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by Aamer
Madhani
Chicago Tribune national correspondent
April 17, 2007, 7:26 PM CDT
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The suspected gunman in the Virginia
Tech shooting rampage, Cho Seung-Hui, was a troubled 23-year-old senior
from South Korea who investigators believe left an invective-filled note
in his dorm room, sources say.
The note included a rambling list of grievances, according
to sources. They said Cho also died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red
ink on one of his arms.
Cho had shown recent signs of violent, aberrant behavior,
according to an investigative source, including setting a fire in a dorm
room and allegedly stalking some women.
A note believed to have been written by Cho was found in
his dorm room that railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and
"deceitful charlatans" on campus.
Cho was an English major whose creative writing was so
disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service, the
Associated Press reported.
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's
English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she
said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative
writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as
"troubled."
"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes,
in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's
creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or
just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like
this."
She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but
she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was.
Cho, from Centreville, Va., a rapidly growing suburb of Washington,
D.C., came to the United States in 1992, an investigative source said.
He was a legal permanent resident.
His family runs a dry cleaning business and he has a sister
who attended Princeton University, according to the source.
Investigators believe Cho at some point had been taking
medication for depression. They are examining Cho's computer for more
evidence.
The gunman's family lived in an off-white, two-story town
house in Centreville.
"He was very quiet, always by himself," neighbor Abdul
Shash said of the gunman. Shash said the gunman spent a lot of his free
time playing basketball, and wouldn't respond if someone greeted him. He
described the family as quiet.
Marshall Main, who lives across the street, said the family
had lived in the townhouse for several years.
According to court records, Virginia Tech Police issued a
speeding ticket to Cho on April 7 for going 44 mph in a 25 mph zone, and
he had a court date set for May 23.
Cho was found among the 31 dead found in an engineering
hall. Police said the victims laid over four classrooms and a stairwell.
"He was a loner," said Larry Hincker, a university
spokesman, who added that investigators are having some difficulty
unearthing information about him.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of
anonymity because the information had not been announced, said Cho was
carrying a backpack that contained receipts for a March purchase of a
Glock 9 mm pistol.
Ballistics tests by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms showed that one gun was used in Monday's two separate
campus attacks that were two hours apart.
As a permanent legal resident of the United States, Cho was
eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of any felony
criminal charges, a federal immigration official said.
Police said Cho killed 30 people in a Virginia Tech
engineering building Monday morning and then killed himself.
Another two students were shot to death two hours earlier
in a dorm room on the opposite side of the university's sprawling
2,600-acre campus, bringing the day's death toll to 33.
Calling the fatal shootings "a horrible tragedy for the
commonwealth, this community and the nation," Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine
this evening angrily denounced gun lobbyists who have said the murders
might not have happened if more students were armed.
"People who want to take this 24 hours after the event and
make it their political hobbyhorse— I have nothing but loathing,'' he
said during a news conference.
Students at Harper Hall, the campus dormitory where Cho
lived, said they had little interaction with him and no insight into
what might have motivated the attack.
"At this time, the evidence does not conclusively identify
Cho as the gunman at both locations," said Col. W. Steven Flaherty,
superintendent of Virginia State Police.
All classes at Virginia Tech will be closed for the
remainder of the week, said school President Charles Steger. This
evening, law enforcement agencies continued to sift through documents
and other evidence taken from the dorm room of the shooter.
Campus holds convocation
The new details were revealed as the university underwent a
day of mourning.
Thousands of people gathered in the basketball arena, and
when it filled up, thousands more filed into the football stadium, for a
memorial service for the victims. President Bush and the first lady
attended.
"Laura and I have come to Blacksburg today with hearts full
of sorrow," he said in six-minute remarks. "This is a day of mourning
for the Virginia Tech community and it is a day of sadness for our
entire nation.
Many students showed up for the memorial service hours
ahead of time, some in tears or carrying flowers. There was already an
overflow crowd at the arena by early afternoon, and many people arriving
were turned away.
Steger received a 30-second standing ovation, despite
bitter complaints from parents and students that the university should
have locked down the campus immediately after the first burst of
gunfire. Steger expressed hope that "we will awaken from this horrible
nightmare."
Later, Kaine said the university has asked him to appoint
an outside team of law enforcement investigators to conduct a "a very
thorough after-action report" to examine the actions of school and its
security personnel.
Some victims' names released
Among the dead was a professor, Liviu Librescu. Students
who were in Librescu's engineering class at Norris Hall told the Tribune
late Monday that the professor tried to protect the students in his
class when they realized a gunmen was loose in the building.
Alec Calhoun was in Librescu's solid mechanics engineering
class when gunfire erupted in the room next door. He said Librescu, went
to the door and pushed himself against it in case the shooter tried to
come in.
Librescu, an Israeli, was born in Romania and was known
internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering.
Also killed were:
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Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of
Saugus, Mass., according to his mother, Lynnette Alameddine.
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Christopher James Bishop, 35,
according to Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany, where he
helped run an exchange program.
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Ryan Clark, 22, of Martinez, Ga.,
biology and English major, according to Columbia County Coroner
Vernon Collins.
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Jocelyn Couture-Nowak, a French
instructor, according to her husband, Jerzy Nowak, the head of the
horticulture department at Virginia Tech.
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Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, killed in his
French class, according to his mother, Betty Cueva, of Peru.
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Kevin Granata, age unknown,
engineering science and mechanics professor, according to Ishwar K.
Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department.
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Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown,
N.Y., a sophomore majoring in international studies and French,
according to Minisink Valley, N.Y., school officials who spoke with
Hammaren's family.
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Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, of Bellefonte,
Pa., according to Penn State University, his alma mater and his
father's employer.
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Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old
freshman from Woodville, according to Rappahannock County
Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend.
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Jarrett L. Lane, 22, of Narrows, Va.,
according to Riffe's Funeral Service Inc. in Narrows, Va.
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Matthew J. La Porte, 20, a freshman
from Dumont, N.J., according to Dumont Police Chief Brian Venezio.
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G.V. Loganathan, 51, civil and
environmental engineering professor, according to his brother G.V.
Palanivel.
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Daniel O'Neil, 22, according to close
friend Steve Craveiro and according to Eric Cardenas of Connecticut
College, where O'Neil's father, Bill, is director of major gifts.
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Juan Ramon Ortiz, a 26-year-old
graduate student in engineering from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, according
to his wife, Liselle Vega Cortes.
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Mary Karen Read, 19, of Annandale,
Va. according to her aunt, Karen Kuppinger, of Rochester, N.Y.
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Reema J. Samaha, 18, a freshman from
Centreville, Va., according to her family.
Tribune staff reporters E.A. Torriero and Rex W. Huppke,
Tribune national correspondent Lisa Anderson, the Tribune's Washington
bureau and the Associated Press contributed.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
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