My sincere sympathies go out to those who've lost loved ones.
My heart is breaking for you.
This type of tragedy brings the fact home to me that you never know when your last day on earth will be. I hope to live each day with purpose and let my family and friends know how much I love them.
Meli
Virginia Tech shootings--32 dead, 20+ wounded
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melianndoriath
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Túrin Turambar
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It is ironic, but perhaps appropriate, that I was at the memorial service today for a girl in my class who was killed in a car accident. It was terrible to see how much is wasted and how many lives are deeply hurt or affected through the death of one young person. I honestly can’t imagine that same thing thirty-two times over. Thirty-two such memorial services? It’s hard to imagine.
This is horrible.
One Prof killed is from India and taught a friend's friend at Virginia Tech. As soon as you know someone who knows someone affected, the whole thing becomes so personal and so upsetting that its impossible to not get really upset about it.
One Prof killed is from India and taught a friend's friend at Virginia Tech. As soon as you know someone who knows someone affected, the whole thing becomes so personal and so upsetting that its impossible to not get really upset about it.
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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axordil
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I've been mulling over what for me is the strangest part of the story...the two hours between the dorms and the classrooms. Not what the college did or didn't do, that's a mistake that I can understand.
What I don't understand is what the guy did for two hours. What do you do when you've just killed two people, and are waiting for 9 AM and classes/exams to start so you can kill a lot more, and then yourself? Go to Starbucks? Write a note? Hang out on Facebook?
Witnesses say he was laughing in the classrooms as he shot. How monstrous. How human.
I think I will read The Waste Land again.
What I don't understand is what the guy did for two hours. What do you do when you've just killed two people, and are waiting for 9 AM and classes/exams to start so you can kill a lot more, and then yourself? Go to Starbucks? Write a note? Hang out on Facebook?
Witnesses say he was laughing in the classrooms as he shot. How monstrous. How human.
I think I will read The Waste Land again.
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Rowanberry
- Bregalad's Lost Entwife
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And, the shooter's motives seem to have had to do with unrequited love. Apparently, one of the first victims was his ex-girlfriend.
What is it that makes some people overreact this badly?
What is it that makes some people overreact this badly?
See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.
~ Lao Tzu
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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I seem to be unable to talk about this without bringing up these charged subjects. I'm going to again split this latest osgiliation that I have caused into a new thread in Lasto Beth Lammen so that this thread can continue to be used for expressions of grief and sympathy.
The new thread is here
The new thread is here
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
One Indian girl is missing. Now I know someone who knew her really well too. And I know her family history and how much hard this is going to be for her family members... and.... oh jeez.... 
I don't mean to imply that its not going to be hard for everyone else. Its just that when you know personal details, when you know someone who knew someone.... its so close, so personal, so much more scarier and so less of "another bad incident". Do you know what I mean?
I don't mean to imply that its not going to be hard for everyone else. Its just that when you know personal details, when you know someone who knew someone.... its so close, so personal, so much more scarier and so less of "another bad incident". Do you know what I mean?
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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I'm sorry, Mahima. 
And I do know what you mean, though I don't know anyone (I think) directly linked to this tragedy.
(I was reading an SF board and learned that the son of SF writer Michael Bishop is among the dead. )
And I do know what you mean, though I don't know anyone (I think) directly linked to this tragedy.(I was reading an SF board and learned that the son of SF writer Michael Bishop is among the dead.
)“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
It's not love, Rowan, I don't think. It's ownership. As Granny Weatherwax would say, it's treating people as things.Rowanberry wrote:And, the shooter's motives seem to have had to do with unrequited love. Apparently, one of the first victims was his ex-girlfriend.
What is it that makes some people overreact this badly?
It seems, also, that because the first murder was "explained" by unrequited love, the police treated it as a "domestic dispute". Did they assume that the killer got it out of his system and was now on the run?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
yeah ... I had an email from one of my students that a high-school friend is missing. It must be just the sickest feeling to know someone at VA Tech and not be able to reach them ... and of course the phone lines must be tied up in knots.
