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 ...
Actually, I must correct you: It appears from my research that a court-ordered commitment to a mental institution is also a disqualifier.
He had been cited for doing 44 in a 25. When I lived in VA 15 over was automatically reckless driving. Probably why he had to appear in court.
Leftists think the solution to our prison population is to give the criminal class sufficient education that they are smart enough to not get caught.
Yes. Both guns were bought this year.
There are so many reasons why this young man should have been stopped before he got to the point of committing these awful crimes. There are a number of people who failed to act responsibly in dealing with his mental condition.
thanks.
It was just an idea. Something clearly went very wrong with the background check system to allow this to slip through the cracks - it’s not like “Seung-Hui Cho” is a very common name in America like “John Smith”, so that reason is ruled out.
Look for the liberals to claim that this proves the background check system is broken because the Republicans didn’t throw enough money at, that an instant background check system “just won’t work”, and that therefore the only answer is to ban private ownership of firearms.
LOL! You're nuts! Get out of here!
...and don't come back!
"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): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, a calendar file on handgun purchases required to monitor and enforce lawful handgun limitations and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.
http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_VFTP.shtm
I should also warn you that your law review article is dated 1959. You have almost fifty years of intervening law to research.
Of course it is Laz.
The minimum threshold is a court adjudication that one is mentally ill, which is what happened here.
Yup.
As I commented, NICS failed, as it is supposed to be linked to VCIN. Even if it’s not, VCIN had to be checked separately anyway. And VCIN didn’t catch him.
Court records are by definition public records. His court adjudication would not be covered by HIPAA.
Anyone looking into just how well all these databases talk to one another? My guess is that such an investigation will turn up yet another big government boondoggle fueled by unlimited money and zero accountability.
Which means this story will really sink like a stone if the media gets its way.
Those records are included by law in several midwestern States. Check VA law.
It is going to be interesting to find out just what happened...or didn’t happen.
As of 25 April 2005, VA funding for VCIN was greatly increased. If they’re complaining that NICS is underfunded, that’s fine - since VCIN is both linked to NICS *AND* had to be consulted separately anyway, it means that he should have been caught in any case. This may mean that an instant background check is pretty much useless and worse than nothing.
I know it’s not politically correct to be logical, but there has to be some way to deport resident aliens who are insane.
The system failed.
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