Hey Virginians - I'm so sorry

[MonkeyFunk]

just wanted to say how awful today's tragedy is, and I send my very best wishes to all of you, especially any of you close to this awful crime. :hug:

[Maat]

1. Virginians ...

you are in our family's thoughts and prayers.

[northofdenali]

2. I'm with you there, MonkeyFunk -

Such sorrow. Hope and Healing to you all, Virginia. :hug:

[uppityperson]

3. Me too, best wishes to you all. Hoping for healing sometime.

[lizerdbits]

4. Me too

I'm a VT alumnus (1997) but living in Maryland now. I also lived in the dorm the first shooting occurred in for one year. I send non theistic vibes to those affected.

[roguevalley]

5. Alaska sends the Commonwealth all its love. Take care and know

we are with you in spirit.

[frankly_fedup2]

6. Some of those kids are from other states. This could involve more then

Virginia. It's a horrible tragedy but I do have one question . . Why were the students allowed to go to class almost two hours after 2 people had been killed in a dormitory. The mass murderer had to walk a half a mile to the building where the majority were engineering students, and that is where he murdered 28 people.

I live about 40 minutes from Tech. My Nephew goes to Radford University, which is 20 minutes from Tech. The first news broke in this morning around 9 a.m. about a shooting at Tech and a random gunman, possibly two were loose on campus. Then we started getting reports of the body count. At the very first local TV press conference they stated approximately 20 had been killed. When they announced this you could actually hear the gasps from the reporters in the room. Then as the day went on, the day just kept getting worse. In my area they had state troopers go to all the schools in case of a copycat. I was so worried about my nephew at Radford, when I heard there were possibly two gunmen loose on campus, I called her to call my nephew to tell him to leave now and just miss classes today and until everything was found out and we knew he would be safe. Maybe I overreacted but I didn't want my nephew anywhere near Blacksburg. Unfortunately, my nephew has a couple of friends who go to Tech and are in the Engineering Program. I haven't heard anything so I am assuming no news is good news. I think if either of those boys were hurt by this idiot my nephew would know by now and my sister would call me.

Today is a horrible tragedy for the whole country, and the kids that saw their friends and teachers murdered in front of them will never be the same.

I keep thinking today why we never hear of these kind of crimes anywhere else in the World. Yeah, there was that tragedy in the Ukraine or Russia where the terrorists held teachers and students and parents hostage and ended up killing them but I don't believe I have ever heard of one individual doing these kind of things like today's tragedy and Columbine. Anyone heard of it anywhere else in the World?

[lizerdbits]

8. That's what I'm wondering

Why were classes not canceled when they didn't know where the gunman was? If there were no classes and people were kept in dorms then the death toll could have been 2 if the gunman had immediately left the dorm. I'm trying to wait until all the details come out before getting angry that classes weren't canceled but it's hard.

[frankly_fedup2]

10. The local news is reporting the following from the Dean of the College as

to why they did not lock down the campus after the first shooting in the dormitory.

The Dean/President is claiming that the police were called in after the shooting in the dormitory and the authorities felt that it was an isolated incident. Their was an argument between the shooter and his girlfriend. While they were arguing, the young man whose name they have released who was a dorm monitor tried to intervene. He was shot first then the girlfriend. The Dean and authorities thought it was a domestic issue; however, they had to know that there was someone with a gun probably still on campus. Like I stated regarding earlier this morning, our local news started breaking into regular programing around 9 a.m. and that was about 15 minutes before the classroom shootings, and they were stating there had been a shooting at Tech that involved 1-2 people and they were not sure whether either person shot was dead or just injured but would report more later. They kept breaking into regular programming all morning and each time the news continued to get worse.

I also heard that the Dean/President stated there was no way to get everyone notified before classes started at 9 a.m. I believe they said there were 14,000 students with 9,000 living on campus and 10,000 employees.

They may not have been able to reach everyone, but they should have tried. I feel that was a terrible mistake.

I know being angry myself, it's easy to start pointing fingers, but the real blame I believe we should focus on right now, is blaming the cause of it all . . . the murderer.

VA Tech's colors are Maroon and Orange and the kids on the campus are asking everyone on other college campuses to wear their colors as a sign of support. Also, everyone across the country to show their support for those that had to endure this nightmare as well as the horrible loss of those whose children were taken away from them because of this senseless act.

All of the local schools are closed tomorrow and Wednesday and especially Radford University (my nephew's college) and local community colleges. Everyone is fearing some copycat incident.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. yes

"I know being angry myself, it's easy to start pointing fingers, but the real blame I believe we should focus on right now, is blaming the cause of it all . . . the murderer. "

I couldn't agree more. Nobody knew what else this guy had planned, and there was no way to reach everybody on campus on a moment's notice.

This is the wrong time for recriminations and accusations.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. "Anyone heard of it anywhere else in the World?"

Yes. I recall one from Germany.

Google for "school shooting germany"

Actually, there were a few in Germany. There was one in Scotland too.

BBC: History of school shootings

[melody]

7. Excellent post - agreed n/t

[Catchawave]

9. ...WE are all Hokies today...

Thanks MonkeyFunk for your kind thoughts...

http://westofshockoe.blogspot.com/2007/04/we-are-all-hokies-today.html

[sofa king]

12. Thanks to all of you from a Virginian and a Hokie.

I'm a little sad for myself and very concerned for the students there. I've been away for a long time but when I saw the news today it was like I knew every sidewalk and parking space.

It's got to be a stressful time for the students right now, with exams coming up, taxes coming due, money no doubt running out and the weather being particularly abominable--even for Blacksburg, which is a lot like Seattle for most of the school session. They're going to have a rough time of it.

The best thing I can say is that most of those kids will get through this okay and might even come out of it a little tougher than they were before--I hope they don't cancel exams, in the interests of getting most of the students out of town by the end of the month.

For the bereaved there is almost nothing I can say, other than my heart goes out to them. We'll be doing our part from up the Valley to help out, and if I can involve DU in it, I will.

[lizerdbits]

13. I'm with you

" I've been away for a long time but when I saw the news today it was like I knew every sidewalk and parking space. "

I'm remembering a lot of things that I normally wouldn't as well. Professor names I wouldn't have thought of, the bus route I took when I moved off campus, etc. I have so many good memories from Tech. I can't imagine what those students are going through. :cry:

[wildhorses]

15. my heart goes out to everyone involved--

i used to live in roanoke 69-71....good memories

:hug::grouphug::hug:

[Penndems]

16. Thank you from a twelfth-generation Virginian

What a terrible shock this is for the state. Prayers to all of the families, their loved ones and all the students.