In a second...

In a second two hopeful, talented young people were killed in a dormitory at Virginia Tech.....hours later, thirty more...murdered.
By now we have all read the stories, seen the coverage and heard the rumors.

A tragedy.

Is anyone at fault? Could they have done more? And who is "they" anyway?
Like you, I scratch my head at this sad set of events and ask why. Of course, we will never have a clear answer. Just assumptions, guesses, and lots of pieces of a puzzle that will never fully fit together.

Virginia Tech is a large school, not unlike the one that I attended 20 years ago. I was quick to ask why the authorities didn't do more. Why didn't they alert the students and faculty faster? Why not a mass e-mail or mass phone system alerting danger to all.....so many questions, and "what ifs".

Information is slowly surfacing. The shooter was a loner. An English major, who wrote pieces so disturbing that professors feared tutoring him one on one. I ask myself, why didn't they force this guy to get help? Why did they allow him to continue scripting these horrors on paper, in their classrooms? How did he continue to pursue his college career without mental help despite the pleas from professors, who brought the matter to the attention of administrators.
How did he slip through the cracks?

Sure, this tragedy could have happened anywhere. Nobody could have predicted.

Or could they?

When a student displays this type of odd social behavior, writes plays and stories of graphic, disturbing violence and hatred.....you CAN predict to some degree that this person is disturbed and capable of something deviant and evil.

I am so very sad for the families of these victims. So sad for all that surrounds this beautiful campus.

More than anything, I am angry.

Angry at why school officials blew off the warning signs. Angry that professors were scared of this kid, alerted high level administrators, and yet, nothing was done. Angry that this kid was permitted to fall so far under the radar screen that he walked into a store and legally purchased a weapon that serves NO purpose but to kill other people.

My heart hurts for all of those who have been touched by this tragedy. May they find peace and healing with time.

I don't blame the police or campus security for this tragedy.
I blame the university officials who ignored the repeated warnings over the last three years. If only they had paid attention. If only they had taken it seriously.

If only they had "gotten involved."