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   April 16, 2007: VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING

Background

 

  • Seung-Hui Cho was a 23 year old senior student in the English Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He was the gunman responsible for the shootings at Virginia Tech which took place on April 16th, 2007.

  • The attack is considered to be the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history.

  • Cho was previously diagnosed with severe major depression and anxiety disorder when he was in middle school. He received treatment in middle school up until his senior year in high school when he decided he no longer wanted to receive therapy

  • In the day of the shooting, he carried several chains, locks, a knife, two handguns with nineteen - 10 and 15 round magazines and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition.

  • There were two separate attacks; at 7:15am he killed two students in a dorm at West Ambler Johnston Hall. The second attack began at 9:01am in Norris Hall where he killed 30 people and wounded 17 others, before taking his own life.

  • After the first shooting, Cho went to the post office and mailed a package containing pictures and video recordings to NBC News.

 

Life-Threatening Toll: Death and Injury

 

  • Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart before committing suicide. (5 professors, and the rest were students from undergrad, master’s level, Ph.D. and Psy.D.); 6 additional people were injured escaping from classroom windows.

People holding candles in commemoration of the Virginia Tech Shooting

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Virginia_Tech_massacre_candlelight_vigil_Burruss.jpg

Immediate psychological impact

 

  • Students and faculty who were present during the shootings and survived would be most likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress. This also would include family and friends of the deceased, eyewitnesses and even first responders.

  • Level of anxiety and distress would be raised across the university.

  • After the shootings, there was an immediate need of mental health practitioners to respond to the needs of the victim’s families, friends and the community.

 

Long term psychological impact

 

  • Sparked debates about gun violence, gun laws, gun ownership, mental illness, and responsibility of college administrators.

  • The state of Virginia closed many legal loopholes that had previously allowed individuals that were mentally unsound from purchasing guns.

  • It led to passing the first major federal gun control measure in more than 13 years.

  • Many students declined offers from Virginia Tech after the shootings.

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