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Thu April 19th, 2007
You have blood on your hands - Cho
The student who killed 32 people in the United States' worst shooting rampage paused between shootings to mail video clips, photographs of himself brandishing weapons and profanity-laced writings to news network NBC, police say.
Cho Seung-hui, the student, said: "You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option."
NBC said the material included videos and a rambling manifesto-type statement which appeared to have been sent during the two-hour interval between the first and second shooting incidents at Virginia Tech university on Monday.
Cho said in a video that "this didn't have to happen".
"Now you have blood on your hands that you will never wash off," the 23-year-old said, without making clear whom he was speaking to.
Steven Flaherty, Virginia state police superintendent, said that NBC, which received the package on Wednesday morning, immediately handed the material over to the FBI.
The post office time stamp on the package Cho sent indicates that after he killed two people in a student dormitory, he spent time putting together the package and then went to a nearby post office to mail it about two hours later.
He then proceeded to a classroom building on the campus where he killed 30 people before turning the gun on himself.
'Imminent danger'
The letter, photographs and videos come amid an unfolding picture of a troubled student who had been accused of harassing female students and had been taken to a psychiatric hospital in 2005 on fears he was suicidal.
A Virginia court order issued at the time declared him "mentally ill" and said he presented "an imminent danger to self or others".
Wendell Flinchum, the university police chief, said his officers confronted Cho in late 2005 after two women complained separately that he had harassed them in person, through phone calls and with instant messages.
"I'm not saying they were threats; I'm saying they were annoying," Flinchum said.
After the second incident in December 2005, Cho's roommate warned police he might be suicidal, prompting them to get a "temporary detention order" and send him to a nearby mental health facility for evaluation, Flinchum said.
The women declined to file charges against Cho. Neither was among his victims on Monday, police said.
Teachers' warnings
Cho's teachers had also expressed misgivings.
One of his former teachers, poet Nikki Giovanni, said she had insisted Cho be removed from her class in 2005 because he intimidated other students by photographing them and writing obscene, violent poetry.
Lucinda Roy, chairwoman of the Virginia Tech English department, told Virginia Tech police of her concerns about Cho's disturbing and angry writing assignments.
Despite encounters with the law and his past psychiatric treatment, Cho was able to legally purchase the two handguns he used in the attack.
The shooting has rekindled debate over US gun laws.
Tim Kaine, Virginia's governor, said a panel would review the response to the shootings, an inquiry requested by the university which has defended itself against criticism it waited too long after the first shooting in the dormitory to warn students of danger.
With the Virginia Tech campus still on edge, students got another scare on Wednesday when police swarmed into a building housing the university president's office.
But the report of suspicious activity turned out to be a false alarm.
Gie Kim, head of the Korean American Coalition's Washington chapter, said Cho's parents, who have made no public comment on the shooting, were "still in the grieving process".
32
killed in US campus shooting
Mon April 16th, 2007
At least 32 people have been killed and at least 50 injured
in two separate shootings at a US university campus, according
to police and university reports. The suspected gunman
is believed to be among the fatalities at Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, Virginia, but it is unclear whether he was killed
by police or took his own life.
The university web site said that at least 32 people were
confirmed dead in the wake of the shootings.
Students at the campus were told to stay indoors and away from
windows as police swept the area and worked to establish
whether the gunman acted alone.
The incidents were about two hours apart. Police say they
believe there was one gunman and that he is dead.
The state university in the town of Blacksburg is home to
26,000 students.
"We have a ballpark figure on fatalities. It's at least
30 fatalities," Virginia Tech police chief Wendell
Flinchum said.
Rescue hampered
Speaking at a news conference, Mr Flinchum said that emergency
services had received a call at 0715 (1215 GMT) alerting them
to a multiple shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall.
He said that two hours later there was a second report of
shooting, this time at Norris Hall.
A fleet of ambulances has ferried the injured to nearby
hospitals however, rescue efforts were reportedly hampered by
high winds which meant that medical helicopters could not be
used.
Mr Flinchum said that police believed there had been just one
shooter involved and that he was now dead at Norris Hall.
He said it was unclear if the assailant was a student, but
said that a number of the victims were.
"Some of the victims were shot in a classroom," Mr
Flinchum said.
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we
consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech
President Charles Steger said, adding that the university was
in the process of informing the next of kin of those killed.
Mr Steger said that officials were in the process of
evacuating remaining students and staff from campus and that
the university was now closed. - BBC
BBC Reports
US school siege ends in
bloodshed
28 September 2006
A gunman and one of the teenage girls he was holding hostage
have died after police stormed a school in the US state of
Colorado.
The violent end to the siege in the small mountain town of
Bailey came after the gunman threatened to harm the two female
students he was holding.
The local sheriff said the gunman had shot the hostage and
then himself as police attempted to rescue the girls.
The gunman initially seized six girls, but later released four
of them.
The injured girl was taken by helicopter to hospital in
Denver, where she later died. The other girl was unhurt.
'Tactical solution'
Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said police had decided to
storm a second-floor classroom at Platte Canyon High School,
where the two girls were being held, after the gunman broke
off negotiations.
He said the breakdown in communication came 30 minutes before
a deadline the gunman had set.
"It was then decided that a tactical solution needed to
be done in an effort to save the two hostages that were in the
room," Mr Wegener told reporters.
"Officers breached the classroom with explosives and
within seconds the suspect shot at entering Swat (specialised
response unit) officers, then shot one of the two female
hostages, then shot himself."
Mr Wegener said the motives of the gunman - described as being
between 30 and 50 years old - were unknown.
"I don't know the identity of the gunman. I don't know
why he wanted to do this and hopefully the investigation will
reveal who it is."