When I was a freshman in college, during the Vietnam war, the ROTC building on our campus was bombed, and it happened to be right next to my dorm. The dorm caught fire and one wing was completely destroyed. Not my wing, lucky for me on that occassion, and no one was injured because we had enough time to evacuate. But we were sitting in our underwear and nightshirts on the lawn of the basketball stadium across the street, taking turns calling our parents from the stadium phones, and it was about 3:00 am, I guess. And my parents were mildly pissed that I couldn't have waited until 8:00 am to call them. I was out of state, you know, so it's not like they could drive over and bring me home. Now that I'm a parent I have a better understanding of what goes through your head when the phone rings in the middle of the night, but thinking back to that time, who the heck wants to take the chance that your parents will be up and about and watching the 6:00am news and find out that your dorm was felled by a bomb the previous night? Something like that happens and your first thought is to tell everyone who cares that you're still alive, right? So all I've been thinking about all day are the parents who are trying to get calls through to campus, or to cell phones ... what they must be feeling if there is no answer.
Jn
When I was a freshman in college, during the Vietnam war, the ROTC building on our campus was bombed, and it happened to be right next to my dorm. The dorm caught fire and one wing was completely destroyed. Not my wing, lucky for me on that occassion, and no one was injured because we had enough time to evacuate. But we were sitting in our underwear and nightshirts on the lawn of the basketball stadium across the street, taking turns calling our parents from the stadium phones, and it was about 3:00 am, I guess. And my parents were mildly pissed that I couldn't have waited until 8:00 am to call them. I was out of state, you know, so it's not like they could drive over and bring me home. Now that I'm a parent I have a better understanding of what goes through your head when the phone rings in the middle of the night, but thinking back to that time, who the heck wants to take the chance that your parents will be up and about and watching the 6:00am news and find out that your dorm was felled by a bomb the previous night? Something like that happens and your first thought is to tell everyone who cares that you're still alive, right? So all I've been thinking about all day are the parents who are trying to get calls through to campus, or to cell phones ... what they must be feeling if there is no answer.
Jn
A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell.
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BrianIsSmilingAtYou
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No, I think that there were two dead in the dorm, a man and a woman. The police initially believed it was a murder-suicide, so there was no one to look for--at least,this is the impression I got from some of the news reports.Frelga wrote:It's not love, Rowan, I don't think. It's ownership. As Granny Weatherwax would say, it's treating people as things.Rowanberry wrote:And, the shooter's motives seem to have had to do with unrequited love. Apparently, one of the first victims was his ex-girlfriend.
What is it that makes some people overreact this badly?
It seems, also, that because the first murder was "explained" by unrequited love, the police treated it as a "domestic dispute". Did they assume that the killer got it out of his system and was now on the run?
BrianIs
Atyou
All of my nieces and nephews at my godson/nephew Nicholas's Medical School graduation. Now a neurosurgical resident at University of Arizona, Tucson.
I hope that's not what they thought. It's not like you can shoot yourself and THEN throw the gun down a storm sewer.
Yes. I know what you mean.Mahima wrote:One Indian girl is missing. Now I know someone who knew her really well too. And I know her family history and how much hard this is going to be for her family members... and.... oh jeez....
I don't mean to imply that its not going to be hard for everyone else. Its just that when you know personal details, when you know someone who knew someone.... its so close, so personal, so much more scarier and so less of "another bad incident". Do you know what I mean?
One of the women in our bible study went to Va Tech, and is from that area. She knew many of the kids in Norris Hall that day, through family and friends.
None of the kids of her acquaintance were injured, but she did say that one of them called her, sobbing, describing a horrible scene she witnessed, as she stood outside the building. Officials were carrying bloodied, dead bodies from the building, and the area was utterly silent.
Except for the sounds of sobbing, of course, and the persistant ringing of cell phones in the pockets of those dead kids, as their parents tried desperately to reach them.
"What do you fear, lady?" Aragorn asked.
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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My brother is a freshman at VT; my cousin is a fifth-year senior there. 30 students from their high school are current students. All of them are fine.
Well, at least not part of this, anyway.
