Hindsight’s 20/20, they always say. But I have to tell ya that the tragedy that took place on the Virginia Tech campus isn’t as clear as some might hope.
A parent of one of their students, John Shourds, is suing the university. SUING THE UNIVERSITY! His daughter is not a victim, but he feels the need to be compensated, nonetheless.
He’s quoted as saying:
“My God, if someone shoots somebody there should be an immediate lockdown of the campus…They totally blew it. The president blew it, campus police blew it.”
Did the university president, Charles Steger, really blow it? I agree there’s some validity to concerns surrounding the timing of the campus students were notified, but to lock it down after the first shooting?
How was the president supposed to know what was going on in the mind of the lunatic shooter? There’s no reference guide for this sort of thing.
Shourds goes on to say,
“A lockdown may have not have stopped the killing but it could have lessened the tragedy.”
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by lockdown. Does that mean cancel classes and send everyone home? Or perhaps deciding to have classes continue was the wiser choice because that meant fewer students were out in the open to be targets.
Steger says,
“We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur. We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don’t have hours to reflect on it.”
And I think he’s absolutely right.
And finally, Shourds refuses to accept any apology without the firing of Steger:
“I hold this president completely accountable. They are cowards. They can’t come out and say they made a mistake.”
What is this guy smoking? Don’t get me wrong. This was an evil thing that happened, something that not only affected the families directly, but the whole nation. But to spout off that the officials of the university are cowards simply because they didn’t run things the way Shourds would have run them, well, that’s just a bit thick for me to swallow.
Keep in mind, this guy Shourds is not the parent of a victim. What does he stand to gain outside of money? Protecting the campus? How? Would a fence surrounding the entire campus community suit his needs? Gimme a break.
I’ve heard on the radio about people speculating what could have been different. I’ll wait to hear the numerous stories that will unfold over the next few days (weeks perhaps) before I come up with a response. But I do have to say that I’m pleased to see that the media hasn’t hogged the television over this tragic event.
I’ve seen so many things like this that the media will repeat the same 10 minutes of news over a 24-hour period just to be on the air with the “latest breaking information.”
I’m sure will see many attempts at cracking down on security. New policies, new processes, and the like are sure to be formed. Not that that’s a bad idea, but honestly, what would be a reasonable goal to reach? Search everyone everyday that enters the campus? Metal detectors at the entrance of each building? And if that’s going to happen what does that mean for the areas in between the buildings? This shooting took place outside.
My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones. I’m hopeful though that we don’t go to the extreme and invent outlandish methods of beefing up security, which will inevitably make things unreasonable on us all.
[tags]virginia tech,shooting,students,killing[/tags]
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Oh No! Is it starting already? I was wondering how long it would take for someone to jump on this bandwagon. I had hoped that it would wait until at least a respectful time of mourning had past. Wishful thinking I suppose.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone sued the university, because there’s always someone that sues for something. I didn’t think it would be this soon though. Sheesh.
So true. They wasted no time. In this world of ours, it’s all about “me”. What’s in it for me?
It would be refreshing to see someone actually resisting the urge to go for somebody’s wallet.
Who’s next in line? Someone gonna play the race card?
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on the phone with their lawyers by Monday afternoon. Maybe sooner.
I’m sure the race card is coming. Give it another day or two. Someone will find an angle.
evidently va. has a strong sovereign immunity statute so suing the university may be difficult. however …. the police and university officials were grossly negligent in their handling of the 7:15 am murders……. what evidence was there that this was a domestic dispute? the FACT is clear …….. at 7:30 am there was a murderer on the loose ….no assumption can change that fact. one student said when informed of the massacre she knew immediately that it was cho . if she or others who knew of his behavior had been informed of the initial murders ….perhaps he would have been apprehended .
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