Two enormous lapses need more scrutiny in Monday’s massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg.
First—Why didn’t authorities lock down the campus or alert other law-enforcement agencies after two students were shot to death in a university dormitory earlier that morning?
Inasmuch as the dormitory shooter was unidentified and still at large, what made authorities believe the killer had left the campus and was no longer a threat to students and staff?
Virtually every student and staff member now carries a wireless phone accepting e-mail or text messages. A mass mailing would have immediately alerted everyone on campus to assemble in secure and safe locations.
Second—Why was Cho Seung-Hui, the admitted murderer of 32 students and staff members in the dormitory and two hours later in a classroom building, allowed to purchase handguns?
In early 2005, a Virginia court ordered Cho, who had long history of mental illness, hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation because of threatening behaviors.
Doesn’t documented mental illness preclude purchase of guns during mandatory background checks? (22 APRIL 2007)
