Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Horror of Horrors

What happened at Virginia Tech yesterday was a horror of horrors. Campus security is going to be scorned in public for not locking down the campus after the first shooting. Gun rights activists from both perspectives are doing to be screaming at one another trying to spin their perspective. The very openness of college campuses is going to be questioned.

The sad fact of life is that no one could have predicted this. No matter how much people try to analyze it, the murder of a man and a woman in a dorm does not ordinarily turn into a monumental spree killing. No one could have anticipated what was to happen. I suspect hindsight will impact many decisions made on many campuses. It's just so sad.

What is chilling to me was the efficiency of the killer. Being Italian and being from New Jersey I am a major fan of The Sopranos. Part of what I like about that show is that it is painfully real. The bad people truly are bad people. The thing is, when they kill someone, they do so with ruthless efficiency. It is not simply spraying a bunch of bullets around. In real life killers shoot the victim down and then go and finish them off. Killing is not a by-product of the violence, it is the reason for the violence.

The young man who did these shootings did this. He literally executed these students.

I only can hope and pray for the families of victims and everyone associated with Virginia Tech. What has transpired is horrible. I also hope that we are able to learn something that will enable us to prevent such things from happening again.

1 comment:

Christopher D said...

I do not understanf how there could have been such a delay in warning the students. And to further the confusion I have, knowing the two initial murders occurred in a dorm, one would have to think a student or staff responsible, the solution...resume classes and make people present their school ID's to enter buildings.
This is a tragic and black day in our country, such senseless loss of life, and we may never ever at least know why, if for nothing else closures sake.
May God be with the family and friends of the lost, and the wounded. May the lost rest in peace.