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by Adam Geller
AP National Writer
Last Edited: Tuesday, 17 Apr 2007, 4:59 PM EDT
Created: Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 10:35 AM EDT
Cho Seung-Hui
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The gunman suspected of carrying
out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was described
Tuesday as a sullen loner whose creative writing in English class was so
disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.
News reports also said that he may have been taking
medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and
erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against
"rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.
Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English,
arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was
raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on
campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began.
Police and university officials offered no clues as to
exactly what set him off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern
U.S. history.
"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding
information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.
On Tuesday afternoon, 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.
Virginia Tech President Charles 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."
"As you draw closer to your families in the coming days, I
ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who are
never coming home," Bush said.
A vast portrait of the victims began to emerge, among them:
Christopher James Bishop, 35, who taught German at Virginia Tech and
helped oversee an exchange program with a German university; Ryan
"Stack" Clark, a 22-year-old student from Martinez, Ga., who was in the
marching band and was working toward degrees in biology and English;
Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, Va., who was
majoring in animal and poultry sciences and, naturally, loved animals;
and Liviu Librescu, an Israeli engineering and math lecturer who was
said to have protected his students' lives by blocking the doorway of
his classroom from the approaching gunman.
Meanwhile, a chilling portrait of the gunman as a misfit
began to emerge.
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's
English department, said she did not know Cho. 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. Rude refused to
release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.
The Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site that he left a
note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances.
Citing unidentified sources, the Tribune said he had recently shown
troubling signs, including setting a fire in a dorm room and stalking
some women.
ABC, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the note, several
pages long, explains Cho's actions and says, "You caused me to do this."
Investigators believe Cho at some point had been taking
medication for depression, the Tribune reported.
Classmates said that on the first day of an introduction to
British literature class last year, the 30 or so English students went
around and introduced themselves. When it was Cho's turn, he didn't
speak.
The professor looked at the sign-in sheet and, where
everyone else had written their names, Cho had written a question mark.
"Is your name, `Question mark?"' classmate Julie Poole recalled the
professor asking. The young man offered little response.
Cho spent much of that class sitting in the back of the
room, wearing a hat and seldom participating. In a small department, Cho
distinguished himself for being anonymous. "He didn't reach out to
anyone. He never talked," Poole said.
"We just really knew him as the question mark kid," Poole
said.
The rampage consisted of two attacks, more than two hours
apart -- first at a dormitory, where two people were killed, then inside
a classroom building, where 31 people, including Cho, died after being
locked inside, Virginia State Police said. Cho committed suicide; two
handguns -- a 9 mm and a .22-caliber -- were found in the classroom
building.
One law enforcement official said Cho's backpack contained
a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol. Cho held a green
card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident, federal officials
said. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been
convicted of a felony.
Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell said his shop sold the
Glock and a box of practice ammo to Cho 36 days ago for $571.
"He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun
if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious," Markell said.
Markell said it is not unusual for college kids to make purchases at his
shop as long as they are old enough.
"To find out the gun came from my shop is just terrible,"
Markell said.
Investigators stopped short of saying Cho carried out both
attacks. But ballistics tests show one gun was used in both, Virginia
State Police said.
And two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity because the information had not been announced, said Cho's
fingerprints were found on both guns. The serial numbers on the two
weapons had been filed off, the officials said.
Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State
Police, said it was reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in
both attacks but that the link was not yet definitive. "There's no
evidence of any accomplice at either event, but we're exploring the
possibility," he said.
Officials said Cho graduated from Westfield High School in
Chantilly, Va., in 2003. His family lived in an off-white, two-story
townhouse in Centreville, Va.
Two of those killed in the shooting rampage, Reema Samaha
and Erin Peterson, graduated from Westfield High in 2006, school
officials said. But there was no immediate word from authorities on
whether Cho knew the two young women and singled them out.
"He was very quiet, always by himself," neighbor Abdul
Shash said. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing
basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described
the family as quiet.
South Korea expressed its condolences, and said it hoped
that the tragedy would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation."
"We are in shock beyond description," said Cho Byung-se, a Foreign
Ministry official handling North American affairs.
Classes were canceled for the rest of the week. Norris Hall, the
classroom building, will be closed for the rest of the semester.
Many students were leaving town quickly, lugging pillows,
sleeping bags and backpacks down the sidewalks.
Jessie Ferguson, 19, a freshman from Arlington, left Newman
Hall and headed for her car with tears streaming down her red cheeks.
"I'm still kind of shaky," she said. "I had to pump myself
up just to kind of come out of the building. I was going to come out,
but it took a little bit of 'OK it's going to be all right. There's lots
of cops around."'
Although she wanted to be with friends, she wanted her
family more. "I just don't want to be on campus," she said.
Until Monday, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history
was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup
truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.
Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history
was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at
Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire
with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people
before he was shot to death by police.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Manning in Centreville, Va.; Matt
Barakat in Richmond, Va.; and Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey and Justin Pope
in Blacksburg contributed to this report.
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