It is just horrible... seems surreal :[

I have many friends who went there, too. It's a great school. How sad.

Many prayers.

Mu Aunt got her doctorate from there. The entire family spent a month in Wytheville one weekend in 1990 to watch all the commencement exercises.

This is beyond in insane.

Very Sad !!!

Florence

That is tragic, simply tragic.
I too have those people in my prayers.

Sammy

It's my alma mater.

My DH graduated from VT, too. What a very sad day, indeed.

Michelle

Michelle, what years did your DH attend?

Carla

The families, friends of those students have been on my mind all afternoon....I can't really grasp it yet. Turned on the news this morning and heard '2 shot' in what sounded like some kind of domestic dispute, then much later when I wandered past the TV again...so much worse.

What a sad and tragic day.

Carla - 1991 to 1995.

Can't imagine this sort of thing happening in the good old US of A.

Michelle

Sad!

I went there for two years in 85/86 and attended classes in Norris Hall. Really unsettling. I feel for the poor students who witnessed this tragedy. In my life I've survived three violet attacks (a mugging, an assault by a crazy homeless man, and robbery at gunpoint) and can say with certainty that the aftereffects will linger for years if not permanently. Life goes on though. The school will need to watch the students carefully for strange behavior and make counseling available. The trauma from the massacre could easily derail the survivors education.

Here is a link that might be useful: Article at Planet Blacksburg

A co-worker's son is a second year engineering student there. When I heard the news I was worried about him. It turns out that he left the building (Norris Hall) five minutes before the shooter started shooting. He ran to a nearby building and they locked themselves in. It is very tragic.

It's so very sad. What more can I say. Tragic.
Kathy

Every once in a while, tragedy like this happens. Since Columbine incident, I am not sure which is more tragic, and expect more of the same to happen in the future, unless the lawmakers begin to do something. In most situation, an individual freedom can only go so far before the freedom - to live - of another individual (or of many many others) is taken away senselessly for selfish motive.

Just curious -- what are lawmakers supposed to do about something like this? Unless there's some piece of information I'm missing, this is not a situation that could have been prevented by a different law. Even more stringent firearms laws will not stop people who are truly determined.

Sickness cannot always be detected in time. And the media gives so much attention to these kinds of incidents that doing something awful becomes all that much more appealing to people who have serious problems and crave notoriety.

A really interesting read that some might find helpful is Gavin de Becker's "The Gift of Fear."

I'm so mad today I can't comment one singular thing.

Carla

Perhaps one should question why the gunman was allowed to take possession of the gun after a one minute background check. Because his record was clean? Because he lived in the wild west of Virginia Tech dormitory? ....? Everyone is born with a clean sheet of paper until ink blotches drop on it, and when the deed is done with his life and many other lives gone, who would be there for a second background check? Sad incident like yesterday was not new. Would a few months of waiting period more appropriate? Would having easy access to a machine that can take 30 lives in a few minutes better than limiting to throwing daggers or put poison in drink or food, or use explosive in a lecture hall filled with 200 kids? Which is more effective if a person is so determine? The list of questions can go on...

ItÂs easy to blame the media and et cetera but ourselves. There seems to be two choices  change it if we donÂt like it; or accept it as thing happens and leave it alone.

JMHO.

I personally favor much, much more gun control than currently exists. I am just not convinced that it would stop every crime performed with a gun, unfortunately. And if someone has no record, they will pass a screening -- so people with no records can still get guns and shoot people.

What a horrific situation.

Clearly, something more effective must be done with these horrible situations. At the college where I teach, teachers have been required for several years to report potentially dangerous students IMMEDIATELY to the Dean.

Something was done. He was referred to mental health and was forced to go.

That is apparently where the ball was dropped--which is hardly surprising.

Psych patients typically remain remarkably sick until two days before their insurance runs out--at which time they always make miraculous recoveries. That way there's little chance of the hospital losing money by discharging them before the benefits run out--and little chance of the hospital losing money by keeping them one minute longer than the insurance lasts.

The messages from administration are always veiled but clear--charting needs to reflect the need to stay as long as there are insurance days left--and needs to reflect improvement and stabilization otherwise.

There have been some high profile lawsuits by various attorneys general but the trend continues and that's basically the reality of how American psychiatric hospitals do business.

It hasn't been too long that the distinguished Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz (???) jumped off the balcony of her San Francisco high rise--in a frankly psychotic state-- according to her poor mother who was with her at the time. This happened the same day she was discharged and therefore "stable."

If it can happen to her--it can happen to anyone.

It'll remain this way until people's well being surpasses the value of the dollar bill in American healthcare.

MichaelAT

Exactly Michael!!! I have to tell my story, sorry it's long.
I had been seeing a psychiatrist for approx. 12 yrs. for depression. In the past couple years I only went twice a year for med checks. I was due to go back last fall. I may have been a couple weeks late. Then my husband lost his job, leaving us with no insurance for 30 days. Meanwhile I get this letter from the office saying I was being put in inactive file or some BS but to call if they could be of furthur assistance. Then while having no insurance I asked them for samples for my meds. I was told since they were generic now, they didn't have samples. Hello, how about the real thing.
Then I called to ask them to write something for Wal Mart pharmacy until my insurance kicked in again. No, they would not do that. I said a couple remarks but was not too ugly. So about a month later I called to check on my appt. and was told I could not be seen at that office again.
I have never felt so betrayed and disappointed in my life!
This is a professional who I trusted and depended on to some point. I am so over doctors for the most. So I was left hanging and not in the best mental state.
Moral, it doesn't surprise me that nuts slip through the cracks.

Carla

Amen, MAT.

When my sister was held for 72hrs for a suicide attempt as a teenager, the psychiatrist spoke with her for 5 minutes. After no further therapy those days she was kept, she was let out with the Dr's comments 'after extensive evaluation...'

My sister is severely and obviously bi-polar; docs didn't tell her that for another 12 years.

I seriously graduated HS, went to college and got a BS in Psychology, urged her to try her 6th or 7th doc [but private, importantly] and say bipolar... and thats how she got on meds, etc.

In the 'system' they are ill-treated cattle. Cash cows?

And these psychiatrists are the only ones with any power in 'stopping' or 'doing something' for these ill adults.

The present health insurance system stinks in every aspect. One cannot even call it 'health care' any more. It is beneficial only to the insurance companies but it is getting worse for the patients and even the doctors are unhappy with it.