First local media that contacted me in a similar situation would have received a 5-minute stream of the vilest profanity in the history of the universe.
One of the dead is from Rochester, N.Y. She was a freshman.
Teen With Local Ties Killed in Virginia Tech Shooting
Last Update: Apr 17, 2007 12:20 AM
Blacksburg, VA. - The shooting spree in the Virginia Tech campus has claimed 33 lives, including that of the shooter. Among the dead, a freshman with family in the Rochester area.
Mary Read was in a French class when the gunman opened fire in a classroom building, just after nine this morning.
Read’s grandparents, Dave and Kate, are from Macedon. She has an Aunt Mary Courtney, in Palmyra. Also an Aunt and Uncle in Rochester, Karen and Ted Kuppinger. Ted is a Lieutenant in the Rochester Fire Department.
I was just 21 and was really overwhelmed about everything that happened at the time. The irony is there were some reporters that actually got some good coverage because they didn't act pushy. One reporter was very polite and asked my husband if I was available. He said I was annoyed with people camping down our street (some would be in front of the wrong house. we would honk our horn and wave when we left). This particular reporter even rolled her eyes about her colleagues, gave my husband a business card if I felt up to an interview, and was very polite. She got her interview the next day. We had a great personal conversation, as well. Her articles were always human. Not just drama. If only more reporters had been like her. Through everything I went through, messing with the reporters was the amusing part.