Archive: April 15, 2007 - April 21, 2007
"Ismail Ax" The VT Gunman's Final Message?
The Would-Be Clue Sends The Blogosphere Spinning Hokies Search For Answers By Candlelight (AP) "Ismail Ax." Eight letters scrawled in red ink across the inside arm of Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui; possibly the last thing he wrote before taking his own life. As soon as police revealed that detail,...
By Emil Steiner | April 17, 2007; 9:32 PM ET | Comments (13)
Bloggers, MSM and Geeks on Gun Control
Bloggers and some mainstream media pundits today fired the opening salvos in what is shaping up to be a lively policy debate over the future of the nation's gun-control laws following the shootings that left 33 dead at Virginia Tech on Monday. Instapundit author Glenn Reynolds points readers to an...
By Brian Krebs | April 17, 2007; 6:00 PM ET | Comments (4)
Today We Are All Hokies
UVA Shows Its Support For VT (Courtesy of Facebook)In colleges across America, students are using Facebook to rally around Virginia Tech, in a show of uniform solidarity not seen since September 11th. The message is clear: No matter what campus you may call home, your heart goes out to...
By Emil Steiner | April 17, 2007; 3:18 PM ET | Comments (2)
Ignore Grief Profiteers: Donate to Legit Charities
Less than 24 hours after the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, a number of "grief profiteers" already have moved to register dozens of Web site domain names that include words most closely associated with the tragedy. At least one is even up for auction on eBay.com. If history is any...
By Brian Krebs | April 17, 2007; 2:41 PM ET | Comments (2)
Alleged Killer in Facebook
According to Police Cho Seung Hui, 23, is responsible for shootings that left 33 people dead at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. (Fairfax County Public Schools/AP) It's been less than 6 hours since the Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung Hui was identified and already 38 global groups bearing...
By Hal Straus | April 17, 2007; 1:55 PM ET | Comments (13)
'Why Did All Those People Have to Die?'
Again on the very active Livejournal Virginia Tech student swift535 discusses the surreal aspect of a tragedy of this magnitude descending on the sleepy college town and how this could have happened: "Some of my best friends now lived in WAJ, and I just keep remembering going over to their...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 7:09 PM ET | Comments (15)
'I Don't Deserve Any Credit'
Blogger ntcoolfool, quoted earlier, continues to post his thoughts to Livejournal -- though he's progressed from initial reactions to the shooting to his feelings about finding himself at the center of a media feeding frenzy: "As this blog has received international attention, I find myself wondering what the world has...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 6:45 PM ET | Comments (3)
'Concentrate on Hoping'
Over at Achenblog, Joel Achenbach has posted an e-mail from reader Phillip Murillas, a freshman at Virginia Tech: "But right now, all I can do is wait and hope. Right now, I'm waiting to hear on the safety of two dorm mates who were in Norris when the incident took...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 6:00 PM ET | Email a Comment
'Shouldn't Happen Here'
Blogger and Virginia Tech grad student silvertongue1 used her livejournal blog to let her family and friends know she was safe: "Now I'm in my dorm, which is under lockdown (along with the rest of campus). I won't be teaching class today, but this is another one of those times...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 4:59 PM ET | Comments (1)
'No One Knows Where She Is'
Livejournal writer aciel shares his raw feelings as he wonders about the fate of two friends: "I was Maxine's date on Friday for Alpha Omega Epsilon (engineering sorority) formals. She had German class this morning in Norris -- one of the classes where a lot of people were shot --...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 4:45 PM ET | Comments (1)
'Scariest Moment of My Life'
Planet Blacksburg posted a quote from Ruiqi Zhang, a computer engineering major, who was in Norris 205 this morning: "I was sitting in class when we heard loud popping noises a couple rooms down... The teacher and a student went into the hallway and rushed back in and told everybody...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 4:32 PM ET | Comments (2)
Visual Reaction
Tech students and Blacksburg residents are already using the tools of the Internet age not only to post text reactions, but upload photos from the scene, like these from flickr user and1headache, who uploaded images of law enforcement officials attempting to secure the campus and a photo credited to the...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 4:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
'They Could Have Prevented Most of This'
washingtonpost.com's Brendan Kennedy has been scanning Facebook.com for reaction from Virginia Tech students, both former and present, who used the college networking site to vent, contact loved ones and console each other in the wake of today's Blacksburg shootings. Emotions remain charged, with some questioning the response of local law...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 3:54 PM ET | Email a Comment
'Time Has Suspended'
Livejournal blogger ntcoolfool, whose previous blog entries include footage from Tech basketball games and a pledge to support Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, is live-blogging reaction to the shootings. From his 2 p.m. post: "I cannot begin to describe the pain that runs through me now. The anger, loss, and...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 3:30 PM ET | Comments (1)
'She and Another Classmate Barricaded the Door'
Livejournal blogger icantread01 describes the conversation he had with friend Katelyn Carney, who was shot in the hand by the gunman. She spoke to him, in this unedited account, from Christiansburg, Va.'s Montgomery Regional Hospital: "The story goes that she was in class and they heard a banging, her teacher...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 3:29 PM ET | Comments (3)
'He Let Off a Full Round Before Leaving'
Planet Blacksburg, a student-run Web site that acts as a clearinghouse for news and events in the Virginia Tech environs, has been updating the story with incremental updates all day and is soliciting first-hand accounts and photos from students who witnessed the shootings: "1:48pm: Derek O'dell, a sophomore biology major...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 3:28 PM ET | Email a Comment
About This Blog
washingtonpost.com's Dan Froomkin, Brian Krebs and Brendan Kennedy are actively tracking firsthand accounts and reaction to today's mass shootings at Virginia Tech. The blog is edited by Liz Kelly, who welcomes e-mail from anyone out there who has a posting, photo link, site or reaction to share. E-mail me at...
By Liz | April 16, 2007; 3:25 PM ET | Email a Comment