My cousin was in class in the building next door, and heard gun shots. My brother was also in class, in another building next to Norris. He and his classmates had all gotten the e-mail about the earlier dorm murder, and were asking "Why are we in class taking a quiz? Why aren't we locked down?" I think that question is going to be asked repeatedly, and I hope for the sake of the people who made the decision that they had a good reason (or at least thought they did). It would be...devastating...to find out that they were just trying to avoid publicity for another lockdown of campus after the incident in September. I hope that isn't what happened.
My brother called my parents and let them both know he was okay before the news hit the web. When my Dad got off the phone with him, CNN still had nothing on it...within minutes, they reported the early murder of two people. After the news hit, it was of course impossible to call.
As for the first incident. The deaths were a girl and an RA who responded to the shooting. I am not sure if there were injuries or not, or if they had witnesses. They took the girl's boyfriend into custody, and were questioning him when the second spate of shootings occurred. The murderer was her ex-bf (or stalker, or whatever). So, that is why they thought it was 'domestic,' but I think they figured out the shooter was at large...they just thought he had left campus?? I'm sure more information will come out later.
I'm more upset with the press for flashing up his parents' house address. They video taped the street, and narrowed in on both the street sign and the house number, after telling us what town it was. He was 23 years old - his parents do not need to answer for his behavior and probably have more than enough to deal with right now without that sort of publicity.
My brother and cousin have decided to stay there this week. My brother's gf has a sorority sister who is among the wounded (which means three gunshot wounds, ugh); I have not yet heard if he personally knew any of the victims - as far as I know, it's just friend of friend stuff at this point. My best friend's sister is a sophomore engineering student, and she knew at least two of the teachers who were killed. Everyone who is associated with the school is affected by it, though, even if they didn't know the victims - they all saw the line of ambulances by the drill field, and went to the Vigil (or watched it on TV), etc.
For anyone who is interested, consider wearing orange and maroon tomorrow:
>Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare
>this Friday, April 20th, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor
>those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support
>for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and
>friends. "Orange and Maroon Effect" was born several years ago as an
>invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech
>athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a
>part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon
>to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the
>school and community we all love so much.
Well, at least not part of this, anyway.
My cousin was in class in the building next door, and heard gun shots. My brother was also in class, in another building next to Norris. He and his classmates had all gotten the e-mail about the earlier dorm murder, and were asking "Why are we in class taking a quiz? Why aren't we locked down?" I think that question is going to be asked repeatedly, and I hope for the sake of the people who made the decision that they had a good reason (or at least thought they did). It would be...devastating...to find out that they were just trying to avoid publicity for another lockdown of campus after the incident in September. I hope that isn't what happened.
My brother called my parents and let them both know he was okay before the news hit the web. When my Dad got off the phone with him, CNN still had nothing on it...within minutes, they reported the early murder of two people. After the news hit, it was of course impossible to call.
As for the first incident. The deaths were a girl and an RA who responded to the shooting. I am not sure if there were injuries or not, or if they had witnesses. They took the girl's boyfriend into custody, and were questioning him when the second spate of shootings occurred. The murderer was her ex-bf (or stalker, or whatever). So, that is why they thought it was 'domestic,' but I think they figured out the shooter was at large...they just thought he had left campus?? I'm sure more information will come out later.
I'm more upset with the press for flashing up his parents' house address. They video taped the street, and narrowed in on both the street sign and the house number, after telling us what town it was. He was 23 years old - his parents do not need to answer for his behavior and probably have more than enough to deal with right now without that sort of publicity.
My brother and cousin have decided to stay there this week. My brother's gf has a sorority sister who is among the wounded (which means three gunshot wounds, ugh); I have not yet heard if he personally knew any of the victims - as far as I know, it's just friend of friend stuff at this point. My best friend's sister is a sophomore engineering student, and she knew at least two of the teachers who were killed. Everyone who is associated with the school is affected by it, though, even if they didn't know the victims - they all saw the line of ambulances by the drill field, and went to the Vigil (or watched it on TV), etc.
For anyone who is interested, consider wearing orange and maroon tomorrow:
>Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare
>this Friday, April 20th, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor
>those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support
>for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and
>friends. "Orange and Maroon Effect" was born several years ago as an
>invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech
>athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a
>part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon
>to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the
>school and community we all love so much.
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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ToshoftheWuffingas
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