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[iomhaigh]

Larry King had Dr. Phil and a woman (I didn't catch her name) who was also apparently a counselor.  They discussed briefly the connection between availability of guns and violent crimes, and her comment struck me - she shared that her son is studying in England and has told her about instances when people knived people randomly, even one where a guy attacked numerous people in a supermarket with a knife.  Her summary was, if a person wants to commit violence, s/he will however s/he can. 

Granted, there may have been fewer casualties with a knife.

I was watching that, too.  I kept thinking that it is easier to get close to someone with a knife and hopefully disarm them.  Hopefully....

[grasshopper]

Granted, there may have been fewer casualties with a knife.

Granted... yeah.

Plus, I can fight off someone with a knife. I'm no good at fighting off bullets. My superpowers just aren't that far advanced.

[iomhaigh]

They're starting to release pictures of the students.  As if the woman who was one of four walking survivors of her German class was not horrible enough to watch.   

I don't think I can take this.  I'm off to bed all.  May you all have a safe day tomorrow, and give your loved ones a call or hug.  (I know my dog is sick of the hugs today.) 

[mytiaraisaskew]

This is so horrible.  And I wish CNN and all the other news outlets would stop airing the tape where you can hear the shots and stop showing the photos where students who are clearly wounded (if not worse) are being carried out of the buildings.  If it's horrible for us to watch, I cannot imagine how the constant repetition is affecting the friends and families of those students.  What a tragedy.

[magimax]

This is so horrible.  And I wish CNN and all the other news outlets would stop airing the tape where you can hear the shots and stop showing the photos where students who are clearly wounded (if not worse) are being carried out of the buildings.  If it's horrible for us to watch, I cannot imagine how the constant repetition is affecting the friends and families of those students.  What a tragedy.

Update related to the tape with the shots - the guy who filmed that learned an hour or so ago that a friend of his was killed.  What a nightmare for him.

[magimax]

Finally!!!  AC360 on CNN is going to address the comparisons between this shooting and Columbine and "explain how it is so different."  All right, let's hear it.

[noof_]

I have questions about how the shooter was here in the U.S. on a student visa -- did we not make more stringent policies about issuing student visas after one of the 9/11 hijackers was here on a student visa? Have we forgotten about that? Was there a connection between the bomb threats the week prior to these shootings? Did the school administrators respond appropriately after the first shooting? The people in charge will have to answer these questions.

Did I miss something? I heard the shooter described as "Asian" but didn't hear that he was an international student.

[magimax]

I have questions about how the shooter was here in the U.S. on a student visa -- did we not make more stringent policies about issuing student visas after one of the 9/11 hijackers was here on a student visa? Have we forgotten about that? Was there a connection between the bomb threats the week prior to these shootings? Did the school administrators respond appropriately after the first shooting? The people in charge will have to answer these questions.

Did I miss something? I heard the shooter described as "Asian" but didn't hear that he was an international student.

I'm confused too - all I've heard on the news is that the shooter was described as "of Asian descent." 

[prytania3]

I have questions about how the shooter was here in the U.S. on a student visa -- did we not make more stringent policies about issuing student visas after one of the 9/11 hijackers was here on a student visa? Have we forgotten about that? Was there a connection between the bomb threats the week prior to these shootings? Did the school administrators respond appropriately after the first shooting? The people in charge will have to answer these questions.

Did I miss something? I heard the shooter described as "Asian" but didn't hear that he was an international student.

I don't think that question's been answered. They haven't released much about the shooter.

[mytiaraisaskew]

This is so horrible.  And I wish CNN and all the other news outlets would stop airing the tape where you can hear the shots and stop showing the photos where students who are clearly wounded (if not worse) are being carried out of the buildings.  If it's horrible for us to watch, I cannot imagine how the constant repetition is affecting the friends and families of those students.  What a tragedy.

Update related to the tape with the shots - the guy who filmed that learned an hour or so ago that a friend of his was killed.  What a nightmare for him.

Oh, no.  That poor child.  This grows increasingly awful.  

And to add to the media's handling of the events, on Dateline they're revisiting all the school shootings that have occurred.  Paducah and Columbine are getting wide play tonight.  While there is an absolute responsibility to report the news and keeping the country aware of breaking developments, there is a line.  And that line is getting crossed with impunity.  Some of the stations I've been watching hae been almost cheerful that there is something horrific to report.  Whatever happened to giving people a little space to grieve?

[mytiaraisaskew]

Finally!!!  AC360 on CNN is going to address the comparisons between this shooting and Columbine and "explain how it is so different."  All right, let's hear it.

That at least will be a little better--perhaps AC will actually highlight the differences between locking down a HS and a 2600 acre university.  But the pieces I've been seeing on Columbine and Paducah in conjunction with VT have been of the "let's check in on the survivors" or "let's see how the parents of the victims are doing x years later." 

[tolerantly]

The University campus is my sacred space, as well....
The university campus has always been my "safe place."  When things like this happen...

I'm struck by the similarity to sentiments evident after 9/11. 

Personally -- and not to criticize -- I have never really understood them.  It seems to me self-evident that there are no safe places.  Wars and vendettas have always ravaged churches, marketplaces, anyplace that happened to be in the way or opportune.  It's a mark of civilization when people agree to avoid that, but civilization is not permanent either, and there are always the deranged.  The people who run things aren't always the world's sanest, either.
 
I grew up in/out of NYC in the 70s and worked amidst IRA terrorism in the 80s.  Like millions of other people.  What these confirmed for me is that some neighborhoods are more dangerous than others, and your odds of trouble are higher there.  Not that there exist perfectly safe neighborhoods. 
 
Again, not to criticize.  I just don't understand it.

[case_insensitive]

I kept thinking that it is easier to get close to someone with a knife and hopefully disarm them.  Hopefully....

Actually, that is not true. If you let someone get close to you, you'll be dead quicker with a knife.  I've seen this demonstrated in a self-defense class. However, a guy with a knife isn't so likely to kill in NUMBERS, of course.

[case_insensitive]

FYI: It's VPI, not VT. Virginia Polytechnical Institute.

The school's own website says "Virginia Tech" in big letters.  "Virginia Polytechnic [not Polytechnical] Institute and State University" appears only in very tiny type at the bottom of the page.  (Also note the "vt" in the URL.)

http://www.vt.edu/

VPI is the old name.

The official name of the university is:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Va Tech is a nickname.

When I was a student there, most folks said VPI. T-shirts said VPI.  The "Va Tech" has evolved over time and is the more "modern" nickname.  The school's official name  has not changed during this time.

[athena1]

I just have nothing to say. It's so very sad.