By Katherine Ramsland

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(Continued)

Dying Declaration

By morning on April 17, officials at Virginia Tech had revealed that the classroom shooter had been a student at the school, but there were conflicting reports about whether he had lived in the targeted dorm (or even if he had been the shooter there). The appearance was that this young man had grown enraged over some incident involving the male and female victims at the dorm — perhaps a sexual liaison or a romantic rejection — so had killed either the person(s) involved or substitutes.  He then decided that he had to kill himself as well (or had already decided this and was determined to include those with whom he was angry).  Reports were that he was actively seeking his former girlfriend. 

Later that morning, he crossed the drill field and went to the engineering school, Norris Hall, where he chained two doors shut to prevent anyone getting in or out.  He tried getting into a classroom, which quickly became barricaded, then went to another, where he shot his victims multiple times before shooting himself.

This is often the way that people who become mass murderers chose to be remembered.  Instead of just a fatality in yet another domestic dispute, they will now go down in history, perhaps as the person who holds the record for the most fatalities in a single shooting incident.  It's a way to ensure being remembered, as well as to "show" people how angry he is.  Unfair as it is to kill people with whom he has no involvement, by the time he has made this decision, it's of no consequence to him.  They represent a goal and they're just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Although witnesses say this student did not look scared or angry and did not say anything, his reportedly impassive expression probably masked intense feelings of rage and determination.  By this time, two hours after the first shooting, he had already decided what he would do and was carrying it out. 

It was not so much reactive violence as a planned rampage, possibly with other specific targets in mind.  With two handguns, he shot quickly and methodically, first killing a teacher and then aiming at students.  It's likely he knew it would end with his death.  Like other shooters who were college or graduate students, a specific incident apparently triggered the violence and it's likely he brooded over it until he formed a plan, but this shooter was prepared to act out on a large scale.  He had weapons and targets, and he secured the doors, so he knew what he was doing.

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By Katherine Ramsland

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