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Roundup: the Virginia Tech murderer
The New York Times : Federal investigators said Mr. Cho left behind a note that they described as a lengthy, rambling and bitter list of complaints focusing on moral laxity and double-dealing he found among what he viewed as wealthier and more privileged students on campus.The first shooting, at the dorm: After two people, Emily Jane Hilscher, a freshman, and Ryan Clark, the resident adviser whose room was nearby in the dormitory, were shot dead, the campus police began searching for Karl D. Thornhill, who was described in Internet memorials as Ms. Hilschers boyfriend. According to a search warrant filed by the police, Ms. Hilschers roommate had told the police that Mr. Thornhill, a student at nearby Radford University, had guns at his town house. The roommate told the police that she had recently been at a shooting range with Mr. Thornhill, the affidavit said, leading the police to believe he may have been the gunman. But as they were questioning Mr. Thornhill, reports came in of widespread shooting at Norris Hall, making it clear that they had not contained the threat on campus. Mr. Thornhill was not arrested, although he continues to be an important witness in the case. After the shootings, the state police executed another search warrant, this time for Mr. Chos dormitory room. The warrant said a bomb threat against the engineering school buildings was found near Mr. Chos body. The warrant mentioned two other bomb threat notes against the campus received over the past three weeks. Mr. Cho had used two handguns, a 9-millimeter and a .22-caliber, to shoot dozens of rounds, leaving even those who survived with multiple bullet wounds, officials said. The guns were bought legally in March and April. Colonel Flaherty said that although one of those guns had been used in the dormitory shooting, investigators were not ready to conclude that the same gunman was responsible for both episodes. Officers also found several knives on Mr. Chos body. They first identified him by a drivers license found in a backpack near the scene of the shootings, although it was not clear at first whether the backpack belonged to the gunman. But the name was checked against a visa application, and when a fingerprint on one of the weapons matched a print on the visa application, the authorities made a positive identification. The print matched another print left in the first shooting location. Prescription medications said to be related to treatment of psychological problems were found among Mr. Chos effects, but officials did not specify what drugs they were. Lucinda Roy, an English professor, said Mr. Chos writing, laced with anger, profanity and violence, concerned several faculty members. In 2005, she sent examples to the campus police, the campus counseling service and other officials. All were worried, but little could be done, she said. Ms. Roy said she would offer to go with Mr. Cho to counseling, just to talk. But he wouldnt say yes, and unfortunately I couldnt force him to do it, she said. Students were also alarmed that Mr. Cho was taking inappropriate pictures of women under desks, she said. The LA Times: Hilshcher's roommate Haugh said today that she didn't think Hilscher knew Cho. And the federal source discounted speculation that Cho had killed Hilscher out of jealousy. Instead, he said, Cho simply seemed to be mad at the world. A second released warrant outlined the search of Cho's dormitory room at Harper Hall on campus. "A bomb threat note was found in the close vicinity of the shooting which occurred near the victims and presumed suspect who is deceased," the affidavit states. "The presumed suspect was believed to have multiple firearms including, but not limited to a Walther P22 and a Glock 9-mm handgun." Markell pulled the paperwork and found that the Glock was sold in his shop 36 days ago for $535. The new gun was sold with two magazines, 15 rounds each. "He obviously had a lot more [ammo] than that," Markell told reporters. The purchaser "was about as clean-cut a kid as you ever want to see, he had all the proper ID." A colleague who actually handled the sale also told Markell that the kid "didn't act fidgety, he just acted normal." For a university that emphasizes engineering, Virginia Tech has a robust English program, with about 500 majors. The department has three tracks -- literature, professional writing and creative writing -- and Cho was in creative writing. "They're smart," Rude said of the department's students. "There's a lot of pressure on students from their parents to follow business and technical-type majors, but then they follow their hearts and they end up here." Stephanie Derry, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, was in a playwriting class with Cho. "We were in a playwriting class together, which is a workshop class, meaning you submit your plays to everyone in it and then we all review the play in class and talk about it," Derry said. "His writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque. He even wrote one play about students being stalked by a teacher. I mean, his kind of writing was pretty peculiar, but when we asked him if he had any comments after we'd reviewed his work, he would just shrug and say nothing." The [UK] Independent: Five weeks ago, the 23-year-old foreign student entered the shop and paid $570 (£284) with a credit card for a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a box of 50 cartridges. He provided three different forms of identification and passed an additional security check carried out by the state police. The checks threw up no red flags. The entire transaction took no more than 20 minutes. "I don't know anything about him. I just sold him the gun," said store owner John Markell. "He had a Virginia driving licence, a cheque book and a green card. Everything was legit - he checked out completely." Mr Markell said that because Cho was a foreign national, he was required to have three forms of identification with him rather than the normal two. "We also rang up the state police. They ran it through the FBI computer," Mr Markell added. "He was here on a student visa." Mr Markell said that officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) visited the store on the afternoon of the shooting - the receipt for the handgun had later been found on Cho - but they had not troubled him further. There had been no suggestion the shop should be closed or that business should be suspended. Mr Markell said he believed the student had bought ammunition more suitable for target shooting than for "self protection". The [UK] Times: Cho was a loner who lived on campus and had begun behaving bizarrely before he unleashed the worst single shooting spree in US history on Monday. Police said they had seized considerable writing in his dormitory. John Markell, the owner of Roanoke Firearms, said that Cho paid $571 for the Glock and 50 rounds of ammunition. He had shown three separate forms of identification, as required by law. A background check revealed that he had no conviction. He was a nice, clean-cut college kid, Mr Markell said yesterday. We wont sell a gun if we have any idea at all that the purchase is suspicious. He added that it was not unusual for college students to buy guns at his shop. Police sources said that in recent weeks Cho had been treated for depression, had begun to stalk women and had tried to start a fire in a campus dormitory. Police were examining his computer for further clues to his state of mind and motives. They believe that after he killed Ms Hilscher and Ryan Clark, a senior student who went to her aid in Ambler Johnston Hall, Cho returned to his own dormitory building, rearmed, and wrote his final note. According to the Chicago Tribune, citing college officials, Cho even had time to post a deadly warning on a school on-line forum. He is reported to have written: Im going to kill people at vtech today. He then walked to the class-room block of Norris Hall. Students at Harper Hall, the campus dormitory where Cho lived, said they had little to do with him. Cho shared a bedroom with Joseph Aust, a student of electrical engineering. Mr Aust said he knew barely anything about his roommate, and they hardly spoke. When they moved in together, Cho introduced himself as a business student. Mr Aust said that Cho was always on his computer listening to rock, pop and classical. He would spend a lot of time down-loading music, he said. I would come into the room and he'd just kind of be staring at his desk, just staring at nothing, Mr Aust said. His sister is a graduate of Princeton, the Ivy League university. Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-18 |
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