Virginia Tech shooter news stories on Newser

Virginia Tech Victim a Vet, Dad of 5

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:21:30 CST

Deriek W. Crouse, the police officer killed yesterday during a traffic stop on the Virginia Tech campus, was a 39-year-old Army veteran and father of five. He and the suspected shooter, who was apparently found dead nearby, were shot with the same handgun, police confirmed today. The suspect is believed...

Virginia Tech Appeals $55K Shooting Rampage Fine

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:59:52 CDT

Just shy of one month after it was slapped with $55,000 in federal fines for waiting too long to notify that campus during the 2007 shooting rampage, Virginia Tech has filed an appeal. State AG Kenneth Cuccinelli yesterday called the Department of Education's findings "absolutely appalling," and explained an...

Found: Missing Mental Health Records of Va. Tech Shooter

Matt Cantor — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:42:02 CDT

The mental health records of the gunman behind the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre have been found in the home of a former director of the university’s clinic, reports the AP. Seung-Hui Cho’s records were illegally taken from the clinic more than a year before the attack, says a memo from...

Student Held in Fatal Virginia Tech Stabbing

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:50:16 CST

A Chinese graduate student has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a female student in a cafeteria of the Virginia Tech campus. The death was the first campus killing since a suicidal gunman shot dead 32 in 2007. A student alert system devised after that attack was launched when...

Pastor: Killer Possessed by 'Demonic Power'

Dustin Lushing — Sun, 06 May 2007 21:44:53 CDT

The mother of Seung Hui Cho sought spiritual healing for her angry, troubled son, the Washington Post reports in an examination of the Virginia Tech shooter's mental state. The head pastor of the One Mind Church in Woodbridge, Virginia, said his church was approached last summer to help deliver the...

Virginia Closes Lethal Gun Loophole

J. Kelman — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:19:51 CDT

Virginia governor Tim Kaine has issued an executive order closing the loophole that allowed Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui to purchase a gun, the AP reports. Effective immediately, Virginians diagnosed as dangerously mentally ill will be added to a national database that gun-store owners use for background checks. The order...

Police Search for Answers at VT

Colleen Barry — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 06:14:36 CDT

The Post reports on the ongoing probe into the Virginia Tech shootings, with police reconstructing details of gunman Cho Seung-Hui's movements and searching for motives. Questions include whether Emily Hilscher, his first victim, was a random target, and the possibility that someone else mailed Cho's manifesto to NBC News.

Cho's Family: "He Has Made The World Weep. We Are Living A Nightmare"

Caroline Miller — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:29:17 CDT

The secluded family of the Virginia Tech gunman broke its silence today with a pained statement from his sister Sun-Kyung Cho, a Princeton grad who works as a contractor for the State Department. The family feels "hopeless, helpless and lost," she wrote, and is "deeply sorry" for his "unspeakable actions,...

Profs Worried By Shooter's Morbid Writing

Peter Fearon — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 06:44:54 CDT

Cho Seung-Hui frightened students and teachers in Virginia Tech’s English department with morbid writing. Poet Nikki Giovanni had to extract Cho from her creative writing course when her students began skipping class out of fear of him. Cho spoke in whispers, hid behind sunglasses, and took surreptitious pictures of fellow...