Seung-Hui Cho Massacre

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10 minutes. 10 minutes is how long it took for Seung-Hui Cho to shoot 30 people, including himself, on his college campus. The massacre started in the early morning on April 16, 2007. At 6:45 AM, Seung-Hui Cho entered the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. At 7:15 AM, he shot a female freshman in her dorm room. Having heard the gunshots, a male resident assistant went to see what had happened. He was immediately shot and killed. Cho fled the scene and returned to his dorm room before police or medical units had even arrived at the scene (Crime Museum 2022). When Cho returned to his dorm, he filmed a confessional video that he mailed to NBC News. In the video, Cho talks about how he was being bullied by “wealthy brats” while he shows off his …show more content…

Around 9:40 AM he entered Norris Hall with two handguns, chains, and several rounds of ammunition. Cho went to the second floor of the building and entered a classroom. He shot and killed the professor and 9 students. He moved to another classroom, where he again killed the professor and four students. He proceeded to move between several other rooms on that floor, sadly taking the lives of many others (Tikkanen 2024). One survivor reported that Cho shot almost a person at least 3 times before moving onto someone else (Froling 2023). After about 10 minutes of nonstop gunshots, Cho decides to end his rampage by taking his own life before the police could get to him (Tikkanen 2024). It has been 17 years since the Virginia Tech Massacre, and many people are unaware of this tragedy. The Virginia Tech campus has two memorials in honor of the massacre. The first is a bench with the engraved message, “In Honor of the Survivors” (Brady 2017). The second is 32 stones placed in a circle on the drill field. Each stone is engraved with the Hokie mascot. While these memorials are a good way to honor the victims, they do not tell the story of what happened that …show more content…

While it is not possible to go back in time and get Cho the help he needed to save his victim’s lives, it is possible to prevent history from repeating itself. If a historical marker were placed on the drill field, then people would be able to read about the massacre. By learning about the lead up to the massacre, people can learn the importance of acting when they notice someone else struggling with their mental health. If someone had reported Cho’s warning signs before the massacre, it is possible that he never would have shot up the school. In today’s world, it is difficult to imagine how the Virginia Tech shooting could have played out the way it did. If a college was shot up in the morning, the entire school would be placed into lockdown, and everyone would be aware that there had been an incident. It is unlikely that a double shooting would occur on a college campus today. This is thanks to the advancements in gun safety protocol that came out of the Virginia Tech shooting. In 2006 there were only 59 incidents with guns at school, in comparison, there 198 gun related events at school in

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