Virginia Tech shooting: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|2007 mass shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia, US}}

| title = Virginia Tech shooting

| location = [[Blacksburg, Virginia|Blacksburg]], [[Virginia]], U.S.

| coordinates = {{Coord|37.2231|-80.4211|region:US-VA_type:landmark|display=inline}} (Ambler&nbsp;Johnston&nbsp;Hall){{r|AJ}}<br />{{Coord|37.2294|-80.4231|region:US-VA_type:landmark|display=inline}} (Norris&nbsp;Hall){{r|Norris}}

| date = {{Start date and age|2007|4|16}}

| time-begin = {{Circa}} 7:15

| time-end = 9:51{{nbsp}}a.m.{{r|MR.III|p=25}}

| timezone = [[UTC-4|EDT]]

| target = Students, staff and faculty at [[Virginia Tech]]

| type = [[Mass shooting]], [[school shooting]], [[mass murder]], [[murder–suicide]], [[spree shooting]]

| weapons = * [[Glock|Glock 19]] pistol

| fatalities = 33 (including the perpetrator){{r|MR.X|p=127}}

| injuries = 23 (17 from gunfire, 6 from jumping out of windows){{r|MR.VIII|p=92|NSCC1}}

| perp = [[Seung-Hui Cho]]

| dfens = *[[Liviu Librescu]]

The '''Virginia Tech shooting''' was a [[spree killer|spree shooting]] that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the [[Virginia Tech|Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]] (Virginia Tech) in [[Blacksburg, Virginia|Blacksburg]], [[Virginia]], United States. [[Seung-Hui Cho]], an [[undergraduate]] student at the university, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two [[semi-automatic pistol]]s. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape Cho.

The first shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a [[dormitory]], where two people were killed; the main attack was a [[school shooting]] at Norris Hall, a classroom building, where Cho chained the main entrance doors shut and fired into four classrooms and in a stairwell, killing thirty more people. As police stormed Norris Hall, Cho fatally shot himself in the head. It was the [[Mass shootings in the United States#Deadliest mass shootings since 1949|deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history]]<!--and do note that part; there were still deadlier shootings in other countries--> and remained so for nine years until the [[Orlando nightclub shooting]]. It remainsremained the deadliest [[school shooting]] in U.S. history and the deadliest mass shooting in [[Virginia]] history.

{{See also|Timeline of the Virginia Tech shooting#EventDay of the shooting}}

The shootings occurred in two separate incidents. The first incident was in [[Campus of Virginia Tech#Ambler Johnston Hall|West Ambler Johnston Hall]], a [[residence hall]] where [[Seung-Hui Cho]] killed two students. The second incident was in [[Norris Hall]], an academic building on the opposite side of the campus where the other thirty-one deaths occurred, including that of Cho himself, and all the nonlethal injuries occurred. Cho used two [[semi-automatic pistol]]s during the attacks: a [[.22 Long Rifle|.22-caliber]] [[Walther P22]] [[Semi-automatic pistol|semi-automatic handgun]] and a [[9 mm caliber|9&nbsp;mm]] semi-automatic [[Glock#Glock 19|Glock 19]] handgun.{{r|Williams}}

During the two attacks, Cho killed fivea facultytotal members and twenty-seven students (two students in West Ambler Johnston andof thirty32 people {{ndashmdash}} five5 professorsfaculty members and twenty-five other27 students {{ndashmdash}} atbefore Norrishe Hall)committed before[[Suicide hein committedcolleges in the United States|suicide]].{{r|Carter}} The Virginia Tech Review Panel reported that Cho's gunshots wounded seventeen others; six more were injured when they jumped from second-story windows to escape from Librescu's classroom.{{r|MR.VIII|p=92}} Sydney J. Vail, the director of the trauma center at [[Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital]], said that Cho's choice of 9&nbsp;mm [[hollow-point bullet|hollow-point]] ammunition increased the severity of the injuries.{{r|Somashekhar}} Twenty-eight of the victims were shot in the head.{{r|Handbook}}

