Act 1: Finger Pointing

Yesterday, Virginia Tech was faced with a terrible tragedy when a student opened fire on other students, killing at least 30 and injuring several others.

Just hours after the incident, the finger-pointing had already begun. Before all of the next of kin could be notified...even before all of the victims, or even the shooter, could be identified.

Now the questions are flying: why did the president of Virginia Tech wait so long before instituting a campus-wide lock down? Why was there a two-hour gap between the initial shooting and the lock-down? Is this horrific incident the fault of the president & head of security of Virginia Tech because they didn't immediately lock the entire campus down?

This discussion is inane and childish; it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and it is an insult to the president and head of security of Virginia Tech.

From what I have gathered from reports I have heard and read about this incident, the initial shooting was the result of a domestic dispute between the shooter and his girlfriend; It is suspected that, Cho Seung-hui, the shooter, got into an argument with his girlfriend because he suspected that she was cheating on him. An arbiter was sent to try and resolve the argument; Cho shot both his girlfriend and the arbiter.

This was the initial incident that campus police responded to. At first, it appeared to be a murder-suicide; after further investigation it looked more along the lines of a double-murder, but even at that point there did not appear to be much cause for a campus-wide lock down, because the killer had fled; there was little, if any, reason to suspect that he was still on campus.

Information now coming out of the investigation shows that Cho had been planning this shooting for some time - he bought one of the guns just over a month ago; sections of chain similar to that used to chain the doors of the building where the shooting occurred were found in Cho's dorm room. There is also speculation that Cho was the one who called in the bomb threat to Virginia Tech last week, so that he could gauge how, and how quickly authorities would respond, so that he could plan accordingly.

There is no evidence to support assertions by the press that this tragedy is somehow the fault of Virginia Tech's president or head of security. It was not the fault of school administration; it was not the fault of gun laws. It was the fault of a deeply disturbed student, determined to take the lives of others. To the press, I say this: Let the parents, relatives, and friends of these kids mourn their dead, and rejoice for those who were spared. To start pointing fingers and trying to assign blame to school administration and security, or to turn this tragedy into some sort of political debate is irresponsible, callous, and inexcusable.