The Virginia Tech Tragedy

As most of you know, there are 32 dead and many more wounded on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Many are already asking the question, “Why didn’t the university lock down? Where were law enforcement units? Why was the shooter able to wander free for over 2 hours before strolling into a classroom?”

Let us answer some of these, shall we?

The initial shooting was of an ex-girlfriend and a Resident Assistant trying to break up the argument between her and the shooter, making it a domestic incident. With that, law enforcement professionals made the call that this was a contained incident that was not preplanned. They also went on witness accounts that stated the shooter fled the dorm room and campus. They figured he was fleeing the state as they handled the incident, local law enforcement was on alert.

The first email went out about an hour later, right around the time the paramedics were clearing from the first shooting. Remember, the initial incident occurred on the top floor of a building that houses over 900 students. This response time is considered normal in my mind because the time it would take for a campus police department to respond, paramedics to arrive, process and transport the victims. Meanwhile, there are witnesses being interviewed, local agencies being contacted, and theories beginning to spark up over what had happened and where he had gone. Throughout all of this, I am sure someone was making the attempt to contact the administration at the university in order to inform them of the situation. Then a decision is made and an email is cut to the students, classes are already in session campus wide.

They were much better of not allowing classes to end, because that would simply put students outside where the shooter had fled. The one aspect that could have been utilized was locking down those who were currently in class. Even then, and in just about every scenario short of martial law, he would have had large amounts of victims to choose from.

Bottom line: Leave the university, psychologists and law enforcement personnel alone. We rely on our professionals to make the best decision possible based on their training and experience. Just because a unique individual comes along and does the unthinkable does not mean we should be crucifying those who, in their best efforts, did what they could to help.

Instead, shouldn’t we be focusing on condemning and showing no tolerance for these actions? Show those in similar situations that they need to reach out to the help at hand…not to a firearm and mass violence.

What is your take on the events of April 16 in Blacksburg?