Virginia Tech Massacre

[lost]

There was a shooting massacre inside an American college that unfolded as two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, on Monday, April 16, 2007 on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. A gunman killed 32 people and injured another 29 before committing suicide, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The gunman, identified by authorities as Cho Seung-hui, was born in South Korea and grew up in Northern Virginia. He had permanent residence status and was a fourth-year English major at Virginia Tech.

[Ram-Z]

@lost
and how is the mood there in the states? what is your opinion?

[AmiNiac]

further i am intresseted to know what the folks do think about this crazy weapons law out there

[lost]

Everybody here was shocked by the number of dead people which makes the accident the deadliest college shooting in the history of the u.s. It is very sad that somebody could do that to others and to himself. Some things now are starting to come to the surface for example the shooter was a loner(he didn't have much social contact). On the day of the accident the u.s vice president Dick Cheney said that the right to bear weapons is guaranteed by the constitution and could not be taken away. If you ask my opinion,I would say that the easy access to weapons in the u.s is behind those kind of tragedies. In the city of San Francisco,it's not a big problem but outside the City for example in Oakland or more seriously in Richmond where there's a lot of gang activity,shootings happen everyday.

[Anoushka]

The US government has always been lenient with regards to weapon laws and firm on its belief that it is part of individual rights and freedom. This is utterly insane if you ask me, if they want to sell guns and ammo in stores they have at least to insure that these wouldn’t fall in the wrong hands. Cho had a psychiatric record, he was accused of stalking and was said to be suicidal months before the Virginia Tech massacre, and yet found no difficulty when purchasing his guns! If you look at the Columbine massacre, the two kids were known to be extremely violent, sent instructions on how to create explosives and exposed their feelings about killing people on the web, and yet, they managed to have weapons and explosives and kill a dozen of their school mates! That’s creepy!!!!
There are whole bunches of theories and issues related to school violence in the US, and it has been proven that spending hours in front of some video games whose purpose is to kill as many people as possible, can actually desensitize kids, leaving them unable to show feelings of mercy and distinguishing right from wrong. Violence is omnipresent these days, especially in the US were it actually sells as good as sex! Movies, video games, news, next door… it’s everywhere. So why do you go and sell weapons to potentially disturbed people????? I mean how thick could you get???
A Youngman buys two guns, kills two people, goes to shoot a homemade video then calmly to the post office to post his pics and video, and then two hours later, he resumes his shooting and kills another 30 people!!! Well that’s disturbing!

[TheMajesty]

I really believed that after 9/11 weapons trade would be regularized.
I thought it by watching American history X a few days ago ^^

This is really odious and afflicting…

[Ram-Z]

I think even if you find guns in the supermarket between milk and bread, you must have a broken heart, an already dead soul and a reason to commit such a crime.
What's wrong with the kid?
he's psychopathic.
thank you for the brief answer, but how somebody can become a "psychopathic"
maybe if you get hurt by somebody.......

let's assume I'm a psychopathic, how can i learn to discharge my anger and retaliate to the poeple that hurts me?
you're an academic tbarkallah 3lik, the main thing that you learn in the university is to learn from experiences of other poeple and improve their methods, your cookbook, manual and reference is the media, turn on your tv and wait for a documentary about the guys of the Columbine massacre for instance, there you can follow everything step by step, listen to interviews, study the map and simulation offered, notice which means were used. Try also to break records, search in the internet, Robert Steinhäuser the german guy reached 19 or 18 including himself...

POEPLE!!! what the guy does is obvious, but the biggest crime is to show his video messages and his pictures. Do you know who is watching? yes you know who is watching and this !"%&?§" looks very inspiring...

[Anoushka]

Well that’s another issue you are raising Ram-Z. Should they or shouldn’t they have broadcasted the video? Well this thought doesn’t even cross your mind, if you are an American news-reporter, looking for everlasting glory; fame and fortune in a country where only wicked media and vicious shows can sell. Well, even though it is not the case of all the American people, there are sure intellectuals and moral people over there. But as far as the majority is concerned, they watch the Jerry Springer Show and Beavis and Butthead, not very intellectually challenging if you ask me (Lost, I am maybe stereotyping). But the thing is that, the media doesn’t even care if the video is going to hurt the victims’ families or else, inspire future mass killers. They only care about one thing…. profit! That’s what makes the earth turn around itself! And since they know that human beings love watching other people’s misery, scandals and violence… hey… the issue of whether to air the video or not, is not even raised!!
Who knows how many disturbed kids saw a hero in Cho to look up to while watching that video? Cho himself said he was inspired by Eric and Dylan of the Columbine massacre: two violent, xenophobic and merciless kids.

[Aychu]

I think that the issue is not about broadcasting or not this video !!
It is The USA ... the land of all the misery, the violence, the killing ...
Where ever u live, the killing is a common thing around there, the gangs, the hoods, the violence ... it is a different aproach !

Tv is their first drug, although I do agree that violence is a bad thing for kids ... and all ..
But the context is different : The States is a country where the violence, the crimes and the killing is so usual ..

That is to say that kids aren't gonna be encouraged to pass to action and start killing only cause they have seen this kid do it ...

Besides, the Tv channels, NBC, BBC, CNN, Fox News, they broadcast killing all the time, The Iraq War ( live on tv ), The Darfour's killings, the massacres of the wars, the Palestinia Conlicts, and of course, what is left of the gangs fights and killings out there !

All that to say that the reason why the issue of whether to air the video or not, is not even raised, cause it is just so.... normal !!

Back to the Crimes of the guy himself :
A distrub moron, guided by his religious beleifs ... I am sure that they do really regret he aint no muslim to attach him to the Al Qaida !

Blah .... I am not so surprised, in a country where the arms are legal ... Kids would eventually one day or the other put their hands on it and start killing each other !

PS: Beavis and Butthead are just so gooooooooood !!
it is not cause u watch Beavis and Butthead that u get to killing ... but rather Rambo and all the american movies that not only they love ... but that we love ouselves !!

[lost]

Ayshu,you seem to know everything about anything God bless you dude. I sometimes wonder what Asslema would look like without your presence and most appreciated comments,You really are the man!!