Virginia Tech Massacre
On April 16, 2007 a student, Seung Hui Cho, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, went on a shooting rampage and opened fire on his fellow students and Virginia Tech community members. The shooting took place in the early hours of the morning when many students were preparing for classes. The first two shootings occurred at 7:15 am at West Ambler Johnston Hall. 21/2 hours later after Cho had changed his blood stained clothes, deleted his e-mails, removed the hard drive, mailed videos to NBC television; he again went on another shooting spree which killed 30 people. In total Cho killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before killing himself.
The incident is recorded as one of the deadliest school shooting in the history of America (Wikepedia.org)
Impact: Opening fire on his fellow students enthused fear and disrupted the sense of security felt on college campuses, university campuses around the nation. The events that shaped this day have left their mark not only on Virginia Tech, but on most universities in the United States.
1. Looking at this case study, there are necessary steps that the university could have employed to reduce the number of casualties during the shooting. Had the university acted with urgency they would have been commended for taking swift action to protect the vulnerable students.
2. During the initial stage of this crisis, the university administration did not seek to prevent or lessen the negative outcomes of a crisis and thereby protect the organization, stakeholders, and industry from harm. It was a big mistake for the university administration’ failure to realize the problem within the student’s residences during the first two shootings. Through their intercom system they should have instructed students, faculty and staff to stay inside their rooms until an investigation was completed. Unfortunately, that was not the case and many students unaware of what was taking place
The incident is recorded as one of the deadliest school shooting in the history of America (Wikepedia.org)
Impact: Opening fire on his fellow students enthused fear and disrupted the sense of security felt on college campuses, university campuses around the nation. The events that shaped this day have left their mark not only on Virginia Tech, but on most universities in the United States.
1. Looking at this case study, there are necessary steps that the university could have employed to reduce the number of casualties during the shooting. Had the university acted with urgency they would have been commended for taking swift action to protect the vulnerable students.
2. During the initial stage of this crisis, the university administration did not seek to prevent or lessen the negative outcomes of a crisis and thereby protect the organization, stakeholders, and industry from harm. It was a big mistake for the university administration’ failure to realize the problem within the student’s residences during the first two shootings. Through their intercom system they should have instructed students, faculty and staff to stay inside their rooms until an investigation was completed. Unfortunately, that was not the case and many students unaware of what was taking place