VA Tech: Cho sent “multimedia manifesto” to NBC; Siva on tech judgement rush

in

Xeni Jardin:
MSNBC is reporting that Cho Seung-Hui, the alleged gunman in Monday's Virginia Tech killings, mailed a package of correspondence to NBC News during the two hours between the first and second shootings. NBC has shared the contents (said to include QuickTime videos, digital photos, other images, and text) with FBI investigators:

"We received a package that included some images a lengthy diatribe. We believe it may shed some light on what he was doing between the first shooting and the second. It includes some images, and a disturbing, rambling, multi-page statement. (...) We are not going to give out any specifics of the information."


Via TV Newser.

UPDATE: NBC has published a statement. Snip:

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in a posting on the program’s “Daily Nightly” blog that the communication was received earlier Wednesday. He described it as a very long “multimedia manifesto.”

The package, timestamped in the two-hour window between Monday's shootings, was sent to NBC News head Steve Capus.It contained digital photos of the gunman holding weapons and a manifesto that "rants against rich people and warns that he wants to get even," The Associated Press quoted an unidentified New York law enforcement official familiar with the case as saying. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Police said the development might be "a very new, critical component of this investigation.""We're in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth," said Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police.

Link.

  • Siva Vaidhyanathan has posted an op-ed for MSNBC.com about the rush to "technological judgement" after the Virginia Tech shootings:

    Over the next few days, as we wonder about causes and mourn those who fell victim to gunfire at Virginia Tech University on Monday, we will hear many fervent, ill-advised calls for quick technological fixes meant to prevent another such incident.

    We will hear "experts" on cable news shows blame video games for the rise in gun violence among young people - despite the fact that the rise in popularity of violent video games coincides with a remarkable drop in gun violence in all sectors of American society.

    We will hear others blame the university for not investing in technology that would have made it easier to alert students about the unfolding events. And we have already read foolish calls from conservative law professors and others who insist that deregulating a particularly deadly technology — firearms — would make our campuses safer. After all, they argue, if someone had been able to shoot back at the attacker, fewer people would have died. So Virginia should allow firearms on campus, they argue.

    But as we begin to examine what happened Monday morning in Blacksburg, we must resist the temptation to rush to judgment and draw ill-conceived lessons from the event while emotions are so raw and the pain so intense.

    As a culture, we are very bad at thinking about technology. We look to it either as something to fear or as a panacea for the flaws of the human condition. Technology is neither. It is merely an extension of our own wills and capabilities.

    Read the whole thing here: Link.

    Previously on BB:

  • VA Tech shootings: world perspective
  • VA Tech shootings: SMS alert systems, more "copycat" discussion
  • VA Tech shootings: Wikipedia, federal drug records database
  • VA Tech Shootings: Cho Seung-Hui, murderer and playwright?
  • VA Tech mass shooting: Who or what is Ismail Ax?
  • VA Tech: guns on campus, TV producers on Facebook
  • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and 'net nabs wrong man
  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    (Via Boing Boing.)

    • VA Tech shootings: SMS alert systems, more “copycat” discussion

    in

    Xeni Jardin:

  • BoingBoing reader Bill Koslosky, MD says,

    What about protecting campuses using cell phone technology? Here's an article from The Roanoke Times online from last September that reports Virginia Tech was considering an SMS alert system for their campus considering that there was a prison escapee who was shot and killed just off campus on the first day of classes.

    There are companies that offer these services, and they make the point that while the vast majority of students carry cell phones, they are less likely to check school e-mail. Rave Wireless also offers GPS tracking by campus security for those students who feel threatened.

  • Here's a Bloomberg article about renewed attention surrounding school campus crisis security procedures, and the more immediate potential security dangers after Monday's incident -- the "Copycat Effect":
    After Columbine, there were 450 copycat threats, plots or shootings,
    according to Loren Coleman, a suicide prevention and school violence
    consultant. Schools in seven states were locked down or evacuated yesterday,
    the Associated Press reported.

    "Homicide is just a suicide turned outward,'' Coleman, author of the 2004
    book, "The Copycat Effect,'' said in an interview. "If we focus on analysis
    around the act, rather than to how people feel and react to this, then we
    have problems.''

    Link.

