I'm OK

[Bamawing]

There was a school shooting at Virginia Tech, about 2-3 hours' drive from here. It's the worst school shooting in US history, with (so far) 31 gone. I'm not sure about other details, to be honest. They havn't even given us any identifying information about the shooter, except to say that he or she is now dead.

My sister called me up, freaking. She wasn't sure exactly where I go to school.

I'm fine. Virginia Tech is quite a ways from here. But I was worried that y'all would hear about a school shooting in Virginia, and panic. (If my own sister did...)

for the victims. I don't know anyone, but many of Dan's coworkers are Va Tech alums, and some have children there.

[itchychick]

OMG.  I hadn't heard about this!  So glad you're okay, Bama...

[Wooley]

That is so tragic.

I am so glad that you are miles away from there Bama.   

  for those who were less fortunate 

[totalfolly]

Here is the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

Bama, I'm glad you'r okay. 

totalfolly

[Uncle Matt]

I wasn't worried, because I haven't switched the news on yet.

But I would have been as soon as I heard about it.

Thank you for posting. You've probably saved me from worrying a LOT.

Glad you're OK.

M.

another one just to make sure..

[AndyBruceWillis]

My daughter just told me then i saw your post Bama .

Pleased you are OK. Thinking of Dans colleagues

[soccergrl]

I did hear about that on the news. It's such a tragedy that so many were killed or injured. I'm glad you're OK, Bama.

for the victims

[Bamawing]

I think the victims list is up to 33... they still havn't identifiied all of them.

Dan's collegue says that his son is safe. Poor kid's just a freshman.

All Dan's other collegues are taking a very pragmatic approach to it. They figure that the school will recover. So far, everyone that I know seems OK. But it's still a blow, and I'm a bit wierded by it. That and not looking forward to school tomarrow. One of my students wants to go there, and she's naturally curious (great).

[Nick]

That's shocking. I'm glad that you are OK Bama

[LIGA girl]

I heard about it on the news today too. I'm glad you are OK Bama. It is a scary thing that this can happen and so close to home for you .....

  for the victims

[leahbear17]

I'm glad to hear your alright Bama it was on the front page of our local newspaper.  I live in Cape Breton, NS, Canada so far away but with a tragedy of this magnitude everyone across the country is devastated.  What a terrible tragedy.

[andyb]

I'm so glad you're OK, Bama 

I won't say more coz I only get angry and upset thinking about guns and re-occuring incidents like this...

andyb 

[Paradise]

It is really upsetting to hear something like this happens.  I am at a loss for words right now after pages of news I went through since the incident.  I can say that I feel sorrow, angry, shocked by all of it.  Glad you're all right Bama.  I don't personally know anyone at the college but do have some friends nearby in VA, who I am sure are not directly affected by it.

to all affected by this tragedy.

[roni]

like everyone else i'm happy you were miles away bama. 

yet again it's sad times when you go to school and this happens.  i don't understand what is going on why would anyone do this sort of thing? it's madness!  why did he do it???

[Bamawing]

I don't know, Roni.

Oddly, this affected me differently than Columbine. This gunman was deeply disturbed, but I think everyone did everything they could have done. He was referred for councelling - many times. I guess I'm looking at it as more like an office shooting. But that's probably because I can't bear to think about the teachers who pushed their students behind them and took the bullets. (Just typing those words was hard.)

My grad school classes have been talking about this. After all, Special Education is our place. Special ed includes things like mental disorders. But how do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? It was well known that the gunman was suicidal, but nobody thought he was going to kill others.

My heart goes out to all of his victims. Oddly, this time my sympathy for him is limited. He had the help, and he refused it.

[roni]

i agree bama i dont have sympathy for what he did and as for killing 2 people then video-ing himself and then going back out to kill more has me shocked to the core. 

[itchychick]

I have absolutely no sympathy for him, or his family who should have been able to predict that there was something wrong with him and failed to take steps.  And I am disgusted that he has recieved so much media attention.  It makes me angry.

[totalfolly]

He had the help, and he refused it.

He refused it because he couldn't see, because of his mental illness, that he needed it.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not making any excuse for his actions.  I am completely appalled by what he did and I have no sympathy for him.  I am devastated at the loss of the lives of his victims, the innocents.  And I, too, am angry at the attention he has received by the media.

I can't imagine what might have pushed him over the edge, but I can see, because it happened to my family, how someone in need of help so desperately might not have been aware or have given any indication just how bad the illness was.  When my son was in college, he stopped taking his meds.  He wanted to fit in and he wanted to do some partying, and he was aware that meds and alcohol were a mixture destined for trouble.  What he didn't realize was that his meds kept him from losing control.  For a while he was able to cope, but gradually he began being less able and it got scary just how incapable of coping he became.  The problem was that he didn't see that anything was wrong.  And he wasn't living at home, so we didn't know, either, until he came down with a stomach bug and did come home.  He was a wreck, and I finally forced him to see his psychiatrist who was able to convince him that he needed to return to his meds.  Since then, he's been fine, and at least he knows now that no matter how normal he feels, he isn't--he has to take his meds.

But do you see what I mean?  My son, in his own mind, was perfectly fine.  I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the gunman couldn't see how abnormal he was.  And he wasn't known very well, so with only a few exceptions, the people around him didn't know, either, that he was a madman.

totalfolly

[itchychick]

I do understand your point, TF, and I can't even imagine the turmoil that your son's condition must have caused you...  And you are right - once kids are out of the nest, there is little to do but cross your fingers and hope that you've given them the tools they'll need to cope. 

I'm sorry if I came across sounding harsh regarding the actions of his family.  It wasn't my intention to sound judgemental.  It's just that, in reading about this man's history, it sounds as if his family knew "he wasn't right", but hadn't gotten him any help or taken any steps.  I actually feel a bit sheepish for that comment now, for in hindsight, I can't hope to know what kind of conditions his family was living in and to what extent they were even capable of intervening earlier in his life. 

The fact is TF, you did do something very important for your son, and to the best of your ability have done and continue to do all you can.  I am not in a position to judge what others are capable of doing, and if my comments were hurtful to you or anyone else, I deeply regret that.

[LIGA girl]

The thing is that noone knew what was going through this man's mind at the time. And noone knows what is ever going through someone else's mind, especially when that person is so closed off to others. Noone could have predicted what Cho was going to do, and even if help was sought for him, would he have accepted it? A person with a mentally unwell mind does not use the same judgements as others may do, as TFs story illustrates.

I have a close friend whose son as a young man also had an illness and who was on and off his meds, accepting then refusing treatment. He eventually took his own life, and although this was about 15 years ago, his family still deal with the fallout from it. Noone could have predicted that he would do that at the time it happened.

I think that it is good that Cho has left videos saying what was going through his mind and his rationalisations for his actions. They give an insight into the mind of such people and hopefully professionals working with them in future will be able to put that knowledge to productive use. I feel for his family as they must feel much worse than if he had taken his own life only.