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Aprii 18, 2007
Virginia Tech Gunman Known To Be Disturbed
Neighborhood
Has the mass killing at VirginiaTeeh reinforced or
changed your opinion on gun violence in America?
The government needs to find a
way to monitor who has access
to guns because it’s too easy.
You can go buy one right now
for $50 bucks on the street.
—Anthony H uff
It's easier for students to
get guns, so it’s not a
surprise that this happened.
Campus security needs to
take action and have tasers.
The guns are for the police.
-Gloria Gong
It hasn't changed my perspective.
It’s been a problem for a long time.
Guns are a necessity and people
should be able to have them.
-Bryce Schneider
Columbine was the starting point
and you would think it would
have stopped after that. Some­
one needs to step up because
killing 33 people is crazy and
makes no sense.
—Sharee Robinson
People are going to get guns. This is
America. There are people who are
responsible with guns and those who
aren't. The NRA (National Rifle
Association) pushes the right to bear
arms and they are influential.
—Haneef Rasheed
by
School work
offered early
warning
(AP) - The gunman sus­
pected of carrying out the Vir­
ginia Tech massacre that left
33 people dead was described
T uesday as a sullen loner
whose creative writing in En­
glish class was so disturbing
that he was referred to the
school’s counseling service.
News reports also said that
he may have been taking medi­
cation for depression, that he
was becom ing increasingly
violent and erratic, and that he
left a note in his dorm in which
he railed against "rich kids,”
“debauchery” and “deceitful
charlatans” on campus.
Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-
old senior majoring in English,
arrived in the United States as
boy from South Korea in 1992
and was raised in suburban
W ashington, D.C., officials
said. He was living on campus
in a different dorm from the
one where M onday’s blood­
bath began.
Police and university offi­
cials offered no clues as to
exactly what set him off on
the deadliest shooting rampage
in modern U.S. history.
“He was a loner, and we're
having difficulty finding infor­
m ation about him ,” school
spokesman Larry Hincker said.
Professor C arolyn Rude,
chairwoman of the university’s
English department, said she
did not personally know the
gunm an. But she said she
spoke with Lucinda Roy, the
departm ent’s director o f cre­
ative writing, who had Cho in
one o f her classes and de-
wearing a hat and
seldom participat­
ing. In a small de­
partment, Cho dis­
tinguished him self
for being anony­
mous. "He didn’t
reach out to any­
o n e. He n e v e r
talked,” Poole said.
“We just really
knew him as the
question mark kid,”
Poole said.
T h e ra m p a g e
co n sisted o f two
attacks, more than
two hours apart —
first at a dormitory,
Students console each other after a memorial service at Virginia Tech
where two people
University in Blacksburg, Va., the site o f Monday's m a ss murder shoot
were killed, then
¡ng spree.
inside a classroom
building,
where
31 people, in­
scribed him as “troubled.”
cluding Cho, died after being
“There was some concern
locked inside, Virginia State
about him,” Rude said. “Some­
Police said. Cho com m itted
times, in creative writing, people
suicide;
two handguns — a 9
reveal things and you never
mm and a ,22-caliber — were
know ifit’screative or if they’re
found in the classroom build­
describing things, if they’re imag­
ing.
ining things or just how real it
One law enforcem ent offi­
might be. But we’re all alert to Cho Seung-Hui
cial said C ho’s backpack con­
not ignore things like this.”
tained a receipt for a March
She said Cho was referred caused me to do this.”
Classm
ates
said
that
on
the
purchase of a Glock 9 mm
to the counseling service, but
first
day
of
an
introduction
to
pistol. Cho held a green card,
she said she did not know
when, or what the outcome B ritish literature class last meaning he was a legal, per­
was. Rude refused to release year, the 30 or so English stu­ manent resident, federal offi­
any o f his w ritings or his dents went around and intro­ cials said. That meant he was
duced them selves. W hen it eligible to buy a handgun un­
grades, citing privacy laws.
TheChicagoTribune reported was C h o ’s turn, he d id n ’t less he had been convicted of
a felony.
on its Web site that he left a note speak.
The
professor
looked
at
the
Investigators stopped short of
in his dorm room that included a
rambling list of grievances. Cit­ sign-in sheet and, where ev­ saying Cho carried out both at­
ing unidentified sources, the eryone else had written their tacks. But ballistics tests show
Tribune said he had recently nam es, C ho had w ritten a one gun was used in both, Vir­
shown troubling signs, including question mark. “ Is your name, ginia State Police said.
And two law enforcement
setting a fire in a dorm room and Question m ark?’” classmate
Julie
Poole
recalled
the
pro­
officials,
speaking on condition
stalking some women.
fessor
asking.
The
young
man
of
anonymity
because the infor­
A BC, citing law enforcement
mation had not been announced,
sources, reported that the note, offered little response.
Cho spent much of that class said C ho’s fingerprints were
several pages long, explains
Cho’s actions and says, “You sitting in the back of the room, found on both guns.
N icole R onal H im , per and M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
No Rush on Stricter Gun Control
OUTH
UTURE
join us for an honest dialogue
about what works in preventing
sexually transmitted disease, HIV
infection, and teen pregnancy in
African American communities.
(AP) - After the worst mass
shooting in U.S. history. Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reideau-
tioned Tuesday against a "rush
tojudgment" on stricter gun con­
trol. A leading House supporter
of restrictions on firearms con­
ceded passage of legislation
would be difficult.
"I think we ought to be think­
ing about the fam ilies and the
victim s and not sp ecu late
about future legislative battles
that might lie ahead," said Reid,
a view expressed by other
Dem ocratic leaders the day
after the shootings that left 33
dead on the campus of Vir­ U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid
ginia Tech.
Democrats traditionally have
been in the forefront of efforts
to pass gun control legislation,
but there is a widespread per­
ception among political strate­
gists that the issue has been a
loser in recent campaigns. It
was notably absent from the
agenda Reid and House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi unveiled earlier
this year when the party took
control of the House and Senate
for the first time in more than a
decade.
But in the wake of the Vir­
ginia Tech shootings, a few
Democrats renewed the call for
gun control legislation, and more
are expected to join them.
___________ THE____________
SPINAlCOLUMN
Wednesday, April 25
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Gathering, drumming,
and dinner will begin
at 5:30 p.m.
Admission is free.
Friends of the Children
65 NE Stanton
Portland, OR
503.849.3633
African American
Sponsoring
Alliance, Center for
organizations Health Training, 503
Youth Health Coalition,
include: Brother Brother, Cascade AIDS
Project, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Inc., Healthy Birth Initiatives, International Center for
Traditional Childbearing, Multnomah County Health
Department, Next Generation of Leaders, Oregon
Commission on Children and Families, Oregon Department
of Human Services, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia
Willamette, Portland Black Colleges Committee Inc., The
Portland Chapter of The Links Inc., PSU Black Studies,
Self Enhancement, Inc., The Urban League of Portland,
and Vancouver Avenue Missionary Baptist Church.
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