    But there's another security story that's not mentioned in this article. The part of the story that unfolded before Cho bought the guns and ammunition. He exhibited antisocial, threatening behavior for quite some time before he packed up weapons and killed 32 people. Much of that threatening behavior was directed at women. One female teacher reports being afraid for her safety when tutoring him alone. Cho is reported to have obsessively, persistently stalked (online, via instant messaging, and in person) a number of female students who lived on campus. By accounts now surfacing in the news, police came to speak with victims in one case (maybe more? maybe not), but no charges were ever filed, no further action taken, and the behavior continued to escalate. If even a misdemeanor charge had been on record, would he have been able to obtain those weapons so easily? Did nothing happen because the law enforcement system involved -- really, all of us -- don't take violent crime and threatening behavior against women as seriously as we should? Maybe none of that would have made a difference, but it's a question worth asking.

  • BoingBoing reader modality says,

    Two of my friends from Blekinge Tekniska Högskola in Sweden were visiting Virginia Tech when the shootings occurred, and one of them had his camera with him and captured 14 minutes of video: Link.

  • BB reader Mike Freeman says,

    Ad Age has an article about media companies purchasing Google Adwords keywords for the Virginia Tech shooting. From Canada I get an ad for thefirstpost.co.uk when searching "virginia tech shooting" but not for "virginia tech" or "shooting" on their own. US searchers may be getting more ads. Brings up an interesting question of whether this is ok (there would be no problem doing this for a 'positive' news story) or whether it's just plain icky.

    Previously on BB:

  • Why the shootings mean that we must support my politics
  • VA Tech shootings: Wikipedia, federal drug records database
  • VA Tech Shootings: Cho Seung-Hui, murderer and playwright?
  • VA Tech mass shooting: Who or what is Ismail Ax?
  • VA Tech: guns on campus, TV producers on Facebook
  • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and 'net nabs wrong man
  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    - - - - - - - - - -

    Reader comments: Attorney Laura S. Petelle of Peoria, IL, says,


    Re: the lack of misdemeanor reports about the student -- I would suspect that most of these allegations were made to campus police, and there is not a university in this country that accurately reports its crime statistics because they are now made public every year. There's rampant massaging of statistics and lots of pressure from campus police and administration to NOT report. Students are often railroaded into a "campus arbitration" system under the belief that by reporting to the campus police, the crime becomes reported, when in fact it falls into the administration's hands and doesn't join the crime statistics. Then they're put through a campus arbitration if the administration is seriously concerned they might proscecute, and these things can be dragged on long enough that the Statute of Limitations runs out for the victim to report and prosecute through traditional channels.

    I'm most familiar with a particular sort of crime -- acquaintance rape -- because I went to a Division I football school, and we had a handful of women run off campus while I was there for having the temerity to report a rape by a scholarship football players, which was then generally played off as "she just feels guilty about it the morning after, so she's crying rape." (In the "small world" file, a football player - I can't for the life of me remember his name - sexually assaulted a woman four doors down from me in the dorm, and her parents were wealthy and powerful enough that the school quietly made him transfer to a DIFFERENT Division I football school, wherefrom he popped up at a summer camp for pre-teens where I was working as a camp counselor and he was an "inspirational speaker." Charming.)

    If you speak to student editors at independent student newspapers, particularly at sports schools, you'll get an earful about the crimes they hear about (and sometimes report on) that are somehow miraculously kept off the crime reports. I'm seven years out now, so I'm not very connected with the current issues with crime reporting, but I'm sure student editors could give you a complete rundown.

    If these women who were being stalked complained to campus police and no charges were pursued, this is the heartbreakingly inevitable outcome of campuses pursuing a policy of lying about campus crime statistics to worried parents to protect the school's image and tuition dollars.

    Author and journalist Charles Platt says,

    After a mass shooting, many people feel a strange need to claim prescience. "We always knew there was something about him ... the clothes he wore ... the poems he wrote ... the funny way he looked at me...."

    Thisis bogus, especially in the current case. The two plays that the student wrote were unremarkable; far less violent than many comics. If I had seen this text in one of the writing classes I used to teach, I would have thought nothing of it. The student did not have a large gun collection (two handguns only, apparently); was not a goth; did not target only women.

    He did apparently leave a long note explaining why he did it. This would be a lot more useful than pontifications from those claiming retroactive diagnostic abilities.

    "Anonymous Rochester Institute of Technology Student" says,

    Copycats of the VT Shooter are starting to spring up. Not even a full day after the horrific events at VT, I get this lovely email in my campus mailbox:

    On April 17, 2007 at approximately 11:25 AM, a staff member at the RIT Inn & Conference Center reportedly heard a suspicious sound coming from inside a student’s room. The alert staff member contacted RIT Public Safety.

