At least 30 dead in Virginia Tech shooting, CNN calls monumental tragedy

[Delirious]

"I die like Jesus Christ"...

Even psychos are now giving Christianity a bad/false image.

 

[GT Pro]

It is sad, to say the least, but lest this be a reminder that if you see someone in a state such as this man precendently experienced, make an effort to help them; if not for yourself but for society.

 

[sicbeing]

So the first girl he killed wasnt his girlfriend, at the most i think he was just stalking her, during the 2 hour break between shootings he apparantly sent those files to NBC.

 

[Touring Mars]

Excellent post, Omnis 👍

"I die like Jesus Christ"...

Even psychos are now giving Christianity a bad/false image.

Not really... I think we can safely say that this chap had issues. Anyone demented enough to murder 30 innocent young people because of perceived injustices doesn't really deserve for their words to be given much creedence.

 

[Slick Rick]

They put his picture on the front page of the Metro today...

I just think its ridiculous that a person that unstable has easy access to such weapons

 

[Joey D]

With enough money and right connections anyone can get a gun.

 

[FoolKiller]

I just think its ridiculous that a person that unstable has easy access to such weapons

It isn't as if he has unstable written across his forehead or was muttering how he planned to kill everyone. He was just another customer.

 

[Slick Rick]

Hmm, yea but still. Maybe the US could introduce something like a short form you have to fill in when you go to buy a gun that analyses state of mind or something like that. I was reading the paper today and the teacher was describing the student. He was saying he was a loner, he was depressed, he was on medication. Kind of pissed me off that someone like that has access to a gun you know...

 

[Joey D]

Did he get the gun legally? Most murder weapons are stolen or bought from an outside source.

And in the US we do have a process so people like that can't buy hand guns.

 

[Pupik]

With enough money and right connections anyone can get a gun.

He didn't need "connections"; anyone without a felony record can legally buy a gun from a gun shop, provided they are of age and have a valid ID, wait the requisite waiting period, and have the money.

In this case, he apparently met all the criteria. You can't fault the gun shop, they had no prior knowledge or the ability to find out that he was nuts.

 

[Touring Mars]

He did buy them legally...

Most people who wish to procure weapons illegally do so because they don't want to be caught or traced back to a crime they commit with said weapon(s). In the case of a suicidal maniac, however, that really isn't much of a concern.

 

[Joey D]

I thought they ran background checks on you before they sold you the gun...shows what I know.

 

[livemusic]

anyone without a felony record can legally buy a gun from a gun shop

I thought they ran background checks on you before they sold you the gun...shows what I know.

Isn't that a background check?

 

[Joey D]

Yes, but it's not what I was thinking of.

 

[Touring Mars]

You have to wonder why television networks decide to show videos like his. Similarly, when the 'martyrdom video' of one of the 7/7 bombers was repeatedly shown on British TV, I had to question what possible good that was doing - giving a voice to a mass murderer from beyond the grave, and handing these nutjobs a final opportunity to slap the victim's friends and families in the face - with absolutely no right of reply.

 

[Duke]

[The 2-hour delay tells me he had targets in mind.]

The fact still is that police reacted appropriately for what appeared to be a murder of passion.

The fact that they had their main suspect only backs up their case that they had reacted appropriately during those two hours.

Had they suspected the right person it is still questionable whether they would have found him, because he wasn't where he normally would have been.

In fact, though I haven't read the details of the information 'press release' sent to NBC, it looks to me as if the first two murders were almost a smoke screen to confuse and occupy the cops before the real event started. It sounds extremely carefully planned to me.

 

[Joey D]

It's no doubt this was planned. The preparations in order to pull off a killing of this magnitude isn't just a spur of the moment thing.

 

[livemusic]

You have to wonder why television networks decide to show videos like his. Similarly, when the 'martyrdom video' of one of the 7/7 bombers was repeatedly shown on British TV, I had to question what possible good that was doing - giving a voice to a mass murderer from beyond the grave, and handing these nutjobs a final opportunity to slap the victim's friends and families in the face - with absolutely no right of reply.

It's all about the money, they don't care.

 

[Duke]

Much as I utterly dislike Don Henley, his old song Dirty Laundry hits that nail squarely on the head.

 

[FoolKiller]

You have to wonder why television networks decide to show videos like his. Similarly, when the 'martyrdom video' of one of the 7/7 bombers was repeatedly shown on British TV, I had to question what possible good that was doing - giving a voice to a mass murderer from beyond the grave, and handing these nutjobs a final opportunity to slap the victim's friends and families in the face - with absolutely no right of reply.

Ever seen teh movie "15 Minutes" with Kelsey Grammer, Edwarb Burns, and Robert DeNiro(?). Kelsey Grammer plays the news guy that says, "If it bleeds it leads."

In fact, though I haven't read the details of the information 'press release' sent to NBC, it looks to me as if the first two murders were almost a smoke screen to confuse and occupy the cops before the real event started. It sounds extremely carefully planned to me.

Before I go on all my future statements should be preempted by, "based on what I have heard," because the more I hear the more things sound like rumors or speculation bouncing all over the place.

That said, I have heard that his bag contained a receipt from a gun store dated in March and I have heard that he chained the doors when he went on the big spree. Most classroom buildings I know of on campuses have more than one door so I an skeptical about the chain thing. However, if the receipt is true then I think we can guarantee that he planned on doing something and the theory that the first two shootings was a smoke screen seems to sound very sound.

