Posted on 04/21/2007 10:11:41 AM PDT by Cinnamon
Though it's unclear if he told anyone about his plans to stage a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, from childhood, Seung-Hui Cho showed an appetite for brutality, according to a new report.
The Washington Post reports that while Cho was unusually quiet as a child — according to relatives, he refused to respond to greetings and didn't want to be hugged — when he fought with his older sister, Sun-Kyung Cho, his actions spoke volumes. Relatives say he punched her with shocking force.
Despite signs of trouble, Cho's mother didn't seek treatment for him because he did well in school, the Washington Post reports.
But in their first public statement since the massacre, on Friday, Cho's family said that their son "has made the world weep" and that they are now "living a nightmare."
The statement, released to the Associated Press by Sun-Kyung Cho, says the family feels "hopeless, helpless and lost," after the 23-year old Va. Tech senior took the lives of 32 people.
"We are humbled by this darkness," wrote 25-year old Sun Kyung Cho. "This is someone that I grew up with and loved. Now I feel like I didn't know this person … My brother was quiet and reserved, yet struggled to fit in. We never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence."
Then again, I also think there ought to be a DSM entry that reads, "Just F*$%ing Nuts."
What do you call the three cardinal signs of autism? For a small child, I’d say, not taking a social interest in other people, delayed or strange speech, lack of pretend play. Also perseveration.
For an older individual, impaired social abilities and perceptions, and a good deal of perserverative behavior or interests.
Mrs VS
Australians being known for plain speaking, you might check their edition of DSM, in the vicinity of “Crazier than a s**t-house rat.”
With his personality complex, his prospects of finding a job would have been slim and none.
In hindsight, age 23 is perfectly understandable.
He was too ashamed...having an older sister graduate from Princeton.
He just created CHO SYNDROME.
Textbook case.
The three cardinal signs of autism are limited language development, lack of understanding of socialization, and limited, repetitive behavior. For Asperger’s, the language skills are normal.
Cho’s lack of social skills is clearly what makes people think that he may have had autism. But he expressed hatred for societal behavior, implying some understanding of it, and an acknowledgement that he had poor social skills. And there was nothing at all to suggest that he had repetitive motor behavior or obsessive habits.
Asian kids who immigrate and don’t end up as engineers are weird.
Spot on Jimt. They were so abusive to him that they were sending him to one of the top universities in the country. This is right up there with the MSM wringing their hands about a possible backlash to the Korean community in the US. Always ready to believe in the small mindedness of their fellow countrymen.
sounds like he may have had some type of autism or aspergers.
As one of five, I got into rumbles with my siblings and have the scars to prove it.
But nothing is remembered by me as "shocking."
Just because he began this behavior as a child does not mean that its roots weren't evil.
A Bad Seed ?
IMHO, all the other issues are distractions from a more pertinent issue. The volition of each individual and their responsibility for their decisions and actions is far more consequential than environment, culture, familial ties, genetics, or random thoughts.
The criminal made wrong decisions. They furthered his tendency to make other wrong decisions and ultimately he made wrong criminal decisions fatal to others and himself.
In every instance of Satan falling recorded in Scripture, he is surrounded by perfect environment. Environment isn’t the prevailing factor in criminal behavior. The thinking, volition and decision making of the individual person are the controlling factors in their behavior.
I don't know why he chose Norris Hall for his attack. However, I remember that Norris Hall had fewer doors than almost any other building at Virginia Tech. Once he set the chains, he didn't have a great deal of time before someone noticed, reported the problem, and discovered his plans. Norris Hall is a building where he could chain the doors most quickly and trap the most people chaining the fewest doors. I don't know whether this factor is why he chose Norris Hall, but I was thinking about the situation for several days before it occurred to me. If he chose Norris Hall for this reason, he was planning very carefully.
Bill
What is all this armchair physician diagnosis attempting to diagnos Cho as autistic. Rain man was autistic, my friend’s son is autistic, there’s nothing in this guy’s medical record to remotely indicate he was anything but a psychotic, perhaps borderline schizo with a full blown breakdown coming.
People said he wouldn’t speak to anyone even when someone would say hello.
His rants about his victimization show how out there he was.
That is not autism.
I have a half-sister who is schizophrenic. My parents, educated people, didn't realize what was happening when she couldn't stand being at first one prep school, then another. They sent her to 2 colleges. They didn't listen when my other sisters complained about her behavior toward them and passed it off as sibling rivalry.
It wasn't until she started having paranoid delusions that the college admin asked my parents take her out of school. But you can only make someone get treatment for so long. At some point, they are no longer minors. Sadly, though she might have benefited from treatment, and been able to hold a part-time job, she's 40 and has been untreated for years now, collecting disability. Since she isn't a danger to anyone, you can't commit her and you can't make her get treatment.
I used to do legal work for parents of schizophrenics - work that was hampered because you can't make the mentally ill person try the new drugs (in their paranoia, they see everything you do as a plot against them, or, they believe they aren't sick) or go into residential treatment. It is a nightmare for parents or siblings who are trying to look out for their relative and keep that person off the streets or out of the morgue. I'm sure that many people just give up and hope for the best.
At church this evening the service was subdued. Opened with prayer for the Virginia Tech victims, also prayer that the school lockdowns and false bomb threats would cease. People are still upset and confused over all this.
The victims will soon be forgotten, but the public will be forced to remember the a**hole's name like we're still reminded of the names of the Columbine shooters. Stop the publicity NOW.
yup. and how did he get so close to getting a degree in English? judging by his writing... unless they have really brought down the bar on admissions
Sorry to hear about your sister. I can’t even imagine how difficult that must be for your family.
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