    RIT Public Safety and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office responded to the room, where a student admitted possessing two unloaded illegal firearms that he said he had just assembled. No live ammunition was found in the guns, however the Sheriff’s Office found ammunition inside the student’s parked vehicle. The student was suspended from the university and the Sheriff’s Office investigation continues.


    Link to a local Rochester paper that has more info on the story.

    Adam Backstrom says,

    I'm an RIT Alum, so the recent student arrest and it's mention on BoingBoing is of particular interest to me. (I had caught the story a few hours earlier via Facebook.) While Hackenburg did violate the law and his timing is pretty bad considering what happened at VA Tech, the WHAM article does not paint the picture of a maladjusted teen preparing to shoot up his school.

    I think it's important to make the distinction between a gun hobbyist who perhaps lacks some common sense and a suicidal mass-murderer.

    Jacob Patton says,

    Why don't groups use Twitter for their SMSM emergency alert systems? It's working for earthquake notifications in the Bay Area and must be useful in other emergency situations, too. (See my blog post from yesterday for more info.)

    Alan Seideman of loopnote says,

    We've gotten a few emails over the last couple days asking us if loopnote can be used for emergencies like these. If there had been a way to alert students via their phones about the danger on campus, perhaps the losses could have been fewer. While we definitely didn't build the service specifically for emergency situations, I think it makes perfect sense. Over the last few weeks we've been thinking about ways that groups communicate with each other. Each group consists of people who want to get information out and people who want to consume the information. For emergency "groups" like this, where the group consists of students/staff as well as emergency coordinators like campus police, it's important that the student body and staff be added to the group in an easy way. This brings up the issue of opt-in vs. opt-out subscriptions. Campus police needs to have information for students such as their email addresses and their phone numbers and phone carriers. With that information, they'd be able to create a "loop" on our site and manually subscribe others to that group.

    One of the things we're working on is a way to make it easier for "loop" owners to manually subscribe people to their loops. That's relevant because for an Emergency alert service you'd really want all the students to be subscribed but not have to depend on them to manually subscribe themselves. We initially thought that all subscriptions would need to be initiated by the subscriber because that was the least intrusive way to do things. We didn't want people to start getting spammed by loop owners. So we created loops and said that if anyone wanted to subscribe, they had to come to the site, find the loop, and then register before signing up.

    Later we realized that this wasn't necessarily the easiest way to do things and that in most cases subscribers would be happy if someone else (friends, family, their school) signed them for some type of alert - as long as they had the option to unsubscribe. So we've come up with a middle ground which I think works really well. A loop owner can subscribe others to their loop via email, im, or sms. Each subscriber will get a message asking them to confirm their subscription. This opt-out model works best because it has a low barrier to entry for subscribers but still gives people the control to stop spam and other abuses.

    We'd like to let schools and other organizations interested in setting up emergency alerts know that they can get in touch with us personally and we'll help them set things up. The service is free by the way. They can email us at info@loopnote.com.

    (Via Boing Boing.)

    • VA Tech shootings: Wikipedia, federal drug records database

    in

    Xeni Jardin:

  • BB reader Jess Hemerly says,

    In case you haven't seen it, the Wikipedia entry for the Virginia Tech Shootings is one of the most thorough and quite honestly amazing Wikipedia entries I've ever seen. The number of edits and the short time between edits in the History... kinda incredible.

  • W. Vann Hall says,

    This quote from an ABC News story contains a disturbing piece of information:

    Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of
    antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that
    they can find no record of such medication in the government's files.
    This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including
    samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet
    sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs
    is a reasonably complete search.

    Somehow I missed the signing into law of NASPER, the National All-Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005 (assuming the 'federal database' referenced is actually the combined databases of states accepting NASPER funding).

    Unfortunately, as I read subsections (f)(1) and (g) of the Act, it doesn't seem to allow searches such as this one. Must've been a signing statement attached: Link.

    BB reader Paul Pellerito writes in...

    The "federal drugs database" mentioned in your recent post about the VA tech shootings seems to be somewhat flawed; the funding is for states to adopt registries reporting schedules II-V controlled substances (spam-email things like ritalin, valium, xanax, adderall, vicodin, and oxycontin) but the most commonly prescribed antidepressants like prozac, lexapro, zoloft, effexor, etc are schedule six and thus not considered controlled substances. My day job is working in a pharmacy in Michigan, and we do not report schedule VI to any state or federal database. Chances are if Cho was on an antidepressant the record would not be in a national database. His pharmacy and his prescription insurance company will know, however.

