The details regarding the slaughter that took place at “Virginia-Tech” raise more and more questions by the hour. In fact, thanks to the killer, the killings at the university have turned into a media-event. The main question is: was it possible to prevent the tragedy? It was possible to isolate the criminal.
Envelope with the wrong address
We know that the 23-year old killer first killed his girlfriend and the guy with her in the dormitory, invaded the university just two hours later, and started the shootings. During those two hours, Cho Syung-Hu sent an envelope to the NBS television station. Inside the envelope there were pictures of him, twenty-seven video clips and a letter composed of 1800 words. In one of the video clips, Cho Syung had said that it would have been possible to prevent the tragedy, but “you made me do it”.
“You have a hundred chances to prevent this every day. But you decided to shed my blood. You left me with only one choice. The decision is yours. Now your hands are bloody and they will never be clean.”
He says the following in another video clip:
“When the time comes, I will be forced to do that.”
Cho talks about the killings in the past tense, and it is not understandable exactly when he recorded himself. Cho had taped a part of it in his car, and a larger part was taped standing in front of a white wall. Based on the form and paint of the wall, some say that Cho had recorded himself in his room. In one of his messages, Cho remembers “martyrs such as Eric and Dylan”, referring to Eric Harrison and Dylan Cloboldi, who had killed 13 students at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.
Cho had aimed one of his threats against the rich and his other enemies.
“You have everything. Your Mercedes Benzes are not enough, you spineless creatures. Your bracelets are enough for you petty bourgeois…Your vodka and cognacs were not enough. Your prostitution was not enough. They were not enough for your hedonic demands. You have everything.”
Cho also mentions religion, saying that he is sacrificing himself like Christ. In pictures, Cho is looking at the camera with a weapon in his hand. There is one picture of him pointing a gun to his head. Cho had sent the envelope to NBC on Monday; however, the television station received it on Wednesday morning. The package delivery was delayed a day because Cho had written the address and post code wrong. Upon receiving the envelope, the television station immediately informed the police and submitted all of the originals of the content to investigators. After investigating the content, the police announced that “this could be a new and important component for the investigation”.
Students were complaining long before
Two years ago, one of the judges of Virginia had declared Cho as someone who is “psychologically ill” and who is first of all dangerous to himself. Cho is described in the following way in the cover letter of the case: “He presents an inevitable danger to himself due to his psychological illness.” The following is said in the cover letter of another judge on December 14: “Cho presents an inevitable danger to others and needs to be hospitalized. Cho is incapable of or does not wish to be cured.” However, it is also stated that “although Cho is depressed, he denies that he wants to become a murderer. He says that he does not have psychological problems. His mental abilities and judgment are normal.”
Cho was in the center of attention two years ago, in November 2005. Back then, one of the female students of the university had appealed to the police, complaining about Cho’s intensive and persistent letters. The police talked with the future murderer. There were talks the following month as well, when another female student appealed to the police regarding the same issue. It was then that one of the female students informed the police that Cho might commit suicide. Based on the agreement made with the police, Cho would visit the Blacksburg psychiatric center and return to the university after two days. Afterwards, the police don’t deal with Cho anymore. In the meantime, Cho turns into a headache for his fellow students and professors.
The professor called him “despicable”
It was during that time when Cho Syung-Hu had problems at the university. In fact, one of his professors, Nikki Giovanni, had called him “despicable”.
“He always used to come to class with black glasses and a hat. I asked him to take off his hat and glasses several times,” says Giovanni.
According to her, when she heard about the killings, she said, “I know who could have done this.” Nikki says that she would have been surprised if it was someone else. Nikki was teaching poetry. She says that Cho’s poems were simply terrifying, depressive, unpleasant and aggressive. That was exactly how he was as a student, who had started to secretly photograph his fellow students during class.
“I understand that we are dealing with crazy young people who commit any kind of stupid act-they drink, jump off buildings, drink and drive. I have taught those kinds of young people. But Cho was really despicable. I was constantly analyzing what I could do that I wasn’t doing. What am I doing wrong?” says Nikki.
However, while analyzing Cho’s behavior and hearing the complaints of the students, the professor sets an ultimatum for the department – either she resigns or the student is suspended from class. Cho gets suspended from the poetry class.
The police and the university respond
So, after all this, why didn’t Cho receive medical treatment and why was he lurking around the university, killing 31 people two hours after he had committed the first murder?
The police say that although Cho’s poems and behavior were suspicious, they were not aggressive. Besides that, it should be noted that the most important clause of the U.S. Constitution states the right to a personal life, which sets limits on the activities of the police. As far as the student/murderer depression and aggressive poetry, the poetry class assignment had been creative work where even aggressiveness was excusable. In that sense, Cho did not present a danger to his surroundings. In response to the second question, the university administration says that the investigation had begun after the first shots. At the time the police had suspected that it was a crime on the grounds of jealousy, and were busy questioning the witnesses.
Ismael X. The semester is over
Classes have not begun at the university because the students and professors are still in shock. This crime brought up discussions on the atmosphere in American universities and the psychological state of students. Based on recent surveys, more than half of American students are overstressed; most of them suffer from insomnia and one third from depression.
The crime took place when classes were just about to end. The spring semester was ending in the first half of May. “What must be done to prevent such crimes from happening?” Experts today have a hard time coming up with an answer to that question-change legislation, prohibit weapon sales, and make the security rules and regulations stricter and most importantly, pay attention to people in the surroundings. Those people may turn from melancholic to a wild murderer.
Cho Syung-Hu was born to a middle-class South Korean family. His personal life was unsuccessful, he was a loner, did not communicate with his peers, and wrote aggressive poetry about, for example, killing his stepfather. Before the crime he had cut his hair short and bought two guns. He had been psychologically transformed, and proof of that is the fact that that he had written “Ismael X” in the “from whom” section of the envelope sent to NBC. The same name was tattooed on his arm. Ismael X was one of the mysterious heroes of the famous novel “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. The hero had spent his precious time in studying at Harvard and Yale Universities…
Cho decided not to study anymore, and to die. He killed 32 people and decided to become the 33rd by committing suicide.