Gunman Kills 21 on Virginia Tech campus

[Tom Yum]

When I fired a pistol for the first time, I felt a strong sense of responsibility and seriousness on my shoulders; a very sobering reality that this weapon can end a life and should only be used to protect.

I think alot of people would feel this way when having to wield so much power.

I wonder if this Cho guy ever handled a weapon before the rampage. Wielding that kind of power is serious stuff and you can feel that seriousness.

[treelizard]

When I fired a pistol for the first time, I felt a strong sense of responsibility on my shoulders; a very sobering reality that this weapon can end a life and should only be used to protect. I think alot of people would feel this way when they have to wield so much power.

I think that's only how good guys (or gals) feel when they handle a weapon.

[treelizard]

I suppose I should clarify that I mean no offense or affront to the victims of anything like this in examining the "maybes" of a situation. Being brought up in reality based martial arts and the military, questioning failures is as much a part of learning as examining success. It always stings, especially when you're close to the situation. I always hated having every little fault picked apart by some evaluator after a mission or exercise, but in the end, it's for one's own growth.

I guess I was thinking maybe it's possible to look at who survives and who doesn't in the same way you do with people who get stuck in the wilderness... Everyone keeps telling me to read the book Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why. Of course you can blame it on the circumstances but why is it that different people in different circumstances react differently, and how can we train ourselves to develop those qualities, and become the type of people that survive... or are more likely to survive, or however you want to phrase it.

[Tom Yum]

I guess we just disagree on how we see people. Again, maybe I'm just more of a cynic, but in my experience, speaking as a whole, most college students do not have the same close bonding experiences that I would expect to spark such a group mentality.

I agree with this observation with some rare exceptions. Same could be said of the general population, sadly.

[Garland]

I agree with this observation with some rare exceptions.

Consider the kids in my psych program an exception. We're a close knit little dysfunctional family. I love these people. We help each other get by.

[Tom Yum]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070421/ap_on_re_us/nasa_evacuation

By RASHA MADKOUR, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 21, 7:58 PM ET

HOUSTON - The gunman in an apparent murder-suicide at the Johnson Space Center targeted a NASA worker he feared could get him fired, police said Saturday.

William Phillips had received a poor job review a month before authorities said he smuggled a revolver into the space center, shot David Beverly and barricaded himself with a hostage before killing himself in a building that houses communications and tracking systems for the space shuttle. The hostage escaped.

Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Phillips bought the .38-caliber revolver March 18, two days after receiving an e-mail citing deficiencies in his job performance.

A copy of the e-mail was found in Phillips' lunch bag on the day of the shootings, police Lt. Larry Baimbridge said.

Phillips had lunch with Beverly and another man on Friday, police said. That afternoon, Phillips entered Beverly's office with the snub-nosed revolver in his hand and said "You're the one who's going to get me fired," Baimbridge said.

After Beverly talked with Phillips for several minutes, Phillips shot him twice, police said. He then returned and shot Beverly twice more, officials said.

Phillips duct-taped a woman to a chair, holding her for hours, police said. Officers entered the room and freed her after hearing the gunshot that killed Phillips.

The hostage, identified by NASA as Fran Crenshaw, a contract worker with MRI Technologies, worked in the same general area.

Space agency spokesman John Ira Petty said Saturday that NASA was conducting what he called a continuous review of security procedures. Petty would not discuss specifics, saying the apparent murder-suicide was a police matter.

To enter the space center, workers must show an ID badge as they drive past a security guard. The badge allows workers access to designated buildings.

Beverly's wife, Linda, said her 62-year-old husband, to whom she had been married for 41 years, was an electrical parts specialist who felt working at NASA was his calling.

"His intellect and his knowledge, David really felt he was contributor," she said.

Phillips, 60, an employee of Jacobs Engineering of Pasadena, Calif., had worked for NASA for 15 years. He was unmarried, had no children and apparently lived alone.

During the confrontation, NASA employees in the building were evacuated and others were ordered to remain in their offices for several hours. Roads within the 1,600-acre space center campus were blocked off, and a nearby middle school kept its teachers and students inside as classes ended. Doors to Mission Control were locked as standard procedure

-------------------------------------------------------------

Considering he was employed there for 15 years he must have performed well (or atleast at a satisfactory level).

Perhaps he was having a bad streak somewhere and his personal life must have rubbed off on his professional life?

Perhaps the company wanted to let him go without having to pay for his retirement benefits and letting him go on poor review was the only way to avoid said payouts?

Or, he might have had difficulties getting along with co-workers/dealing with new procedures and maybe writing the poor review was the only way to warn him?

Maybe it was some combination of the above reasons. His actions aren't justifiable at all, but something drove him past sanity.

[DickHardman]

Considering he was employed there for 15 years he must have performed well (or atleast at a satisfactory level).

Perhaps he was having a bad streak somewhere and his personal life must have rubbed off on his professional life?

Perhaps the company wanted to let him go without having to pay for his retirement benefits and letting him go on poor review was the only way to avoid said payouts?

Or, he might have had difficulties getting along with co-workers and maybe writing the poor review was the only way to warn him?

Maybe it was some combination of the above reasons.

maybe he just got tired of keeping so many secrets for so many years.

[gregimotis]

maybe he just got tired of keeping so many secrets for so many years.

Does all that dope give everyone such a one-track mind?

Just making sure you don't get lonely, DH

[DickHardman]

Just making sure you don't get lonely, DH

why did you have to steal one of jubajis one liners? surely you could have done better.

[darrianation]

a bIt late

The fact is Virginia Tech has a no guns on campus policy certainly didn't stop Cho it only stopped the law abiding. That fact gave Cho a greater advantage over his victims and the anti-gun policy directly affected the number of victims.

Folks should have the right to self-determination, to self-protection and they should be able to do so without being worried about cowards with pencils coming looking for them. In general self-defense is an accepted reason to deploy deadly force but if the libtard cowards have there way we will all live in a non-permissive environment where only the criminals and the government have guns. You will then be left with a choice you can either be a defiant freeman or a dead but legal citizen.

“A man with a gun is a citizen, a man without a gun is a subject”

[DickHardman]

The fact is Virginia Tech has a no guns on campus policy certainly didn't stop Cho it only stopped the law abiding. That fact gave Cho a greater advantage over his victims and the anti-gun policy directly affected the number of victims.

Folks should have the right to self-determination, to self-protection and they should be able to do so without being worried about cowards with pencils coming looking for them. In general self-defense is an accepted reason to deploy deadly force but if the libtard cowards have there way we will all live in a non-permissive environment where only the criminals and the government have guns. You will then be left with a choice you can either be a defiant freeman or a dead but legal citizen.

“A man with a gun is a citizen, a man without a gun is a subject”

look whos back. do you have any exciting stories to share since the last time you were on the forum? whats the real deal on whats going on in iraq currently?

[Tom Yum]

maybe he just got tired of keeping so many secrets for so many years.

You've been running the vaporizer tooo long.

[DickHardman]

anyway, can we get back to talking about supplemental insurance?

[gregimotis]

anyway, can we get back to talking about supplemental insurance?

Yeah, I was wondering what that was about...



Also, Welcome back Darrianation.

[treelizard]

Here's a more complete list of people who fought back:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre#Resistance