  • Ryan Singel at Wired's Threat Level blog has assembled a collection of links to online social network profiles for some of the Virginia Tech students who lost their lives in Monday's mass shooting. Link.

  • Videogame abolitionist Jack Thompson has been parading before Fox News' cameras to blame the VA Tech shootings on electronic games. Kotaku editor Brian Crecente lists seven reasons this is bullshit: Link. (Thanks, Joel Simmons)

    Previously on BB:

  • VA Tech Shootings: Cho Seung-Hui, murderer and playwright?
  • VA Tech mass shooting: Who or what is Ismail Ax?
  • VA Tech: guns on campus, TV producers on Facebook
  • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and 'net nabs wrong man
  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    (Via Boing Boing.)

    • VA Tech Shootings: Cho Seung-Hui, murderer and playwright?

    in

    Xeni Jardin:



    AOL News has posted what are identified as two plays written by accused (and deceased) Virginia Tech mass murderer Cho Seung-Hui: Link. Above, page 9 of his play titled "Richard McBeef." A second play, titled "Mr. Brownstone" will be scanned and posted shortly, according to blog editors. (thanks, Coates)

    An AOL employee and former classmate of the accused killer writes,

    When I first heard about the multiple shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday, my first thought was about my friends, and my second thought was "I bet it was Seung Cho."

    Cho was in my playwriting class last fall, and nobody seemed to think much of him at first. He would sit by himself whenever possible, and didn't like talking to anyone. I don't think I've ever actually heard his voice before. He was just so quiet and kept to himself. Looking back, he fit the exact stereotype of what one would typically think of as a "school shooter" – a loner, obsessed with violence, and serious personal problems. (...)

    When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.

    Link to full text of post.

    Reader comment:
     Josh says,

    Just wanted to leave a comment before too strong an inference is drawn between Cho Seung-Hui's graphic writing and yesterday's events. Violent imagery in fiction does not necessarily involve violent intent on the part of the author, despite what campus police at the University of Florida Gainesville unfairly attempted to suggest last year (see May 22, 2006 post on Boing Boing).


    (Via Boing Boing.)

    VA Tech mass shooting: Who or what is Ismail Ax? UPDATED

    in

    Xeni Jardin:
    B. Frank says,

    The Virginia Tech shooter [Cho Seung-Hui] had the words "“Ismail Ax"” written in red ink on his arm, according to this blog from the Chicago Tribune.

    What does that mean? A google search shows nothing. Maybe the readers of Boing Boing could shed some light on this?

    My research so far only tells me:

    -Ismail is an Islamic prophet.

    -AX may also stand for the Alpha Chi Omega women’s fraternity, which I found does have a chapter at Virginia Tech.

    Any other ideas? I know in the grand scheme of things, it's irrelevant, but for me, trying to shed some light on the psychology of the person responsible for tragedy is a way of dealing.

    Previously on BB:

  • VA Tech: guns on campus, TV producers on Facebook
  • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and 'net nabs wrong man
  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    Reader comment: Regarding a photo which may or may not have anything to do with this story, and this person -- Gabe says,

    I found this photo dated August 1, 2006 on Flickr. Caption: "He's a South Korean. Ismail is not his real name. He use it because his name is very hard to pronounce, especially for Indonesian people. His real name is Cho Seung Hoo ....... or is it Jo Sung Ho?"



    (Mirror here).

    Chomjangi says,

    Elda Rossell, the user who posted the photo on Flicker has a blog entry at this link regarding Ismail. Can anyone translate?

    Brian says,

    He may have been trying to write the name "Ishmael." Wikipedia notes: "The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts."

    BB reader William McEwan points to this possible link, in Islamic theological history:

    Ibrahim Confronts his People and Rejects their Idols

    He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don’t you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left.

    Michael Spencer adds,

    The conspiracist side of me notes that the semi-legendary Hashshashin (from which we get the word assassin) were Ismailis, a subsect of the Shi'a. Fans of William S. Burroughs and Robert Anton Wilson will be familiar with the assassins of Hasan Sabah. Here's a link to a page about the Ismailis and the Assasins (scroll down). It's probably just a coincidence, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix. Thanks for your excellent reporting.

    Steve says,

    This guy seems to have found a fairly convinving explanation. Especially if it turns out that Seung-Hui was Muslim.

