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Murphy Martin Commentary
April 19, 2007
"Massacre in Blacksburg"
Add another name to the list of mass murderers.
It was Charles Whitman
on August 1, 1966 who killed 13 people from the top of the
University of Texas bell tower in Austin. Then came George Hennard
on October 16, 1991, driving his truck into a packed Luby's
Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas before stepping out with guns blazing
and proclaiming" "This is what Bell County did to me!" minutes later
23 people were dead and another 20 were wounded before Hennard
committed suicide. That was a record total for a mass murder in
America...until Monday.
One more warped mind, and a new record for the most killed in a mass
murder in America. The new
record is 33. The devious, self-centered, jealousindividual who
masterminded this wanton attack in the previously serene, tranquil
beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Blacksburg, Virginia.
In March, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year old Senior at Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, drove fifty-miles to a gun store in Roanoke, Virginia
and bought a 9mm Glock pistol and fifty rounds of ammunition for
571-dollars. Cho moved to America with his family from South Korea
when he was 8 years old in 1992. His family settled in Centerville,
Virginia, near Dulles Airport just outside Washington, D.C. They own
and operate a dry-cleaning establishment in Centerville.
Cho is a permanent citizen in America and his green card reportedly
was last updated in 2003. Therefore the purchase of the Glock was
legal. In the backpack he wore on Monday he also had a 22-caliber
pistol he had recently purchased from a pawn shop in Blacksburg. It
used a ten-cartridge clip.
Cho apparently had been thinking of his campus attack for some time.
Described as a "loner" who had little to say or do with fellow
students, he left behind many pages of notes about his disdain for
"rich kids", debauchery, and the general attitude of those around
him on campus saying "you made me do this" in reference to the
students in the notes he left behind. Cho reportedly has a sister
who graduated from Princeton. He was on schedule to graduate at
Virginia Tech this year.
Cho killed two people in his first attack about 7:15 Monday morning
in West Ambler Johnston dorm. Then a lapse of about two-hours before
he struck the second time on the opposite side of the campus at
Norris Hall, a class-room building. Both weapons were used and more
than 50-shots were believed fired by Cho into innocent classmates
and teachers. At least two of those gunned down by Mad-Man Cho
were former High School classmates from his hometown. As local,
state and federal law enforcement officers descended on the horrific
scene in the midst of the 33 bodies strewn across several classrooms
was that of Cho. He had turned one of his weapons on himself and
almost totally blown away his face. Ballistics showed the same guns
were used at both shooting locations and Cho's fingerprints were the
only prints on the weapons used.
Information found in Cho's dorm room also tied him to recent bomb
threats at Virginia Tech. Perhaps he was checking campus security
response time.
At a Convocation gathering of thousands in the campus gymnasium
Tuesday afternoon, University
President Charles Steger got a standing ovation when introduced to
speak. Saying Virginia Tech students, all 26-thousand of them, will
band together and withstand the senseless, excruciatingly painful
tragedy that occurred on Monday.
President Bush, with his wife Laura, also attended the Convocation
Service. He said: "This is a day of sadness for the entire nation!
As you draw closer to your families in the coming days, I ask each
of you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who are
never coming home!"
All has not yet been learned about this latest American tragedy.
There will be more copy cat threats such as the one at St. Edwards
University in Austin Tuesday morning. Another bomb threat.
More flash-backs to the
sick brain that manned the rifle in the University of Texas Tower in
1966! The twisted-mind that rammed his truck into Luby;'s Cafeteria
in Killeen in 1991! The hopped-up kids that turned on their fellow
students at Columbine!
Unfortunately this Darkness of Evil will reappear!
It's just a matter of
time. It just takes ONE demented mind to ruin the lives of DOZENS of
innocent people.
We see it all too often all around us!
May an understanding God watch over and comfort the families of ALL
the victims at Virginia Tech. And may we as a nation pause for a
moment to give thanks for what we still can be in this great
country! Remember Freedom is NOT FREE!
How long will it be before another Cho Sueng-Hui reaches for his
fifteen-minutes of fame? How soon will similar venom that led to the
Vengeance in Virginia lead another troubled mind to grab the
headlines around the world?
Unfortunately it won't be IF but WHEN will it happen!
That's my time, thank you for yours!
Murphy Martin
Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website will be
appreciated.
e-mail
murphy@murphymartin.com
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