Posted on 04/18/2007 1:55:30 PM PDT by Ben Mugged
A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was "mentally ill" and dangerous. Then it let him go.
Back in 2005, the District Court in Christiansburg said that Cho was a danger to himself but not others. He was ordered to undergo outpatient care.
The ruling came after Cho was taken to a nearby psychiatric hospital for evaluation in December 2005, after two female schoolmates said they received threatening messages from him and police and school officials became concerned that he might be suicidal.
That information came to light two days after Cho, a Virginia Tech senior, killed 32 people and then himself in a shooting rampage on the university's campus.
Police obtained the order from a local magistrate after it was determined by a state certified employee that Cho met legal criteria for temporary detention that includes being a threat to others and being unable to care for himself.
Under Virginia law, "A magistrate has the authority to issue a detention order upon a finding that a person is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment.
"The magistrate also must find that the person is an imminent danger to himself or others," says the guideline from Virginia's state court system.
Wendell Flinchum, the chief of the Virginia Tech police department, said that it's common for police to work with mental health facilities
"We normally go through access [appealing to the state's legal system for help] because they have the power to commit people if they need to be committed," said Wendell Flinchum, chief of the Virginia Tech police department.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Reference http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0044-0094%28195904%2968%3A5%3C931%3ALOCPTD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J&size=LARGE
this doesn’t surprise me!
Cho entered the country in 1992, so I doubt that would have worked here.
I wonder why that court record did not trip up his NICS check.
The triumph of liberalism. The individual can do no wrong.
Society must adjust to the short fallings and accomodate the indiovidual.
“I wonder why that court record did not trip up his NICS check.”
I do not think NICS is linked to that sort of issue. Maybe it should be.
I saw something else on TV about this guy or another Korean in a neighborhood that was harassing or stabbing people in his neighborhood and was then let go. Was it this guy or someone else?
He clearly lied on 12f. on the 4473 and it wasn’t caught in the check. There has to be a disconnect somewhere.
Being a danger to yourself OR others is cause and grounds for involuntary admission. Its not required you be a threat to BOTH, at least not my understanding.
No, you don’t say!
This guy was just skirting the edges of insanity and criminality. He was never quite far enough gone to commit or arrest him, I guess.
And I doubt that the mental illness would have shown up at his entry. He was 8.
Don’t you know, education can fix anyone!! That is what the liberals believe. Cho just needed education and he would have been ok, right?
I totally hate liberalism! They believe we are all good, but just need education to make sure we stay good.
And if so, why didn't the much vaunted Brady Instant Check System catch it?
This person was illegally in possession of a firearm.
Was the mental health disposition enough to disqualify him from a gun purchase?
HOW CAN WE DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION TO ALL PERTINENT PARTIES? Drudge, etcetera?
"National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginias wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginias criminal history record files, a calendar file on handgun purchases required to monitor and enforce lawful handgun limitations and Virginias database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.
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