Shots fired at Virginia Tech (AP: 33 dead, 15 wounded)

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=248 ^

[af_vet_rr]

This seems to be calculated, in a very odd way. And the bomb threats sure make you wonder if security wasn’t being tested.

Whitman was very well prepared when he climbed the tower - he planned on being there for hours, judging by the contents of his pockets and the trunk he brought.

These people just snap, and yet are rational enough to plan ahead. Neither today's shooter nor Whitman sounded like somebody who just snapped, grabbed what was handy, and went to shooting - both planned in advance.

Don't ask me what it means, but I just find it interesting that somebody could go that loony and yet be rational enough to plan as well as they did.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for that link.

[dragnet2]

A second suspect would seem to blow the jilted-lover theory right out of the water.

Don't know why they just wouldn't ask the witnesses at both locations the shooters description, ie: What was he wearing? What did he look like?

[Interesting Times]

What is the nature of these "puppet masters"? Human or otherwise?

Great. That should be good for another 50 posts...

[piasa]

Not carrying ID seems odd for a deranged jilted lover, too.

[Quix]

The nature of the puppet masters human or otherwise?

A full candid answer of that would be too distracting an aside to an important thread.

But a one word answer will do:

EVIL—both types.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Correct. Although their agents posted overseas do eat well

Having said that, the latest demographics on VT is that in their student body, there are 20 Japanese, but a whopping 200 South Koreans (or Korean Americans).

[USMCPOP]

Let’s hope “Mr. Cho”, if this is to be believed, isn’t in on it, other than perhaps selling a couple of weapons illegally. But then why provide receipts? I’ll bet it’s pretty easy to get a fake “green” card, especially somewhere like L.A. Even better, in China.

It will be interesting to see if that poster on the shooting foru was telling the truth or just spinning a good tale.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

“So Either:

1) The gun store owner is not telling the truth on the website

2) There is a second “green card holder”, a Mr Cho involved

3) The papers were forged

Any other possibilities?”

I’d bet real money that the “gun store owner” guy is a big fat hoax.

[sig226]

A non - immigrant alien can purchase a sporting firearm from an FFL if he has been in the country for the continuous 90 days prior to the purchase and demonstrates that it will be used for sporting purposes, such as by showing a hunting license. The license number is recorded on the 4473. Of course, this only applies to FFL transactions.

A non immigrant alien is a person on a student, work, or tourist visa. A resident alien is not a non immigrant alien.

[ArmstedFragg]

around the time the gunman struck again.

Why are they finessing this, unless it's to hype the situation? The e-mail was sent twenty minutes before he started shooting up the classroom.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I imagine they did, and probably received various contradictory statements. Fog of war and all that.

[Quix]

Making things insultingly personal is not kosher on this forum. You are welcome to ignore my posts. You are welcome to pretend that I don’t exist and never existed. Evidently that’s difficult, for some reason(s).

[1066AD]

Good link to bookmark.

[Strategerist]

The ABC News article seems horrifically slapdash with an overblown headline that doesn't really match the text....

Some great writing:
Police say the person of interest is a male who knew the female who was killed in the original double homicide at the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. Flinchum also said he is not a student and that he knew the female who was killed in the original double homicide.

I think what happened is that in the first shooting the police immediately began barking up the wrong tree.

[Ramtek57]

There needs to be more sheepdogs everywhere, even at schools. The kind of sheepdogs I am talking about are people, who are train and authorized to carry a weapon, to protect the sheep from the wolves.

http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html

[yield 2 the right]

Breaking News

POLICE SAY THERE MAY BE SOMEONE ELSE INVOLVED IN THE MASSACRE AT VA TECH, IN ADDITION TO THE DEAD SHOOTER

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

This guy was trained. He knew how to keep his cool and execute. A “jilted lover” would not keep his cool; further the events leading to the executions (i.e. the bomb threats and planning) suggest terrorism. All that is left is the perps name.

Roger that. This guy had some training.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Except that witnesses say he didn’t speak, just shot.