University Shootings - 33 Dead, 26 Injured
After waking up this morning I heard news of the shootings at Virginia Tech University, where one man has killed 32 people on a wild rampage.
The man reportedly comitted two separate attacks, each two hours apart, before the university had the chance to warn students of danger. Questions have been raised as to whether the university had a satisfactory handling of the emergency and if they had done enough to warn the students of the dangerous gunfire.
The entire ordeal ended with the gunman comitting suicide, bringing the death toll up to 33 with at least 26 people hurt, some seriously. The first sign of attack was at 7:15 am in a co-ed dormitory, where two people were killed, before the gunman moved on to Norris Hall where 31 people, including the gunman, were killed.
An eyewitness, who was witness to the second attack, claims that the gunman first shot his professor in the head, before turning his gun on the students and beginning to fire wildly. From then on the gunman moved from room to room, causing many students to escape via the windows in panic.
The motive to the entire massacre is still unknown, and police are yet to release a possible identity to the gunman.
In the event of the attack, President George W Bush stated:
"Schools should be places of safety, sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community."
The increase in school shootings has prompted changes to school safety rules and started debate over the availability of guns. Advocates of wider gun controls said the availability of guns in the United States had made it easier for people to commit murder everywhere, including in schools and colleges, and that this needed to be changed in order to reduce the number of these events happening.
There has also been discussion over the potential causes of widespread violence among younger citizens in schools, such as bullying, social cliques, and the influence of certain types of music, as well as availability of violent video games.
Could these killings, as well as previous events from the past restart the gun deabte? I, living in Australia, may not be so sure about the whole situation with guns in the US - but surely something has to be done. A similar incident to this occured in 1999 when two teenage boys, armed with guns and homemade bombs, killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado. No major changes to laws regarding guns have been made - and could this have been a contributing factor to all these shootings?
The man reportedly comitted two separate attacks, each two hours apart, before the university had the chance to warn students of danger. Questions have been raised as to whether the university had a satisfactory handling of the emergency and if they had done enough to warn the students of the dangerous gunfire.
The entire ordeal ended with the gunman comitting suicide, bringing the death toll up to 33 with at least 26 people hurt, some seriously. The first sign of attack was at 7:15 am in a co-ed dormitory, where two people were killed, before the gunman moved on to Norris Hall where 31 people, including the gunman, were killed.
An eyewitness, who was witness to the second attack, claims that the gunman first shot his professor in the head, before turning his gun on the students and beginning to fire wildly. From then on the gunman moved from room to room, causing many students to escape via the windows in panic.
The motive to the entire massacre is still unknown, and police are yet to release a possible identity to the gunman.
In the event of the attack, President George W Bush stated:
"Schools should be places of safety, sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community."
The increase in school shootings has prompted changes to school safety rules and started debate over the availability of guns. Advocates of wider gun controls said the availability of guns in the United States had made it easier for people to commit murder everywhere, including in schools and colleges, and that this needed to be changed in order to reduce the number of these events happening.
There has also been discussion over the potential causes of widespread violence among younger citizens in schools, such as bullying, social cliques, and the influence of certain types of music, as well as availability of violent video games.
Could these killings, as well as previous events from the past restart the gun deabte? I, living in Australia, may not be so sure about the whole situation with guns in the US - but surely something has to be done. A similar incident to this occured in 1999 when two teenage boys, armed with guns and homemade bombs, killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado. No major changes to laws regarding guns have been made - and could this have been a contributing factor to all these shootings?
I really have to wonder why Bush doesn't get off his arse and do something about it, rather than just 'mourn the tragic loss'. They need to review their gun laws - what is disturbing is how nothing is changing after these horrendous attacks.
The Brightside., April 18th, 2007 at 03:04:12am
f*cking hell, why doesnt bush just ban guns in america? i dont see how they are nessesary.
You can thank our founding fathers for having guns.
In the [Can't think of the important document]
It is our right to bear arms
Changing the constitution so guns are banned will take many many many years.
southernidiot, April 17th, 2007 at 09:24:14pm
My guitar teacher told me about this- isn't it weird that these shootings mostly happen in schools?
It's tragic... dying when you were learning for the future.
Oh, and saints, to me you are being a little ignorant
GreenDayCookieFairy, April 17th, 2007 at 08:08:06pm
Tragic.
Horrible.
Just plain sad.
Things like this really don't need to happen...
But we must accept i guess.
We already have a bunch of sh*t going on.
Now this makes everything so depressing.
:{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{
crossmiiheart__, April 17th, 2007 at 06:40:06pm
Hey do u know George bush is tryin to start worl war 3??? I heard the news on the radio this mornin!!!!!!!!!! f*ck U BUSH GET UR ASS OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!
Frank's_Lover!!, April 17th, 2007 at 05:27:13pm
Hey do u know George bush is tryin to start worl war 3??? I heard the news on the radio this mornin!!!!!!!!!! f*ck U BUSH GET UR ASS OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!1
Frank's_Lover!!, April 17th, 2007 at 05:27:08pm
i feel so sorry for the families , the students and staff.why do people do that i dont understand it must of been awful to have been there i hope nothing like this happens again , ive always hated guns they should just ban them .i just hope that the innocent people rest in peace for a tragic thiung that never should have happened in the first place.its horrible and so upsetting that you cant put this in words.
redgreendayfan, April 17th, 2007 at 04:28:24pm
It's just beyond awful. It's so upsetting and disturbing. I was at home yesterday, and I'd check the news every few hours and it was so sad to see the fatality count rising each time / =
I don't even know what to say, I just can't believe someone would do this. And how the authorities handles the first shooting bothers me a lot.
Rainbows in the Dark, April 17th, 2007 at 03:42:38pm
f*cking hell, why doesnt bush just ban guns in america? i dont see how they are nessesary.
Vegemite, April 17th, 2007 at 07:00:05am
Poor people. ]:
Skippy., April 17th, 2007 at 05:11:47am
That's so sad. It's terrible.
adrea, April 17th, 2007 at 04:33:11am
I feel so sorry for the eye witness
They must have seen a couple of their friends.. well yeah
It's awful what happened
R.I.P. to all of the innocent lives taken
Mike Dirnt., April 17th, 2007 at 03:07:01am
I heard about this. It's so horrible that things like this happen to such innocent and young people.
threeam., April 17th, 2007 at 02:21:08am
I know...imagine being at university, studying and whatnot, and your life ending there. Or seeing people you know die instantly in front of you.
I can't even imagine how terrible it actually is D:
The Brightside., April 17th, 2007 at 01:43:30am
yea i heard about this it was sad yo!omfg i mean really sad!
dallascowboys9, April 17th, 2007 at 01:32:13am