This Day in History: 16 April 2020
16 April 2007
13 years ago, today, 32 people tragically died after being gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech, by a student at the college, Seung-Hui Cho, who later died by suicide. This shooting began at around 7:15am, when Cho shot a female student and male resident assistant in a campus dormitory, before fleeing the building. Police soon rushed to the scene, but were unaware of the gunman's identity, resulting in an inaccurate pursuit of the female victim's boyfriend, in what they believed to be a domestic-violence incident. However, around 2 hours later, Cho entered a classroom building, chained and locked several main doors, and went room to room shooting people. Shortly after this rampage, he died from suicide, as he shot himself.
This incident left 32 people dead, of which 27 were students, and 5 were faculty members. Two days later, NBC News received a package from Cho, with a timestamp revealing that it had been sent between the two attacks. In the package, photos were found of Cho wielding a gun, with a video diatribe, where he ranted about the wealthy 'brats' of Virginia Tech. Later, authorities found no evidence that Cho had specifically targeted any of his victims, but it was revealed that he had a history of mental health problems and was described as by students as a loner who rarely spoke to anyone. In addition, Cho had submitted angry writings for some class assignments that did raise concerns among his professors and students, before the attack. Virginia Tech was later fined for failing to issue a campus warning after Cho shot his first victims.
Want to find out more about the tragic Virginia Tech shooting? Click here for more information.
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