Panel set to study shootings, responses
RICHMOND – Virginia Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine on Thursday created an eight-member independent panel, including former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, to review all aspects of the Virginia Tech massacre, from shooter Cho Seung-Hui’s medical history to the school’s widely criticized delay in warning students of danger.
Earlier in the day, the director of Virginia Tech’s counseling center disclosed that school officials had not been told about Cho’s release from a mental health facility in December 2005 with a court order to seek counseling. School officials said no students had formally complained about Cho’s behavior in the 15 months following his release from the facility in nearby Radford.
In Richmond, Kaine announced the appointment of Ridge and five experts from medicine, law enforcement and education to the group, which will be headed by retired Virginia State Police Superintendent Gerald Massengill. Two other members will be added soon, he said.
Kaine and Massengill made it clear that the inquiry was designed not to affix blame for Monday’s catastrophe but to understand its causes and put in place safeguards to reduce the chances of a recurrence.
“This is a case study,” said Massengill, 64, who led the state’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington area. “We’re not trying to second-guess anyone.”
After Cho killed two students at West Ambler Johnston Hall about 7:15 a.m. Monday, it took campus police more than two hours to inform Virginia Tech students. A number of law enforcement experts have speculated that the school’s failure to lock down the campus after the initial killings might have contributed to the carnage later at Norris Hall, where the gunman killed 30 people and himself.
Kaine said the panel would focus on three areas:
“Cho and his mental health before the shootings. This part of the review will include warning signs that might have gone unheeded, legal or administrative barriers that might have kept critical information from school administrators, and the circumstances surrounding his purchase of the two handguns he used.
“A minute-by-minute deconstruction of the shootings.
“An analysis of law enforcement and emergency medical responses to the calamity.
The governor said he hoped to have an initial report from the panel, including any recommendations for changes in laws or policies, by the beginning of the coming school year.
Eight shooting victims were still hospitalized Thursday and in stable condition. Four were in intensive care, three in an orthopedics ward and one in a step-down unit from intensive care.