The incident began when the man entered the school around noon
(1800 GMT) with a gun and a rucksack, which he claimed held an
explosive device, police said.
A newspaper in Park County quoted what appeared to be police
radio reports.
One message described the gunman as arriving at the school
with a handgun and firing a single shot when a teacher refused
to do what he asked.
He then took six hostages. Negotiators later arranged the
release of four of them.
Columbine massacre
Staff and pupils were evacuated from the high school and
nearby Fitzsimmons Middle School while a bomb squad and Swat
teams were deployed from neighbouring Jefferson County.
The two schools have nearly 800 students between them.
It was in Jefferson County in 1999 where two students killed
13 people at Columbine High School before taking their own
lives.
Bailey lies 56km (35 miles) south-west of the state capital,
Denver.
Columbine killers' words
released
Fri July 7th, 2006
Police in the US have released almost 1,000 pages of diary
entries, school work and computer files written by the
Columbine High School killers.
Among the papers are maps, drawings and lists of supplies
needed before Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire.
The supplies listed included petrol, nails, and propane.
Meticulous preparations for the deadly attack were also set
out.
The teenagers killed 13 people and themselves on 20 April
1999.
In total police have released thousands of documents since the
shootings in Littleton, Colorado, which remain the worst US
high school attack.
But the latest information includes new details about the
pair's planning and thoughts in the months leading up the
attack.
So many people need to die
Dylan Klebold
"Once I finally start my killing, keep this in
mind," Harris wrote in his diary in October 1998.
"There are probably about 100 people max in the school
alone who I don't want to die, the rest MUST [expletive]
DIE!"
His co-conspirator Dylan Klebold was no less direct:
"Hell on Earth - ahh, my favourite," he wrote in
Harris' 1998 yearbook.
"So many people need to die."
Meticulous
The documents include essays offering a chilling insight into
the minds of the would-be killers.
Months before the shootings, Harris wrote a school essay about
guns in school, another about "Nazi Culture", and
one about convicted killer Charles Manson.
The boys' drawings and writings had a violent theme
Klebold's writings predicted "more fun this school year
than any others in the past".
Detailed lists and approximate timings for the eventual
shootings are also in the documents.
In Klebold's diary the events of 20 April 1999 appear to be
planned in advance.
The documents, which join an estimated 20,000 documents
already released by investigators, confirm a fascination with
guns, violence, weapons and death by Harris and Klebold.
Some victims' families have long maintained that the boys'
plans should have been unearthed in advance, and continue to
call for full disclosure of all information relevant to the
shootings.
Police refused to release videos and audiotapes made by the
pair amid fears they could spark copycat killings.
Two die in US school
shooting
Thursday April 24th, 2007
A 14-year-old boy has killed his head teacher in a shooting
incident at a school in the American state of Pennsylvania,
before turning the gun on himself.
Students were traumatised by the attack Police officers were
called to the Red Lion Junior School shortly before the start
of lessons following reports of gunfire in the school
cafeteria.
They found two victims - the student and the school principal,
Dr Eugene Segro.
The principal was taken to hospital, but pronounced dead on
arrival.
The police say the boy, who has not been named, had come to
school carrying several handguns.
A number of other students were in the cafeteria at the time
of the shooting - they are receiving counselling.
At this stage there is no indication of a possible motive.
This is the latest in a string of fatal shootings at American
schools.
It comes almost exactly four years after the killings at
Columbine High School in Colorado in which 14 students and a
teacher died.
1999: Students 'kill dozens'
at Denver school
A shooting spree by two American high school students is
feared to have left up to 25 people dead and injured at least
15 others.
The students, wearing balaclavas and trench coats, rampaged
through Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado, firing
automatic weapons and throwing homemade bombs.
The bodies of the two suspects, who had apparently shot
themselves, were later found in the library.
Explosive devices are said to have been found on or near the
suspects' bodies.
They have been named as Eric Harris, 18, and 17-year-old Dylan
Klebold.
'Trench coat mafia'
The pair are said to have belonged to a group known as the
"trench coat mafia" who boasted about owning guns
and were alienated from the other children.
One girl told police she was in the library when one of the
boys burst in and began firing shots.
"He said he would kill everyone who had been mean to him
and his friends over the last year," she said.
Other witnesses said the gunmen were targeting students from
ethnic minorities and popular athletes.
As FBI agents and specialist firearms teams made their way
through the carnage, a bomb set on a time device exploded.
At least 12 other bombs were found throughout the school, said
police.
Three people believed to be friends of the suspects were
arrested and were led away in handcuffs.
But a police spokeswoman said they were not thought to be
directly involved in the shootings.
Columbine High School - which has 1,800 pupils - is situated
in the middle-class suburb of Littleton.
US President Bill Clinton has sent his condolences to the
town.
"The prayers of the American people are with you,"
he said
Timeline: US school
shootings
The BBC News website charts the history of gun violence
in US schools.
April 2007: A gunman shoots dead at least 20 people
at the campus of Virginia Tech university in Virginia.
October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at
least five girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before
killing himself
September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and
fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two
days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in
Cazenovia, Wisconsin
November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an
assistant principal and wounds two other administrators
March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then
shoots himself
May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a
school in Maryland
April 2003: Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a
Pennsylvania school, then kills himself
March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in
California, killing two students
February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by
classmate in Michigan
November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a
classmate in New Mexico
May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in
Georgia
April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and
a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in
Colorado
June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage
student at high school in Virginia
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the
head after taking a girl hostage
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students
in school cafeteria in Oregon
April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher
and wounds two students in Pennsylvania
March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and
a teacher in Arkansas
December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three
students in Kentucky
October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother,
then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi,
injuring several others
esinislam.com + Agencies
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