Wednesday brought more developments in the Virginia Tech shootings that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, Cho Seung Hui — a South Korean citizen who grew up in the Washington suburb of Centreville, Va.
In addition to the teachers who have come forward saying they alerted the administration over a year ago about Cho’s behavior, today more people described him as a loner who barely spoke to his class- and suite-mates. Several said he would wear sunglasses in class, where he presented some of his disturbing creative writing assignments, detailing extreme violence and torture. His suite-mates also told CNN that he had an “imaginary girlfriend” that he called “Jelly”.
Officials say Cho was voluntarily hospitalized for mental illness in December 2005. Around that time he was also accused of stalking two female students. Those women both declined to file charges when Virginia Tech police followed up on the harassment. Because Cho voluntarily sought treatment, the hospitalization did not appear on a manditory background check done when he purchased the murder weapons.
Investigators found an eight-page note in Cho’s dorm room expressing his anger at organized religion and “rich kids.” A source quoted the letter as saying “you caused me to do this.” Police have also recovered a 9mm handgun, purchased by Cho in March, as well as a .22 caliber weapon purchased last Friday. Shockingly, NBC announced today that Cho sent them a “multimedia manifesto” in between the first and second shootings. The box sent to the network contained pictures, video and a letter saying, in part, “this didn’t have to happen”.
Among these disturbing details, there continue to be stories of hope and strength, like that of Professor Liviu Librescu, the Holocaust survivor who died while protecting his students from gunfire. A Web site set up by the university is being overwhelmed by condolences from around the world and people all over the country are holding vigils for the victims. Students also seem to be pulling together to help each other through this unimaginably hard time. In our area, several memorials are being held and we know that many folks are planning to don orange and maroon on Friday as a show of support for the Hokies.
