We may have discovered part of the reason for the two hour gap between the first and second shooting incidents on Monday in Blacksburg. Apparently, Cho Seung Hui paused his killing rampage to send a video manifesto to NBC News:
The gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus Monday morning stopped in the midst of his rampage to mail a package to NBC News, which included photos of him seemingly pantomiming a shooting, and a rambling video manifesto, in which he says “I had to.”
Cho Seung Hui, 23, mailed the package from a campus post office Monday, after killing two people at a campus dormitory, and before a spree that claimed 30 lives at an academic building, according to law enforcement sources. In video excerpts shown by NBC this evening, Cho blames unspecified others for the shootings, saying “You forced me into a corner.”
“When the time came, I did it,” Cho said, who at times appeared to be taping himself inside a minivan. “I had to.” In other footage he was standing in front of a cinder block wall.
On the network’s “Nightly News” broadcast, anchor Brian Williams said the package was sent Monday via overnight mail, but didn’t arrive at NBC’s office until today because it had an incorrect Zip Code. Williams said a mail clerk received the package at 9:01 a.m., which was nearly two hours after campus police received a 7:15 a.m. call about at shooting at West Ambler Johnston dormitory. The second shooting at Norris Hall, an academic building across campus, was reported to police about 9:45 a.m.
I saw some of the excerpts on NBC Nightly News tonight, and it’s clear that the guy was more than a little off his rocker.
The question that this video raises, though, is whether Cho may have had someone helping him create his manifesto.
MSNBC’s coverage of the story, including photos that Cho sent along with the video, can be found here.
Tags: Virginia Tech
April 20th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
This is the product of societal indifference and callousness towards our fellow man. Cho is not the first person to be bullied, harrassed, and abused in the American school setting. Analyzing below the surface, we see that all persons failed him in offering true care, support, and compassion. For his 23 years of life, he was ostracized and ridiculed. Rebellion was a natural result of the forces impressed upon him for two decades. His classmates failed him, his professors failed him, society failed him, the absence of love failed him. Humans need love. We flourish in culture, love, warmth, and commonality. Contrary to the media slant, there are absolutely NO INNOCENT VICTIMS in the case. And, crimes of ommission are sometimes as costly as crimes of commission. Of course killing is wrong. It violates the 10 Commandments. But this killing is not a unique event. Every day in Iraq, 200-300 innocent people die without mercy, for no reason. On America’s streets, millions are homeless, depressed, with nowhere and no place. This is a manifestation of a sick and depraved society. My strong advice is to find God, learn his principles, and start standing for justice, and against unfairness against all people so as a society we can uplift ourselves and have peace in our minds and our hearts. Cho is a murderer, but his life is also an exposition on tradgedy, and his life has as much value as any other person. He was a lost and abandoned soul, and we should feel sorry that someone could deteriorate into that state. It did not happen by itself. It was a process that devolved over time.