    "For those of you still searching for meaning in this phrase, written in ink on Cho Seung-Hui's arm and also how he signed his infamous note, it starts with the story of Ibrahim's Ax (Ibrahim = Abraham):

    After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don't you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his ax he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left.
    --The Koran

    Ismail was Ibrahim's son. It was Ismail that Ibrahim wanted to sacrifice for Yahweh (with an ax)."

    Mithras Invicti says,

    I looked at the pics on Elda Rossell's flikr, figured out she's Indonesian, then ran the blog post through an Indonesian-English machine translator and got this (crappy but helpful) output:

    Just sy was finished chatted with one of the guests WH. he South Koreans. His name of Ismail. Yep… you gak wrong read … his name of Ismail.

    Sy surprised also by the name of him, trus sy tny he, is it true that that his name.
    Evidently that his Indonesian name, the name in fact was Jo Sung Ho.

    He and several of his colleagues from KorSel, was studying Indonesian for 2 months in WH. after that he will go to Palembang to teach the computer in the TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF MACHINERY for 2 years.

    Ow, susye true chatted was the same Ismail/Sung Ho … because he was not yet fluent in Indonesian. Bhs England then only a little (sami mawon sm sy).

    But according to sy, he has been moderate could compared to his friends (sy sometimes still liked to laugh in view of the fact that his friend had difficulty really asked Indonesian).
    Trus sy every was the same Ismail, he must often chat with Indonesians yg was in WH.


    By the way the matter of the name, they were asked to choose the Indonesian name personally. Sy asked why Sung Ho chose the Ismail name, he every because he wanted to be friends with the person Islam. Trus he mentioned the veil, then mentioned the name of Ms Siam (one of the employees WH) that wore the veil.

    Sy also asked whether the Indonesian name his friends. Ismail mentioned Indra, the Torment … yep…ka you also were not wrong read … was yg his name the Torment, bayangin then!
    .

    Sy, Mbak Rus and yg other agreed if the name must be replaced.
    Possibly sy tomorrow could speak first with Ismail ttg this because we janjian to chat again tomorrow night.


    Palembang is an Indonesian city. Googling KorSel Indonesia results in a team playing in badminton tournaments there. My interpretation is that this took place in Indonesia. Nothing about the shooter indicates he visited (much less studied or worked) there. So, I guess it's not the guy.

    Daniel J. Geduld says,

    Not sure if this is a connection or not, but it very possibly
    could be. A searchon 'Ishmael's Ax' (I realize the spelling is
    slightly different, but if the killer wrote that, I'm guessing
    spelling was not in his right mind) comes up with a link in the book
    Ishmael by E.D.E.N. Southworth [ aka Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth ].

    Here is how the novel is described:

    "E.D.E.N. Southworth considers Ishmael to be her very best work, being
    founded on the life of one of the noblest of our countrymen who really
    lived, suffered, toiled, and triumphed in this land. Its inspirations
    of wisdom and goodness were drawn from the examples of heroic warriors
    and statesmen of the Revolution. Ishmael—born in the depths of
    poverty, misery, and humiliation and raised to the summit of fame—was
    good as well as great. His life is proof that there is no depth of
    human misery from which we may not, by virtue, energy, and
    perseverance, rise to earthly honors, and by God's grace, attain
    eternal glory    ."

    Here is the relevant section:

    ----------

    "Well, Hannah, my dear, I'm thankful as you feel any interest in me at
    all; and I'll tell you everything. Let me see, what was it you was
    wanting to know, now? all about myself; where I was living; how I was
    getting along; and what fotch me back here; all soon told, Hannah, my
    dear.

    First about myself: You see, Hannah, that day as you slammed the
    door in my face I felt so distressed in my mind as I didn't care what on
    earth became of me; first I thought I'd just 'list for a soldier; then I
    thought I'd ship for a sailor; last I thought I'd go and seek my fortun'
    in Californy; but then the idea of the girls having no protector but
    myself hindered of me; hows'evar, anyways I made up my mind, as come
    what would I'd leave the neighborhood first opportunity; and so, soon
    after, as I heard of a situation as overseer at Judge Merlin's
    plantation up in the forest of Prince George's County, I sets off and
    walks up there, and offers myself for the place; and was so fort'nate as
    to be taken; so I comes back and moves my family, bag and baggage, up
    there.

    Now as to the place where I live, it is called Tanglewood, and a
    tangle it is, as gets more and more tangled every year of its life. As
    to how I'm getting on, Hannah, I can't complain; for if I have to do
    very hard work, I get very good wages.

