WORLD / America
Va. Tech gunman 'well-prepared' to go on
(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-22 08:54
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman who killed 30 people at a Virginia Tech
building was "well-prepared" to continue his shooting spree with more
than 200 additional rounds of ammunition, a state panel was told Monday.
Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum, left, and another officer
exit Ambler Johnson Hall while leading a tour of Virginia Gov. Timothy M.
Kaine's Independent Virginia Tech Incident Review Pane on The Virginia
Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, May 21 2007. [AP]
Police found 203 live rounds in Norris Hall, where Seung-Hui Cho killed
25 students and five faculty members before committing suicide on April
16, State Police Superintendent William Flaherty told a panel
investigating the massacre. Cho also shot two other students elsewhere.
"He was well-prepared to continue on," Flaherty said.
Cho fired 174 shots from two handguns on the second floor in a span of
nine minutes, taking his own life at 9:51 a.m. as police on the stairwell
approached the floor, Flaherty said.
Asked to describe Cho's shooting method, Flaherty said, "I would describe
it as very deliberate. There seemed to be nothing panicky at all."
Earlier, after hearing testimony from a Virginia Tech attorney that
privacy laws prohibit release of students' mental health and other
records, panel member Tom Ridge said the group needs to find a way to
gain access to Cho's records.
"We'd be remiss if we didn't do a real deep dive into this area," said
Ridge, the former US Homeland Security chief.
Cho was found "mentally ill and in need of hospitalization" in December
2005, according to court papers. A judge ordered him into involuntary
outpatient treatment, but there is no indication that Cho complied.
University counsel Kay Heidbreder said student privacy rights prevent
release of most records. Even within the university, the records cannot
be shared among departments, she said.
Ridge said that he understood that privacy rights are necessary, but that
he believes in this case the panel should do what it can to get Cho's
records.
Panel chairman W. Gerald Massengill said the group would be willing to
receive the information in closed session if necessary.
Cho's family, which would have access to the records, has cooperated so
far, Flaherty told reporters.
Also Monday, the panel visited the two buildings where the shootings
occurred. The tour included a more than two-hour private briefing,
featuring a presentation by Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum,
who led the initial response to the shootings.
Such information will not be made public until police meet with victims'
families, Flaherty said.
It was helpful to hear about the shootings from people who were there and
to view the shooting sites, Massengill said.
"I've seen and heard a lot in my career," said Massengill, a former State
Police superintendent who oversaw the agency's response to the Sept. 11
attack on the Pentagon and the 2002 Washington-area sniper attacks. "This
is almost undescribable."
The panel toured West Ambler Johnston Hall, the dormitory where the first
two students were killed, and the classrooms of Norris Hall.
The briefing and tour were closed under provisions of the Virginia
Freedom of Information Act that protect students' privacy and briefings
by law enforcement agencies. Reporters for several news organizations had
objected, saying it did not appear the grounds for closing the meeting
were properly applied.
During the open portion of the meeting, Massengill asked Tech president
Charles Steger whether he thought the contents of the first e-mail the
school sent to students and employees should have been more specific. The
mass e-mail sent at 9:26 a.m. - more than two hours after the first
shooting - said police were investigating a shooting at West Ambler
Johnston and warned students to be cautious and contact police about
anything suspicious.
Massengill asked Steger whether the e-mail should have said, "We've had a
shooting and the shooter has not been apprehended."
Said Steger: "The most prevalent question I get is that question."
He said university officials were worried about causing panic on campus.
Steger also noted that police initially thought the shooting was a
domestic dispute, and officers already were questioning a person of
interest.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine created the eight-member panel, asking it to gather
information about the gunman, how the events unfolded, and how the state
and other agencies responded.
Additional meetings are set for next month. Kaine had said he hoped the
panel could complete its review before classes resume in August. The
university also is conducting its own review, which it expects to
complete by late August.
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