The deadliest school shooting in American history took place in the year 2007, on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. On that fateful day, 33 individuals would lose their lives, and a further 23 would be injured. Join us as we explore what led up to this horrific event, watch as a University failed time and time again to protect its students, and attempt to determine what drove a man to commit such a disturbing act of violence.
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SOURCES:
“Emily Jane Hilscher.” Virginia Tech, 2023. https://www.weremember.vt.edu/biographies/hilscher.html
“Gunman a loner, left note.” The Denver Post, April 17, 2007. https://www.denverpost.com/2007/04/17/gunman-a-loner-left-note/#
“How Virginia Tech massacre unfolded.” NBC News, April 19, 2007. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18164428
Kapsidelis, Thomas. “Virginia Tech Shootings.” Encyclopedia Virginia, 2020.
“Killer’s manifesto: ‘You forced me into a corner.’” CNN, April 18, 2007. https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/18/vtech.shooting/index.html
Kleinfield, N.R. “Before Deadly Rage, a Life Consumed by a Troubling Silence.” The New York Times, April 22, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/us/22vatech.html
Kovaleski, Serge and Katie Zezima. “Students Recount Desperate Minutes Inside Norris Hall.” The New York Times, April 22, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/us/22norris.html#:~:text=Cho%20reentered%20Room%20206%2C%20Advanced,fell%20on%20top%20of%20him.
“Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Addendum to the Report of the Review Panel.” 2009.
Moran. Terry. “Inside Cho’s Mind.” ABC News, April 8, 2009. https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3541157&page=1
Pelletiere, Nicole. “The massacre at Virginia Tech remembered 10 years later.” ABC News, April 13, 2017.
“Remembering Virginia Tech’s Shooting Victims.” NPR, April 18, 2007. https://www.npr.org/2007/04/18/9618673/remembering-virginia-techs-shooting-victims
“Roommates Give a Glimpse Into the Mind of a Killer.” ABC News, April 18, 2007.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3052025
“Ryan Christopher Clark.” Virginia Tech, 2023. https://www.weremember.vt.edu/biographies/clark.html
Santora, Marc. “Roommates Describe Gunman as Loner. The New York Times, April 17, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/us/17cnd-ROOMMATE.html
“Seung-Hui Cho.” Murderpedia, 2023. https://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cho-seung-hui.htm
“Teen gunmen kill 13 at Columbine High School.” History, 2023. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-massacre-at-columbine-high-school
“The Phone Call from Room 211 (lost unreleased recording of 911 call from the Virgina Tech shooting, 2007.” The Lost Wiki, 2021.
“The 'unremarkable sale' of gun to student killer.” NBC News, April 18, 2007. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18170761
“The Worst Massacre in American History – Virginia Tech Massacre.” Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FfMXjsR4YM
“Virginia Tech Shooting.” History, April 13, 2011.
Additional Sources added by Lisa at Murder in America.
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