    As to what brought me back to the
    neighborhood, Hannah, it was to do some business for the judge, and to
    buy some stock for the farm. But there, my dear! that boy has slipped
    out, and is cutting the wood; I'll go and do it for him," said Reuben,
    as the sound of Ishmael's ax fell upon his ears.

    Hannah arose and followed Gray to the door, and there before it stood
    Ishmael, chopping away at random, upon the pile of wood, his cheeks
    flushed with fever and his eyes wild with excitement.

    "Hannah, he is ill; he is very ill; he doesn't well know what he is
    about," said Reuben, taking the ax from the boy's hand.

    "Ishmael, Ishmael, my lad, come in; you are not well enough to work,"
    said Hannah anxiously.

    Ishmael yielded up the ax and suffered Reuben to draw him into the
    house.

    "It is only that I am so hot and dizzy and weak, Mr. Middleton; but I am
    sure I shall be able to do it presently," said Ishmael apologetically,
    as he put his hand to his head and looked around himself in perplexity.

    "I'll tell you what, the boy is out of his head, Hannah, and it's my
    belief as he's a going to have a bad illness," said Reuben, as he guided
    Ishmael to the bed and laid him on it.

    "Oh, Reuben! what shall we do?" exclaimed Hannah.

    "I don't know, child! wait a bit and see."


    Link downloadable text of "Ishmael by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth" at Project Gutenberg.

    (Via Boing Boing.)

    • VA Tech: guns on campus, TV producers on Facebook

    in

    Xeni Jardin:
    Large-scale incidents of gun violence like yesterday's mass shooting at Virginia Tech University are inevitably followed by gun law debate.

    Today, some around the 'net are pointing to relatively relaxed gun laws in Virginia as a contributing factor to the killings. Virginia allows effectively unlimited purchase of assault weapons for anyone over 18 who passes a background check; it's ok to sell rifles and shotguns to children over 12, and a legal loophole makes it okay to buy second-hand guns at gun shows with no waiting period or background check.

    But some pro-Second-Amendment folks argue the opposite. University administration and local law enforcement failed to protect VA Tech students from this and previous campus shootings, their logic goes, so there should in fact be more guns on campus -- in the hands of law-abiding students and profs alike, for self-protection.

    BB reader Aaron Krowne says,

    Virginia had just outlawed Concealed Carry on campus (At Virginia Tech's behest).

    I am a VT alum.

    The link is a blog writeup of mine pointing out that Virginia Tech had just "outlawed" concealed carry and reiterated its "gun-free campus" policy. In fact, in response to a scare last fall, the school had disciplined a student who was licensed and carrying a concealed weapon, and since then, agitated to defeat a Virginia law that would permit campus concealed carry.

    I've quoted VT spokesman Larry Hincker, including an essay of his last year in a local paper. The stance now looks pretty foolish given the tragic result this zero-tolerance "no guns" policy has produced. Will people ever learn that becoming passive and relying fully on the authorities for protection doesn't work?

    Those sentiments are echoed in items that appeared in local online press and blogs after an August, 2006 shooting at the university. Snip from "Unarmed and vulnerable," a Roanoke.com op-ed by Virginia Tech grad student Bradford B. Wiles:

    On Aug. 21 at about 9:20 a.m., my graduate-level class was evacuated from the Squires Student Center. We were interrupted in class and not informed of anything other than the following words: "You need to get out of the building."

    Upon exiting the classroom, we were met at the doors leading outside by two armor-clad policemen with fully automatic weapons, plus their side arms. Once outside, there were several more officers with either fully automatic rifles and pump shotguns, and policemen running down the street, pistols drawn.

    It was at this time that I realized that I had no viable means of protecting myself.

    Here's another related item at Roanoke.com

    Gun bill gets shot down by panel: HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.

    Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

    After Monday's tragedy, it seems unlikely that more permissive policies around guns on campus for self-defense would win much support. And many argue this is not the answer -- metal detectors, tighter on-campus security, or better alert systems are among the alternate remedies proposed.

    No matter which side of the gun debate you're on, one thing is obvious: anyone who is capable of and intent on killing 32 innocent fellow human beings will do so regardless of law. Homicidal maniacs can always be counted on to violate the boundaries set forth by others who want to promote a civil, peaceful society.
    (thanks, Sean Bonner)

  • BoingBoing reader Katy Pearce says, "There's now a Facebook group from Dateline NBC where they're looking for friends of the accused."

