Shooting at VA Tech is Worst in U.S. History

On Monday, April 16, Cho Seung-Hui, a senior at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, arrived on that school's campus and fired shots into various classrooms and dormitories killing a total of 32 students and faculty before taking his own life in what has now come to be known as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.


The massacre at Virginia Tech has left many college students around the country questioning the safety and security of their own campuses. CSULB President F. King Alexander issued a statement via e-mail to all Long Beach State students addressing some of these concerns in the wake of the tragedy.

"I want to assure you that the university has policies and procedures in place should we need to respond to a situation on our own campus which involve various university groups and committees who meet regularly to discuss and train in order to prepare for possible emergencies.

In addition to the University Police Department and its regular training and planning, our university has a standing Student Crisis Management Committee which regularly meets to discuss emergency policies and protocols. Also, administrators and employees across the campus are part of the university’s Emergency Operations Plan that addresses an entire spectrum of contingencies, ranging from relatively minor incidents to large-scale disasters. Finally, the university has an emergency Website page that can be activated and updated on a moment’s notice in an effort to alert both the campus community and those outside the campus of any emergency situation as it arises."

The events that unfolded in Blacksburg, Virginia proved to be a sobering reminder of how vulnerable college students really are. Even at Virginia Tech itself, the geographic layout of the campus (much like that of the geographic layout of Long Beach State) was designed to feel open and as much a part of the neighboring community as possible. Some say that this is what afforded Cho the ability to attack the campus so swiftly and with a two hour gap between shootings.

Among those who died in Monday's massacre was a professor named Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor. Flags across the country have been ordered to fly at half-mast in memoriam of those killed.

Photos courtesy of the New York Times and CSULB