Background• Located in

Blacksburg, Virginia

• 29,000+ students

• Ranked 71st best college in the nation

Seung-Hui Cho• South Korean who

arrived in the US at a young age

• Diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and depression during middle school

Seung-Hui Cho• Wrote a school assignment about wanting

to repeat the Columbine Shooting

• While attending Virginia Tech he was involved in three stalking incidents

• In the time period between the two shootings, Cho sent a DVD to NBC news explaining the reasons for his actions

A Date to Be Remembered

• On April 16, 2007 Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting rampage, killing 32 people and wounding many others before killing himself

• This was the deadliest shooting rampage by a single gunman in American History

Leading Up to the Massacre

• During February and March Cho began purchasing weapons for the shooting

• He bought a Walther P22 pistol and a Glock 19 pistol

Glock 19

Walther P22

Leading Up to the Massacre

• He had been planning the massacre for months

• During the investigation, police found a note in Cho’s room that criticized many groups of people and also said “you caused me to do this”

West Ambler Johnston Hall

• Cho shot his first victims around 7:15 a.m. in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 894 students

• He shot and killed 22 year old Ryan Clark, and 19 year old Emily Hilscher, a girl who he was accused of stalking

Norris Hall Shooting• About 2 hours after the first

shooting, Cho entered Norris Hall

• He chained the main three entrances shut

• Cho began his attack on an advanced hydrology engineering class, killing the professor and nine of the thirteen students

Norris Hall Shooting• He then went across the

hall to room 207, also killing the professor and more students

• He then fired shots at students in the hallway and classrooms

• After this 12 minute attack, Cho had killed 30 people and wounded 17 more

The End of a Massacre• Police took almost 5

minutes to gain entry to the building because of the locks Cho had used

• As police reached the second floor, they heard Cho’s final shot and found him dead in room 211

Heroes of the Shooting• Professor Liviu Librescu held the door

of his classroom shut while Cho attempted to enter it. Librescu was able to prevent the shooter from entering the classroom until most of his students escaped through the windows, but he was shot multiple times through the door

• Jocelyn Couture-Nowak tried to save the students in her classroom, after looking Cho in the eye in the hallway and also trying to barricade the door

Heroes of the Shooting• Student Zach Petkewicz barricaded the door of

room 205 with a large table. No one in that room was harmed

• Katelyn Carney, Derek O'Dell, Trey Perkins, and Erin Sheehan barricaded the door of room 207, the German class, after the first attack and tended to the wounded. Cho returned minutes later but O'Dell, Perkins, and Carney prevented him from re-entering the room.

A National Horror• During the two attacks,

Cho killed 5 faculty members and 27 students before committing suicide

• He also wounded 17 other people; 6 more were injured when they jumped from second-story windows to escape.

Virginia Tech’s Response

• Virginia Tech canceled classes for the rest of the week, closed Norris Hall for the remainder of the semester, and held an assembly and candlelight vigil on April 17th

• They formed the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund (HSMF) to help remember and honor the victims

Nation’s Response• Hundreds of other

colleges and universities throughout the United States responded to the incident with their own memorial services

• Some schools offered cash donations and other forms of support

Penn State students pay tribute to the students that were killed during a Nittany Lions football game

Aftermath• This was the deadliest

shooting by a single gunman in American history

• College security increases as colleges try to prevent future shootings

• The country mourned the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre

By Brian Laskin