    Snip from that Facebook group description:

    WE UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT THIS IS, AND WANT TO HELP SHARE YOUR STORY.... DATELINE NBC URGENTLY LOOKING FOR ANYONE WHO KNEW SEUNG HUI CHO. WE HAVE PRODUCERS AND CAMERA CREWS NEARBY READY TO TALK TO ANYONE WHO CAN SUPPLY INFORMATION ABOUT HIM AND HIS MOVEMENTS LEADING UP TO THE TRAGEDY. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO PRODUCE A THOUGHTFUL AND INFORMATIVE REPORT THAT MIGHT SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE TRAGEDY AND POSSIBLY HELP PREVENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.

    And *we* understand how difficult it is to remember to switch off Caps Lock while trolling Facebook for primetime TV sources.

  • Following up on earlier BB posts about the possibility of "copycat effect" events (and Loren Coleman's analysis), BB reader Bryan says,

    St. Edward's University, a small, Catholic, liberal arts college in Austin, TX has closed classes until 5pm today as a result of a bomb threat. Students and faculty were evacuated but as of 11:21am CST no official information has been provided outside of that posted on the website.

    Not surprisingly, there seems to be a strong police showing given the size of the school (about 5,000 students). If there *are* copycat events, hopefully this is evidence that law enforcement and school administrations will be more prepared for them given the heightened alert.

  • Didn't take long for the grief domain profiteers to descend on urls like "vatechbloodbath.com."
    Wired News blog Threat Level has more: link 1, link 2.

    Previously on BB:

  • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and 'net nabs wrong man
  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    Reader comment: Ted Brown says,

    Sadly apropos, I finished watching this documentary--which condemns gun control--only minutes before reading about the VA Tech massacre. Penn & Teller's "Gun Control is Bullshit". It even touches upon theoretical events eerily similar to what happened yesterday. I was on the fence before about gun laws, but this is a one-two punch that's hard to ignore.

    Jon says,

    Here's what happens when there is someone with a gun nearby: Link.

    Gretchen says,

    This article describes the University of Maine's weapons policy. Students are allowedto have them on campus, but they must be registered and stored with Public Safety.

    (Via Boing Boing.)

    • VA Tech: questions, copycat odds, and ‘net nabs wrong man

    in

    Xeni Jardin:


  • Much discussion around the web about whether the manner in which VA Tech administrators warned their students of the first shooting -- by email -- may have contributed to further death. Two hours passed between the first shooting, in which two people were killed, and the second, in which more than 30 died. Snip from NYT story:

    The university did not send a campuswide alert until the second attack had begun, even though the gunman in the first had not been apprehended. [University president Charles W.] Steger defended the decision not to shut down or evacuate the campus after the first shootings, saying officials had believed the first attack was a self-contained event, which the campus police believed was a “domestic” dispute.

    There was much student traffic to and from the Norris Hall area when the school administrators issued that email alert, and few students in transit saw that warning message in time (say, on their handhelds). Many around the 'net are asking if more direct forms of warning -- loudspeakers, a school PA system, telephone -- in addition to the emails could have saved more lives. Why didn't university security just shut the whole campus down after the first shooting?

    Snip from another NYT story:

    One student finished the day’s assignment and tried to leave, but returned to tell the others that the hall was full of smoke and that there were police officers everywhere. The class decided to go into a room with a lock. Dr. Hendricks, an engineering and mechanics professor on the same floor, barricaded himself in his office, pushing a bookcase in front of the door. Some students on campus took refuge in the library, searching the Web to find out what was happening. No one knew.

    “I was crying,” Ms. Otey said. “I was worried that the guy with the gun was going to come upstairs too.”

    The violence began early in the morning in the west wing of Ambler Johnston, the largest dormitory at Virginia Tech, where two people were killed, officials said. But when the first class started two hours later, at 9:05 a.m., many on campus remained unaware of any danger.

    “I woke up and I didn’t know anything was wrong,” said Sarah Ulmer, a freshman who lives in the east wing of the dorm. “I went to my first class and my teacher was talking about how some people weren’t coming because there was a gun threat at West A. J. and they were blocking it off. It was like, ‘Oh.’ ”

    The school did not notify students by e-mail of the first shootings until 9:26 a.m., said Matt Dixon, who lives in the dorm. Mr. Dixon did not receive the e-mail message until he returned from his 9:05 class. When he left for that class, he said, a resident adviser told him not to use the central stairs, so he left another way. On dry erase boards, advisers had written, “Stay in your rooms,” Mr. Dixon said

  • Copycat Effect" author Loren Coleman weighs in with an entry on his blog about speculation that the VA Tech shooting is likely to be followed by "copycat" events:

    Xeni Jardin wonders how I would feel about what I am hearing on the American cable news networks. To listen to CNN and MSNBC is to watch the news people stumble through this story.

