OT:The actual e-mails sent out to the Virginia students

[*Laura]

E-mail was the way chosen by the Virginia Tech administration to alert the students about the guman.

Some are starting to wonder if this was the right/best way to warn students... What about students who didn't check their email?
IMO,the administration should have done much more than just send out e-mails.
Some extra security measures outdoors,in the classrooms and dorms may have prevented that maniac to get that close to the other students.
It just seems that he had the liberty to walk around without being suspected...

Truly sad.

These are the e-mails that were sent to approximately 36.000 students and staff,starting at about two hours after the initial shooting of two students in the dormitory hall.


9:26 am

A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating.

The university community is urged to be cautious and are asked to contact Virginia Tech Police if you observe anything suspicious or with information on the case. Contact Virginia Tech Police.

Stay attuned to the www.vt.edu. We will post as soon as we have more information.

—

9:50 am

A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.

—

10:16 am

Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where there (sic) are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus.

—

10:52 am

In addition to an earlier shooting today in West Ambler Johnston, there has been a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall.

Police and EMS are on the scene.

Police have one shooter in custody and as part of routine police procedure, they continue to search for a second shooter.

All people in university buildings are required to stay inside until further notice.

All entrances to campus are closed.

[Natalie]

What a tragedy indeed. We have to remember that we are reading these emails in hind sight. No one could have known that this sick person would have gone on to kill so many people. It would have been reasonable to believe that the first shooting was an isolated incident that would not warrant closing down the entire campus. We should not read them and harshly judge the officials for not creating a panic over the first shooting incident. I think they handled it in the best way possible with the information they had available at the time.

[Jeremey]

I'm not defending or second guessing the actions of the University at all - But here's something to consider. Your Geraldo Rivera-types are all over the airwaves trying to make something of the 2 hour window between the first shooting and the rampage in Norris Hall. Consider that the 911 call came in from West AJ at 7:15 - With response from the cops coming in about 15 minutes, then taking even a lightening speed of 20 minutes to assess the situation, and you're already almost 8 am. Now they realize they have a shooter somewhere, and the police need to get that information out to school officials. Phone calls are made, meetings are held - Perhaps now it's 8:30 and word has gone out to officials about what they're dealing with - We're only an hour beyond the time the cops initially showed up. In the meantime, they've LOCKED DOWN an entire building with 7 stories and 900 students. Cops have located the boyfriend off campus and brought him in for questioning. Witnesses say 50 cops are surrounding West AJ at this point. Washington Drive - The street the dorm is located on - Is already closed down.

Now let's say the University decides to err on the side of caution. There could be a gunman loose - Say they decide to close down the campus. However, this isn't a residential campus with an iron gate, 3 dorms, a cafeteria and an administrative building. This is an open campus spread over the area of the entire town. How much time does it take to shut down what is basically a town - Say the size of Lima, Ohio. What if it was a town? What if Lima, OH (not picking on you, Lima, it's just that you're about the same size as the VT population) had a gunman loose? Say at 8:45 they decide to shut everything down. Do they bring in the National Guard? Do they do a Fugitive-style search of every outhouse, doghouse, henhouse and waffle house to search for any possible other suspects (keep in mind they've already got the boyfriend in custody for questioning)...How long would that take? Hours - MANY hours.

So what do they do. Is it feasible to shut down a "town?" Well, let's say by now it's 8:50, and they've decided to alert the population about what's going on. Broadcast messages to all campus phones. Alert the media. Blast out 30,000 emails to all students to let them know what's happened, based on the information available at the time. It's 9:26 AM. Unfortunately some maniac is already wrapping chains around the doors of Norris Hall and moving through the building.

I guess my point is to think about what the police and administration had to work with. The assumptions they had to make based on all the information they had at that time - And truly the most time-effective method of getting that information out. Even closing down a high school would take an hour. Closing down what is essentially a small town - One without gates, one with Main Street running through it's heart, with residential streets lining the campus - it's easy to second guess, but the reality of the situation is that something of this magnitude has never happened before in the history of the country. And in Blacksburg Virginia?! What small decisions weren't made that could have saved a life? There's no way to know, but truly the administration and campus was as shocked and unprepared as the rest of the world.

[Carlitto H@kk]

It's really easy to tak about "woulda, coulda, shouldas" now because that's what hindsight allows us to do.
The fact that there are creeps out there like your Geraldos that make a living and LOTS of money basically
spewing their self-righteous hindsight is nauseating.
Like Jeremy said, 'locking down' a campus of that size is basically like trying to lock down
an entire city. I've been to Blacksburg (my wife went to Radford just down the road) and I know that
the campus and city law enforcement combined do not have the resources to do something that immense
in a matter of 2-3 hours. I think, in hindsight, that campus officials and the local law enforcement did the best they could in the time-frame they were dealing wih. Honestly, what could they have really done?
this was a terrible tragedy and I hope the media doesn't go into a frenzy berating the campus and local officials for "not prpoperly protecting these students". That is assinine. Let this community heal. There is only one person to blame in this affair and, thankfully, he is now deceased.

