Posted on 04/17/2007 10:03:44 PM PDT by TBP
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- On a university campus of 2,600 acres, with more than 26,000 students, ironclad security is not a practical goal. Even so, tough questions swiftly surfaced as to how effectively Virginia Tech authorities responded to Monday's horrific massacre.
Why were campus police so sure the threat was contained in one dormitory, when most of the killings occurred two hours later in a classroom building?
Why did they think the assailant might have left the campus after those initial shootings?
Why was there a lag of more than two hours after the first shootings before an alarm was e-mailed campuswide - around the time another, more deadly burst of carnage occurred? And more generally, some security experts wondered, was the school's crisis planning and emergency communications system up to the task?
Clearly, something went terribly wrong.
Bombarded with security questions at a news conference, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed the shooting at the West Ambler Johnston dorm, first reported about 7:15 a.m., was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.
"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
They did not get into the building that fast according to the victims in one class who had to barricade the door to prevent the creep from coming back in.
Standing outside behind an armoured vehicle in a bullet proof vest is not really an adequate response in this type of situation.
Professors worry about armed students
By Bernice Hausman. An associate professor of English at Virginia Tech. http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/50923
The killer moved very quickly from room to room. The whole thing happened in a fair short period of time. I am aure that the cops will be glad to let you charge the building the next time it happens.
You know, the police eluded to "possibly chasing or detaining the wrong guy" several hours after the event, during a news conference.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to ya. Thats what Im guessing, all they really had to go on were the witnesses and they were all saying it was an argument between a girl and her boyfriend, which makes sense when you look at the first shooting. It wrapped itself up all nice and neat. Boyfriend mad at girlfriend, argument intensifies, RA shows up to defuse the situation, jealous boyfriend sees another male coming to his girlfriends aid, freaks out and blows them away, generally the boyfriend usually either runs or blows himself away right there.No reason to lock down the rest of the campus, its an isolated incident and either the boyfriend is already dead by his own hand or hiding out. They get the guy, (the wrong guy as it turns out) and are beginning the process when reports of the second shootings come in...Thats when the Oh S*** factor comes into play.
According to the time line, they police did not meet up with or find the "boyfriend" until 9:50 a.m., five minutes after the second shooting started.
9:45am
It's now more than two hours after the initial shooting and the lines at the Blacksburg, Va. 911 outpost light up en masse. Panicked students call on their cell phones to tell authorities a man has come to Norris Hall and begun randomly firing weapons at people inside.
His first target is a professor in one of the classrooms. He then turns his weapons on the stunned students.
9:50a.m.
Police stop a man they describe as a 'person of interest' in the dorm shooting. "That individual was an acquaintance of the female victim killed at West Amber Johnston Hall," explains Police Chief Wendell Flinchum. "He was stopped and detained for questioning. As officers were interviewing him, the shootings at Norris Hall were reported. We're still looking to him for information as the investigation continues."
9:55a.m.
A second email is sent out by university brass. This one is far more terse and a lot more chilling.
"Subject: Please stay put," it begins.
"A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows."
Yeah, thats a rough day all right. Although Im not sure if the girlfriend was necessarily cheating on the boyfriend. Apparently Cho had been stalking several girls on the campus in the weeks prior to this. It might have been an argument between her and Cho about his unrequited feelings.
No problem. See #46.
I agree, makes perfect sense.
No reason to lock down the rest of the campus, its an isolated incident and either the boyfriend is already dead by his own hand or hiding out.
Except for this part. There was no body with a gun next to it. An armed double murder was outstanding at this point a massive search should have been immediately conducted.
The real boy friend was not located until approximately 5 minutes after the big shooting started
I think it depends on the PD. If you think the individual inside is a loon, bent on killing everyone and you have nothing to lose, then sure, storming the building is the way to go, but remember PD’s are in a lose/lose enviroment now. When you storm a high occupancy building like a school, you have an excellent chance of causing the loss of innocent life by your actions, now that may outweigh the negative consequences if you are convinced that everyone (or a significant number) is going to die anyway. But imagine the heat the police would take if they storm a school and by doing so innocent children die by police gunfire (ricochet, misidentification, used as human shields) when the media and parents find out Joe Wacko would have come out for a peanut butter sandwich.
I agree with you, and I think that search was underway. Im not sure what happened as far as the timeline goes. Again, I dont work for any of the agencies involved and any info Im giving you, comes from experiences within my agency. Im not sure which PD found the boyfriend. I dont know if it was the Campus PD that found him or Blacksburg PD found him. There were rumors floating around about a white guy in a pickup truck. If he was off campus, Im assuming that it was either Blacksburg, The local sheriff or the Va SP that found him. Maybe Blacksburg PD found the guy and reached out to the Tech PD and told them they had the guy and were transporting him back to Tech, and Tech was waiting on the guy to get back.
I don’t know which agency picked up the boyfriend, but the timeline has him being picked up 5 minutes *after* Norris went off.
Thanks for you insight on the event.
Im not sure which agency got the real boyfriend either, but if you look at the end of your post, the comments from the Tech Police Chief say “While the officers were interviewing him, the calls from Norris came in” or something to that effect. Also remember, when fielding a 911 call...especially one from a shooting scene, with possible hysterical callers, it may take a minute or two to get all the pertinent information from them in order to accurately dispatch units.
Thanks...Have a Great Night and God Bless the Virginia Tech family.
I see nothing at all in the article about lawyer issues, PC or anything of the sort.
Anyway, it does nothing but provide legal cover for the school, and does nothing for those harmed.
Alas, he brought weapons on the property, and murdered 31 people. Like he would have not brought them on the school grounds because it had a no-violence policy.
Yea, right.
Seems there is always a rush to shift the blame from the murderer to those who are forced to react to the unthinkable.
Hindsight is wonderful isn’t it?
Oh, I was under the impression that two bodies (one male, one female) were found in the room....
I’f im wrong please forgive, AFN only provides so much, and sporatic ‘net is a pain.
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