On April 16th, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, America’s deadliest random act of violence occurred. Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed thirty-two people and wounded 15 others. After the attacks he later shot and killed himself which makes the total amount of deaths thirty-three people. This massacre is the most deadly shooting by a single gunman in United States history. Students were getting ready to go to class just like any other day. However one student planned on changing things up that day. Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech began the random attacks at 7:15 am. The first classes of the day didn’t even begin until 8 am. The killer started off the spree at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 895 students. The police originally thought the killer left the campus after his first set of killings of Emily Hilsher and Ryan Clark so the university was not locked down and classes remained scheduled as normal. However, Cho did not leave the campus and he was preparing to continue his rampage at another university building. His next stop was at Norris Hall, an engineering and science building and he reportedly chained the doors so people could not escape. From there he went from classroom to classroom, building to building, shooting anyone that he came into contact with. At this point the university sent out a mass email.
“Subject: shooting on campus”
“A shooting incident occurred at West Ambler 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 at [phone number removed]. Stay attuned to the www.vt.edu. We will post as soon as we have more information.”
This email brings up controversy simply because it didn’t give the students enough information regarding what was going