1:38 PM
I had started the day planning on jotting a few things down about the nor’easter that is constantly reminding me of its presence with the ping of rain on my window. Growing up on Lake Ontario, I have some memories of big storms, but this was the first time I ever remember getting a phone call from emergency response people saying to be prepared for flooding in low lying areas and 9 – 12 foot waves. I was going to talk about going outside last night in the wind and wet moving firewood up from the pile so it didn’t get swept back into the water. But as I ate my lunch in front of the TV, the weather took a backseat.
It started off on cnn.com this morning that there was a shooting at Virginia Tech. One or two people were dead. That was bad, but it didn’t really capture my attention and warrant an in-depth look. I clicked once, but had sports and weather to look at. As I ate my leftovers for lunch, the numbers startled me. A video allowed you to hear some of the gunshots. The numbers of dead had risen to 22 and 21 injured. Shocking. Stunning.
I watched and listened, amazed at the carnage. From what they said, a guy (still unknown if he was a student) went looking for his girlfriend at her dorm. He didn’t find her and shot some people. He then went to I think the engineering building, looking for her. This is where most of the shootings occurred. Regardless, what would possess you to be so mad at somebody that it makes sense to shoot a bunch of other people that have nothing to do with the situation? Does it make it better? I don’t think so. The shooter is dead. They don’t know if he shot himself.
You have to feel for the victims and their families. College is supposed to be a safe haven to learn and grow. You don’t expect to learn and grow from situations like this.
I can hear the cries about lack of security and different finger pointing, but I don’t think there was a whole lot that could’ve been done about this. A campus should be peaceful and stimulate creativity and intellect. Armed guards at ever entry way are not conducive for that. It is hard to be prepared for a wacko with a gun who doesn’t care if he lives or dies.
I couldn’t imagine being a family member of an innocent victim. Or being a family member of the shooter. So many why’s are out there. I guess the answers will come. This is the worst campus shooting ever in the U.S. We can’t do anything about that. The biggest thing is what can be learned from it?