[Red13JoePa]

I hope the media doesn't go into a frenzy berating the campus and local officials for "not prpoperly protecting these students". That is assinine.

Agreed.
I sort of think the emails were but one of many forms of warning communications they sent.

[chf34jmac]

Sadly, the media has already started to attack the college and the cops for the way things were handled. My father was a cop with 40 years of service and in speaking with him last night, he said that what else could the police have done. The initial call came in to the AJ hall and the shooting was over by the time they got there. Based on information that none of us know they made a logical assumption that the shooter hauled ass off campus and out of the area of the campus. No one could have or should have expected him to stay on campus and wander into another building and continue on 2 hours later. Most sane people say oh shit what did I do immediately following shooting someone and feel remorse. This young man for a reason we'll never know maintained that rage for 2 more hours and the cost of his rage is uncalculable. Besides, how do you completely lock down a wide open campus?

I thought this was an acceptable explanation from my dad.

[*Laura]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.I guess I have a natural human reaction to this tragedy by wishing that someone could have done something more to prevent/avoid the tragic loss of human lives.
Of course that I am looking at this in hindsight,trying to find a logical explanation to the way things were handled.
I agree with the way Jeremey explained things,it sure makes sense.I also agree that the shoulda,woulda,coulda talk won't bring back those poor souls...
Still,I cannot stop thinking that maybe something more coulda,yes,coulda been done.

I am pretty sure that the media will not blame the Tech admins for not doing there job properly.The media is just asking some questions which will probably receive many different answers.
Not here to judge anyone,just wondering and expressing an opinion.

[nutz4Neal]

Like Jeremy said, 'locking down' a campus of that size is basically like trying to lock downan entire city.
Honestly, what could they have really done?
this was a terrible tragedy and I hope the media doesn't go into a frenzy berating the campus and local officials for "not prpoperly protecting these students".

Agree with you both..what else could have been done, especially from a police force the size of the VT campus force..I'm sure they did the best they could do.

[*Laura]

Just a note...This is major news in Romania.
The entire media is focused on this tragedy,not only because my country is totally pro-American and we are sensitive to any tragic events in which American lives are lost,but also because ,like I said in another thread,one of the victims was a Romanian native professor who graduated in my country. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_mi_ea/virginia_tech_world_victims)

All this combined has touched me in more ways than I thought. Perhaps I should not comment on this anymore.

[Jeremey]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.I guess I have a natural human reaction to this tragedy by wishing that someone could have done something more to prevent/avoid the tragic loss of human lives.
Of course that I am looking at this in hindsight,trying to find a logical explanation to the way things were handled.
I agree with the way Jeremey explained things,it sure makes sense.I also agree that the shoulda,woulda,coulda talk won't bring back those poor souls...
Still,I cannot stop thinking that maybe something more coulda,yes,coulda been done.

I am pretty sure that the media will not blame the Tech admins for not doing there job properly.The media is just asking some questions which will probably receive many different answers.
Not here to judge anyone,just wondering and expressing an opinion.

You didn't offend this person! Sorry if I came off a little cranky, I just wanted to put the whole situation in perspective from a security standpoint.

[nutz4Neal]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.I guess I have a natural human reaction to this tragedy by wishing that someone could have done something more to prevent/avoid the tragic loss of human lives.
Of course that I am looking at this in hindsight,trying to find a logical explanation to the way things were handled.
I agree with the way Jeremey explained things,it sure makes sense.I also agree that the shoulda,woulda,coulda talk won't bring back those poor souls...
Still,I cannot stop thinking that maybe something more coulda,yes,coulda been done.

Shania, I don't think you offended anyone, surely not me anyway. Most everyone is experiencing the same thoughts as you are today, we all wonder about how things were handled and hope to God this will be a learning experience for the future.

[kgdjpubs]

In time, the details and more information will become available, but to me, this is sounding like a well-planned attack by a seriously disturbed person. Whether it was planned that way or not, the shootings at the dorm tied up all the local police, giving the guy time to lock down another building on the other side of campus. My guess is that this whole thing was planned out, and not a spur-of the-moment incident.

The real issue that everyone will struggle with is that it is VERY difficult to provide protection against someone who is willing to give their life for whatever they are trying to accomplish--bomb, guns, or whatever. It is difficult enough for a one-day special event (ie visititation of the President)--it's almost impossible to secure a college campus that deals with 20,000 students on a daily basis and spans several miles.

