Posted on 04/17/2007 10:03:44 PM PDT by TBP
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- On a university campus of 2,600 acres, with more than 26,000 students, ironclad security is not a practical goal. Even so, tough questions swiftly surfaced as to how effectively Virginia Tech authorities responded to Monday's horrific massacre.
Why were campus police so sure the threat was contained in one dormitory, when most of the killings occurred two hours later in a classroom building?
Why did they think the assailant might have left the campus after those initial shootings?
Why was there a lag of more than two hours after the first shootings before an alarm was e-mailed campuswide - around the time another, more deadly burst of carnage occurred? And more generally, some security experts wondered, was the school's crisis planning and emergency communications system up to the task?
Clearly, something went terribly wrong.
Bombarded with security questions at a news conference, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed the shooting at the West Ambler Johnston dorm, first reported about 7:15 a.m., was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.
"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
No problems with the police here.
Usually in crimes of passion like that there is very little chance of further violence. It was a reasonable assumption by the police.
Blaming the police for this is stupid. Blaming the administration is not.
I agree. I have worked in law enforcement for over 12 years and what people do not realise is that many officers are not going to do anything because of litigation. You are welcome, many cops are going to do the least they can do from being sued. Welcome to America.
How much do you close down a town when there has been a murder? I suppose it depends on the town and the circumstances. When the FBI agent was shot here in NJ by friendly fire and the bank robber was on the loose, the local college was locked down after a few hours and then closed; reverse 911 called the homes and told people to lock their doors and stay inside; the police went door to door.
In other places; they might not even shut down the city block.
Mrs VS
Hindsight remains 20/20. You can’t seriously expect the security police or law enforcement to have done much more than they did.
You're assuming that it was a "crime of passion." then why did hetke the time to file off the serial numbers on the gun? Why did he bolt the doors shut? These things indicate premeditation, nto a "crime of passion."
I tend to agree with your general assessment.
The shooter had “Ismael Ax” written on his arm in red ink.
“Ismael” is the Koranic version of Ishmael (son of Abraham) and also the name of the 13th Century founder of Shiah Islam.
The poster was referring to the earlier killings.
You're assuming that it was a "crime of passion." then why did hetke the time to file off the serial numbers on the gun? Why did he bolt the doors shut? These things indicate premeditation, nto a "crime of passion."The police didn't know that.
Let's get real here for a second. In a crime of passion, which was believed to be a murder/suicide initially, wouldn't there have been a gun left behind?
How can you shoot someone else and then yourself, without a gun being left behind?
The fact that no gun was left behind should have kept officials on their toes - but apparently it didn't.
Crystal-clear hindsight strikes again.
Yea, blame the college president and the police. It was all their fault. /sarc off
Just another South Korean Muslim.
/sarc
Let's get real here for a second. In a crime of passion, which was believed to be a murder/suicide initially, wouldn't there have been a gun left behind? How can you shoot someone else and then yourself, without a gun being left behind? The fact that no gun was left behind should have kept officials on their toes - but apparently it didn't.I can't speak for the police. But as far as I've read the police thought the killer had run off and they were looking for him.
The college president has to take some of the blame. Isn’t his the policy that said no guns on campus, even for the campus police? Everyone who signed on to the “no carry guns allowed on campus even with a leagl permit” are at fault here. This might never have occured if the guy thought there were armed people to oppose him, as it was he knew he was in a gun free zone, except for his of course. Yes, I blame the President and the rest of the administration. The police, however, are not at fault for the stupidity of their superiors.
How about they storm the building en masse and don’t doddle giving time to the perp to go back to rooms he had already mowed down for a second go at it.
How many shots did the cops actually fire?
They sure did not look like Dallas SWAT.they all looked overweight and could not run to save their lives or anybody else for that matter.
P C will destroy this country, given half a chance.
Hindsight is 20/20, and that is what armchair folks rely on.
If they were running off and looking for him (which I'm not saying isn't true) it's a shame that five hours passed (7:15AM to 12:20PM appx., when he was found dead). They essentially caught up with him when the damage (much damage) had already been done.
Only they know how they responded and what they can do to improve in the future.
If every official ran to the scene, then that leaves next to no resources available for the other side of campus. Of course, this is hindsight, but putting all your eggs in one basket usually isn't a good idea.
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