.
Tommorrow we will all be wearing Tech colors and I ask that you do also. At noon is a national moment of silence for all those involved. And hopefully the healing will continue.

[Ash Wednesday]

I watched this kid's video -- I just don't know what to make of it at all. It's just completely incomprehensible to me.