This isn't the time to criticize the university either, as nobody would have predicted what would unfold after the attack on the residence hall. At the same time, it isn't practical to have full-body searches on a daily basis at the entrance to every college in the country. There will always be a way to get guns, a bomb or some other destructive device onto a campus, if the person does not care of the consequences. The issue is alerting the students and everyone on the campus, as to what is happening, so that lives can be saved.

As for now, serious thought needs to be given for a way to alert an entire campus for emergency situations. Police-controlled air-raid sirens are the only thing I can come up with, for a signal that would be loud enough to send a signal across an entire campus for emergencies and/or natural disasters (guns, bomb, tornado, etc.). I'm sure this will be debated ad-nauseum for months to come. All I can hope is that the results may spare another campus (or building) from the same fate...

For the world, April 17, 2007 was a sad day. Let's hope we don't have to repeat it somewhere else in the future.

[*Laura]

Jeremey,you have put things in the right perspective.Very logical and also true.All is good.
Nutz (can I call you that,lol?),you are right...Everyone is wondering and I have heard so many questions and media analysis throughout the day,my head spins.

Thing is that I have a constant lump in my throat reading all those testimonies,watching all these news coverages and I have to write an article about this by tomorrow... and I feel like everything that happened is so unfair and painful...
I'm shattered on the inside knowing that they had no chace in front of that wacko,wishing someone would have noticed him and fucking blew his head off before getting in those classrooms!

Sorry,off to cool down and being an impartial journalist,whatever the hell that means..

[Rockindeano]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.

Your opinion is ALWAYS wrong. Whatever you say, I think the opposite automatically. You're a Dumbshit.

[*Laura]

[Rockindeano]

Shut up Romanian Wacko.

You are so fucking clueless.

[RedWingFan]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.

Your opinion is ALWAYS wrong. Whatever you say, I think the opposite automatically. You're a Dumbshit.

Dude you need to get rid of that ridiculous sig. That logo is dreadful, at least try to dig one up of the skate!!!!

[Rockindeano]

Just make sure you get by San Jose and be ready to go in 2 weeks. See ya at the Jo. We'll dump Anaheim after we throw Dallas away tonight.

[ohsherrie]

Sorry if I offended anyone with my opinion.I guess I have a natural human reaction to this tragedy by wishing that someone could have done something more to prevent/avoid the tragic loss of human lives.
Of course that I am looking at this in hindsight,trying to find a logical explanation to the way things were handled.
I agree with the way Jeremey explained things,it sure makes sense.I also agree that the shoulda,woulda,coulda talk won't bring back those poor souls...
Still,I cannot stop thinking that maybe something more coulda,yes,coulda been done.

Shania, I don't think you offended anyone, surely not me anyway. Most everyone is experiencing the same thoughts as you are today, we all wonder about how things were handled and hope to God this will be a learning experience for the future.

No offense to me at all Laura. You're feeling all the same thing most of us are.

We all want answers, but I don't think we really want or need the sensationalist media spinning every little thread that they think might create ratings building controversy to tell us where to look for the answers or distort the conclusions we come to.

[Rockindeano]

No offense to me at all Laura. You're feeling all the same thing most of us are.

We all want answers,

We do? I could care less about why Hong Kong Fuey went wild. Don't you think it's a bit too micromanaging to pinpoint the ideals of a fucked up persons' mind? Who gives a shit why he is nuts?

[NealIsGod]

No offense to me at all Laura. You're feeling all the same thing most of us are.

We all want answers,

We do? I could care less about why Hong Kong Fuey went wild. Don't you think it's a bit too micromanaging to pinpoint the ideals of a fucked up persons' mind? Who gives a shit why he is nuts?

I agree. He isn't worth a second thought. We should be focusing on the victims. Fuck him.

[Red13JoePa]

No offense to me at all Laura. You're feeling all the same thing most of us are.

We all want answers,

We do? I could care less about why Hong Kong Fuey went wild. Don't you think it's a bit too micromanaging to pinpoint the ideals of a fucked up persons' mind? Who gives a shit why he is nuts?

I agree, I could give a rip about what was on his mind.

[ohsherrie]

No offense to me at all Laura. You're feeling all the same thing most of us are.

We all want answers,

We do? I could care less about why Hong Kong Fuey went wild. Don't you think it's a bit too micromanaging to pinpoint the ideals of a fucked up persons' mind? Who gives a shit why he is nuts?

I wasn't talking about why he personally went nuts. I was talking about the feeling of "why do these things happen". If you don't feel that way count yourself out of that general, collective "we" I referred to.