 

[Joey D]

It's against fire code to only have one door in a large room as far as I know. Every class room on Oakland's campus has at least 2 doors, I can't imagine it's different anywhere else.

 

[Touring Mars]

Looks like NBC are already drawing criticism for releasing the video footage. At the very least, it's incredibly insensitive and (in my opinion) immensely disrespectful to the victims and their families to release this footage so soon, if at all...

 

[sicbeing]

every 5 minutes today and last night on every entertainment news channel, theyve been showing and showing and showing this footage. I was already sick of watching this on tuesday, and now I'm way over seeing this guy.

One thing that I think would be interesting to read is whatever he sent via note, the document with (I think) 20-30 pages of writing?

By the way I can't stand the way this psycho talks.

 

[Swift]

Looks like NBC are already drawing criticism for releasing the video footage. At the very least, it's incredibly insensitive and (in my opinion) immensely disrespectful to the victims and their families to release this footage so soon, if at all...

Ratings ALWAYS trump decency.

But I agree with you TM.

 

[ledhed]

Its odd but if all the existing laws were actually followed....this fellow would have been unable to purchase a weapon legally.

He also would be under care, And NOT on a campus.

So again I must ask if we are not enforcing existing laws how will new ones help ?

 

[backspace]

Its odd but if all the existing laws were actually followed....this fellow would have been unable to purchase a weapon legally.

Be realistic, do you think he would be concerned if he obtained his weapons legally if his intent was to go on a shooting spree?

 

[ledhed]

Be realistic, do you think he would be concerned if he obtained his weapons legally if his intent was to go on a shooting spree?

He also would be under care, And NOT on a campus.

You missed a part. your point is moot .



Sure a guy who was a known loner with mental problems and was known not to have many or ANY friends and was from a different country and known to have been bullied in school and was actually 302 'd ..foricibly commited for mental health care ...because he was considered a danger to himself and others...


Now I am POSITIVE this guy had many criminal connections and knew where to get a gun illegally .....uh huh....In Virginia where you buy one at a corner store...yup..

BTW you totally missed the point about IF everyone followed existing laws ..
He not only would have NOT been able to purchase a weapon legally ....but he would have been in the mental health system .

HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN COLLEGE .


He may have decided to use the intenet and learn how to build a pipe bomb or ten ...and blown up a nursery school.

So tell me why did you take only one line of my post out of context and use it to quote me ?

 

[Scaff]

Well a certain tabloid rag in the UK has already started to link to films, etc.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=449604&in_page_id=1811

The Daily Mail (among others) is claiming a link to the film Oldboy..

He had carefully modelled some of his on-screen poses on those of the anti-hero in the award-winning Korean movie, called Oldboy.

But in fact he needn't have bothered. This was a horror film in its own right, and far more disturbing than fiction.

A photograph showing Cho with a gun to his head displays striking parallels with the Oldboy clip. The picture that shows Cho wielding a hammer high above his right shoulder is an almost identical pose to the one from the movie, right down to the gruesome snarl on his face.

..and...

Now he was about to play the leading role in a sickening finale to what would become America's most devastating gun massacre.

In his twisted mind he carried images of a violent Korean movie that appears to have scripted his thoughts.

In print the Daily mail has also stated that people have said he was a fan of violent video games and that his musical taste was also a factor.

While the press (particularly the Daily Mail) making these claims is hardly surprising it does annoy me.

Regards

Scaff

 

[Touring Mars]

Trust the Daily Mail ... the fact that the guy was crazy is incidental, presumably?

 

[FoolKiller]

In print the Daily mail has also stated that people have said he was a fan of violent video games and that his musical taste was also a factor.

From what I can tell the only person who has managed to push this without being deterred or contradicting himself is none other than Jack Thompson.

It all started when he called into Fox News during their live coverage as the event was still happening, taking full advantage of the situation to push his agenda.
Kotaku has the video and does the research to discount most of his statements.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/feature-dissecting-jacks-lies-252914.php

Then On Larry King Dr. Phil had a moment of insanity when he said:

And you know are they treatable? They're usually dead after something like this happens because the police take them out or they take themselves out. The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me -- common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high. And we're going to have to start dealing with that. We're going to have to start addressing those issues and recognizing that the mass murders of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose.

I thought he was about to take this in the right direction when he admitted they were psycopath/sociopaths first, but then came back and said we are being programmed to kill. He offers no evidence to back any of this up other than his "common sense" which is how he seems to solve everything.

Then in a move that surprised me Rush Limbaugh shot down a caller who tried to blame this on video games.
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/04/18/...s-video-games-involvement-in-va-tech-rampage/

And then Jack Thompson went on Hardball with Chris Matthews and for the first time since this whole thing started someone in the media questioned him.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/hardball/clip-jack-thompson-gets-hardballed-253501.php




I think this recent media finger-pointing has finally pushed too many buttons. A group in New York is protesting the finger pointing on May 5th.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-6177310-7.html



I have a feeling that so many people are trying to use this to bolster their political agenda, and even push through new laws, that there will be a rash of video-game legislation. Then we will go months, or even years with courts overturning them as unconstitutional and wasting money.

As ledhed pointed out, if we had just reacted to his apparently obvious mental state this might not have happened, regardless of what media he was involved with.