Thursday, August 30, 2007

They still don't get it


When I read this headline:

Report: Va. Tech Could Have Saved Lives

I thought that perhaps someone was going to mention the fact that if Va. Tech had not turned their campus into a large unarmed victim zone, a ready-made killing field for anyone crazy or evil enough to want to pile up as many bodies as possible with as little risk to himself as possible, that many lives could have been saved. I was, of course, disappointed.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Tech officials might have saved lives if they had notified faculty and students sooner about the first two shootings on campus, a panel investigating the April shootings that left 33 dead concluded.
"Warning the students, faculty and staff might have made a difference. ... So the earlier and clearer the warning, the more chance an individual had of surviving," said the report, which was released late Wednesday night.

However, the report concluded that while alerts might have helped students and faculty to protect themselves or alert authorities of suspicious activity, a lockdown on April 16 of the 131 buildings on campus was not feasible.

It may not have prevented the determined gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, from carrying out the shootings. As a student, he had access to campus buildings and the ability to get the same messages as everyone else. He could have gained access to a dormitory or begun shooting people in the open.

"From what we know of his mental state and commitment to action that day, it was likely that he would have acted out his fantasy somewhere on campus or outside it that same day," the report said.

I guess it will always fall to the blogs and talk radio to point out the stupidity of expecting criminal murderers and psychopaths to obey laws and regulations forbidding the carrying of weapons.
H/T for the picture to KisP