Could Seung-Hui Cho’s Killing Rampage Been Stopped by Virginia Tech School Administrators?
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
Could the killings at Virginia Tech been prevented if more teachers and students complained about Seung-Hui Cho’s bizarre behavior and his violent writings?
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of the school’s creative writing program, taught Cho in 2005. She was concerned about his behavior - he wore sunglasses to class and a cap pulled low over his eyes - and the violent themes in his writings. She also was worried for her safety because took cellphone pictures of her in class.
When she notified authorities about Cho, she was told there would be too many legal hurdles. Police told her they couldn’t act since the writing wasn’t explicit enough and he didn’t threaten a specific person. Maybe their hands were legally tired, but couldn’t campus administration have intervened somehow, for example asking for a psych evaluation because he was a threat to himself and others.