    These cable news people certainly should be aware that there is a copycat effect going on here. They have been reporting on this for ten years now, and can't see the legacy between wall-to-wall coverage and what happens when you elevate Columbine the way the media has.

    Specfically today, there is something over-the-top being heard in some of the reports that this shooting today is the "deadliest" in American history. Also, incorrect information is being shared. These newspeople are misreporting on the profiles and the changes in it. Cable news earlier this afternoon misrepresented that this is an American-only problem. During the early evening, I just watched a report on CNN saying that the few historical non-American school shootings have been done by adult non-students.

    Link to full text of post.


  • Blogs and online discussions yesterday misidentified 23-year-old Wayne Chiang (above), a VA Tech student with a penchant for guns, South Park, and bummed-out blog entries, as the shooter responsible for the VA Tech massacre.

    Mr. Chiang's "wanusmaximus" livejournal ("Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.") and Facebook profile include many photos of heavy weapons, and vanity shots of him posing with quantities of those weapons.

    His journal contains much morose LJ prose about obsessive love, movie downloads, and oh, the futility of life.


    "i put the cx4 [semiautomatic carbine] on the market cause i got bored with it," he writes in one entry, accompanied by this photo. "personally, i don't find it effective as a efficient manslaughtering tool, which definitely does not fit my needs."

    Mr. Chiang is Asian-American, and early reports indicate the VA Tech shooter was, too -- which added to many internet accusers' certainty that he was the killer, even though investigators still have not disclosed the name of the actual VA Tech murderer.

    Comment fields on Chiang's site soon filled with racist lines like "so u are the asisan that shot up the school. i hate u and your people."

    But, news alert: lots of LJs look like Chiang's. Gloomy web poetry and a gun hobby don't prove a dude is a mass murderer. After dozens of "j'accuse!" blog posts linked to his journal like so many pointed fingers, Chiang finally posted an update late last night:

    Coming out. I am not the shooter. Through this experience, I have received numerous death threats, slanderous accusations, and my phone is out of charge from the barrage of calls. Local police have been notified of the situation.

    My original intention was to wait until I got AdSense on my site and donating all the proceeds to Charity. However, this situation has now spiraled out of control. I am now confirming that I am not the shooter. I will be available for interview by a news agency to clear my name, talk about the experience, and give my opinion on how the situation could have turned out better if other students were allowed to be armed.

    I will speak with individuals who are interested in donating to charities resulting from today's events. Please e-mail all correspondence to null@vt.edu


    (Special thanks to Jake Appelbaum).

    Kevin Poulsen at Wired News has also been covering the misidentification story: Link.

  • Update, 633AM PT: authorities have now identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, age 23.

    Previously on BB:

  • VA Tech massacre: 33+ dead, largest shooting in US history

    Reader comment: John Bartley says,

    May I commend you to a similar episode in 1927, which killed 45, and
    of which I learned when I lived in Toledo, next to Michigan? Wikipedia link, Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

    Andrew Falconer says,


    You wrote:

    "There was much student traffic to and from the Norris Hall area when the school administrators issued that email alert, and few students in transit saw that warning message in time (say, on their handhelds). Many around the 'net are asking if more direct forms of warning -- loudspeakers, a school PA system, telephone -- in addition to the emails could have saved more lives. Why didn't university security just shut the whole campus down after the first shooting?"

    Lots of questions to come on communications and protocols, but it's also important to get the facts right. This morning WGN Radio in Chicago replayed a portion of an interview with a Va. Tech representative who confirmed they DO have a PA system campus-wide, and announcements repeatedly told students to stay in their dorms and/or classrooms after the first shooting occurred. (This system had been implemented after a shooting took place sometime last year, I believe someone mentioned.)

    The other thing people need to understand is the physical size of Va. Tech's campus. "Shutting the whole campus down" would be akin to implementing martial law in a small-to-medium sized town. Is that an appropriate response in any community that size for what authorities legitimately believed was initially a domestic disturbance call?

    Robert Byrd says,

    This site describes a school bombing in 1925 that killed many more than the VA Tech massacre.

    (Via Boing Boing.)