Terrorism on campus
OK, I am not going to claim that organized, religion-based jihad type terrorists are like the disturbed kid at Vermont Tech. But they are all terrorists. They have a message to send, and murder randomly to make a statement.
My recommendation is to respond the same to both. Consider terrorism a twisted form of piracy. End their misery, catalog their statements, relay pertinent information to other law enforcement jurisdictions. And go on.
I still think Cho, at Virginia Tech, intended to kill that first girl, probably selected for snubbing him when he acted out socially. Remember, this was disturbed kid, being treated for mental illness. Two different complaints of stalking name Cho as the perpetrator. The second girl in the dorm was either bravely trying to manage a problem (senior boy in the freshmen girl’s dorm) or just happened to walk in at the wrong time. A random killing.
Apparently Cho then went to his dorm, and spend an hour or more creating a video tape of his anger and messages. My opinion is that he hadn’t planned to survive the first killing. He still expected the snipers and SWAT to validate his message, bring in the national attention and national media — but it didn’t happen. I actually agree with Cho — the Virginia Tech administration fatally failed the student body by not discovering the first killing within minutes, and security and police did not get the campus shut completely down when they realized they had a shooter, but didn’t know where the shooter was.
Since Virginia Tech, SWAT, etc. failed to meet Cho’s expectations (dramatic shootout), Cho made up the next step — walking into Norris Hall and started killing, counting each needless death as a means to make sure his message was nationally played out.
Terrorist. Thug. Lowlife scum. Scum is as scum does.