Shooting at Va. Tech

wow.
you try to put yourself in the shoes of those kids ... see a bullet go through the head of your prof. and the gunman turn to the class, what do you do? Waiting under a desk through 90 seconds of shooting, thinking every moment the next shot is coming at you. Jumping out of a second-story window to pavement while your prof. stands in front of a door with a gunman desperately trying to enter.
You'd like to think you'd make the right decision ... helping others find safety, thinking quickly enough to push a table in front of the door, ... I dunno.
andyouare? nailed it. Those who think they'd done differently. Read this story.

 

Just a tremendous, tremendous story.

Did anyone see the story on the janitor who was shot at as he was fleeing down the hall as the shooting started?

His response when he got home that day was not to reflect on how lucky he was to survive, as we've heard from so many people. Instead he got rip-roaring drunk. According to the story he had already killed off a 12-pack and was working on his second one when the writer got to his house.

I'm not trying to judge this guy or paint him in a negative light at all, but that really stuck with me for some reason. Probably because that would be my response to surviving something like this.

 

Any honest person would agree with you, aqb.

 

Fabulous, fabulous journalism.

It's stories like this that PROVE newspapers are still relevant in the digital age.

 

Didn't see that one, but it's great to see the other side of the reaction to something like this. It's great to see this reaction covered for once, because you know it happens.

 

I woulda been drinking 93 octane straight from the pump.

 

Just what Virginia Tech f'ing needs. Sorry if I'm DBing ...

A fringe church that has received attention and scorn for protesting the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq is planning to picket memorial services for those who died in Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have disrupted funerals with explicit signs blaming the war in Iraq on homosexuals.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-tech-protest.a20,0,3433197.story

 

When the first student interviews aired -- and I'm talking about the students who were in the building and not the ones who were on campus but not really involved -- I thought they were remarkably unemotional. One recounted her professor being shot (and through the Post story we find that he was shot in the head) and it was almost as cold as the shooter sounded. Now I understand that the person was probably in shock at the time and in some cases, may not even remember doing the interview.

The last paragraphs of the story, relating the grief hitting when the one student finally went home, may have been the most-powerful part of the story. Imagine being in one of those classrooms and -- with the exception of possibly the one with the German immigrant professor who gave his life to hold off the shooter long enough so his students could jump out the window -- the difference between you living and dying being simply sheer luck. The one guy lives because they guy next to him gets shot and falls on him -- utterly remarkable.

It reminded me of the last scene from Saving Private Ryan where Ryan desperately wants comfirmation that he lived a good life and deserved to be spared. What could go through the mind of somebody whose entire class -- except for four people -- perished. I hope that they will be able to find whatever they need to get through this.

 

Lock all of the protestors up until after all of the services are complete and then say, "Oops, my bad." I'd be happy to contribute to the fund to payoff the lawsuit because "cause or no cause", some things just shouldn't be done.

Shame on them.

And don't politicize this. I already hate the reaction of politicians around the country who are coming out and advocating things that would hopefully avoid a repeat. Please go away and STFU. Where were these guys last week?

 

Anyone notice that the networks seem to be finding all of the attractive woman on campus to chat up about this? That can't be coincidental. Shameless sometimes, they are.

 

You can probably thank the cameramen for that. We all know how they can be.

"Her, her over there with the big rack. Let's see what she has to say..."

 

That article was the most heart-breaking, scary thing I've read in a very long time. I feel all wrung out.

Just as a sidenote: I was traveling and not able to be near a TV nearly as much as I normally would be during something like this. My main source of news was SportsJournalists.com and I'm grateful to everyone who posted updates throughout.