The Virginia Tech Review Panel's August 2007 report (''Massengill Report'') devoted more than twenty pages to Cho's troubled history.{{r|MR.III|p=21|MR.IV|p2=31–53}} At three years of age, he was described as shy, frail, and wary of physical contact.{{r|Smith}} In eighth grade, Cho was diagnosed with [[severe depression]] as well as [[selective mutism]], an [[anxiety disorder]] that inhibited him from speaking in certain situations and/or to specific people.{{r|Golden|Schulte}} While early media reports carried reportsclaims by South Korean relatives that Cho had [[autism]],{{r|Shame|Granddad}} the ''Massengill Report'' said the relationship between selective mutism and autism was "unclear".{{r|MR.IV|p=34–35}} Cho's family sought therapy for him, and he received help periodically throughout [[middle school]] and [[high school]].{{r|MR.IV|p=34–39}} Early reports indicated Cho was bullied for speech difficulties in middle school, but the Virginia Tech Review Panel was unable to confirm this, or other reports that he was ostracized and mercilessly bullied for class-, height-, and race-related reasons in high school, causing some anti-bullying advocates to feel that the Review Panel was engaging in an authority-absolving whitewash.{{r|Apuzzo|Westhues}} Supposedly, high school officials had worked with Cho's parents and mental health counselors to support him throughout his sophomore and junior years. Cho eventually chose to discontinue therapy. When he applied and was admitted to Virginia Tech, school officials did not report his speech and anxiety-related problems or [[special education]] status because of federal [[privacy law]]s that prohibit such disclosure unless a student requests special accommodation.{{r|Schulte}}

In the hours and days following the shooting, makeshift memorials to those killed or injured began appearing in several locations on the campus. Many people placed flowers and items of remembrance at the base of the Drillfield observation podium in front of [[Burruss Hall]]. Later, members of Hokies United, an alliance of student organizations on campus created to respond to shooting,{{r|OwczarskiUnited}} placed thirty-two pieces of [[Hokie Stone]], each labeled with the name of a victim, in a [[semicircle]] in front of the Drillfield viewing stand.{{r|HinckerMemorial}} What was originally termed an "intermediate memorial" was modeled after the makeshift memorial. Thirty-two upright blocks of Hokie Stone were engraved with the names of the victims and placed in a semicircle at the base of the reviewing stand. The original pieces of Hokie Stone placed by Hokies United were offered to the families of the victims. The engraved markers are embedded in a semicircle of crushed gravel with a brick walkway for viewing.{{r|HinckerMemorial}} There is ground lighting for nighttime illumination{{r|RememberMemorial}} and two benches, one on either side of the memorial, in honor of the survivors.{{r|RememberBenches}}

In the days following the shooting, the campus community received several thousand pieces of artifacts and messages of condolence, arriving from over eighty countries and every state within the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/virginia_tech/in-newman-library-memories-of-loss-and-condolence/article_29fe7f31-5107-53fd-9b25-f40f59472104.html |title = In Newman Library, 90,000 memories of loss and condolence |first = Robby |last=Korth |website = Roanoke Times |date = April 11, 2017 |language = en |access-date = April 11, 2019 |archive-date = April 11, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190411233536/https://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/virginia_tech/in-newman-library-memories-of-loss-and-condolence/article_29fe7f31-5107-53fd-9b25-f40f59472104.html |url-status = live }}</ref> These included artwork, cards, poetry, and original music. These items were later gathered and photographed by the University Library and are available online.<ref>{{Cite webjournal |title=April 16, 2007, Condolence Archives |url=https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/11385 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=vtechworks.lib.vt.edu}}</ref>

{{category see also |Mass murder in the United States|Murder in Virginia|SpreeMass killersmurderers}}

<ref name=Kang>{{cite web |last = Kang |first = Chan-Ho |url = http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874580 |title = Korean Student Named Gunman in U.S. Massacre |work =[[Korea JoongAng Daily]] |publisher = Joins.com, Inc. |date = April 18, 2007 |archive-date = May 26, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080526034938/http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874580 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

<ref name="Losey">{{cite web |last1 = Losey |first1 = Stephen |title = Virginia Tech cadet honored for saving lives in 2007 campus massacre |url = https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2015/04/14/virginia-tech-cadet-honored-for-saving-lives-in-2007-campus-massacre/ |website = [[Air Force Times]] |publisher = [[Sightline Media Group]] |access-date = September 20, 2017 |archive-url = https://wwwarchive.webcitation.orgtoday/20180215193044/6td65CXZS?url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2015/04/14/virginia-tech-cadet-honored-for-saving-lives-in-2007-campus-massacre/ |archive-date = SeptemberFebruary 2015, 20172018 |date = April 14, 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name=Sae-jung>{{cite web |last = Sae-jung |first = Kim |title = South Korea's Reaction to the Virginia Tech Massacre |url = http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=356853&rel_no=1 <!-- |section = Opinion--> |work = [[OhmyNews]] |access-date = May 2, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120618082412/http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=356853&rel_no=1 |archive-date = June 18, 2012 |date = April 19, 2007 |url-status = live }}</ref>

* ''Massengill Report'': {{cite web |title = Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech April 16, 2007: Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel |url = http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport.pdf |publisher = Commonwealth of Virginia |date = August 2007 |access-date = April 26, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131015095917/http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport-docs/FullReport.pdf |archive-date = October 15, 2013 |url-status = dead }} (Additional [https://www.webcitation.org/6QK80tA35?url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015095917/http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport-docs/FullReport.pdf archive].)

[[Category:21st-century massMass murder in the United States in the 2000s]]