Today brings emptiness after a day of frantic emailing and phone calling to confirm the safety and medical conditions of loved ones at Virginia Tech. As everyone in the country now knows, a lone gunman killed 32 students and professors, including himself, in a historic day of monumental violence.
According to Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum, it's reported the sick bastard even chained the doors to the building before beginning his systematic murder spree. I struggle to face the mix of emotions I feel about this situation. Anger, frustration and sadness come to mind but still miss the mark.
I've listened to and read many reports that are pointing the finger at VT administration for failing to lock down the campus quick enough. I know we are all looking for someone to blame in this incident so we must NOT take our focus off the killer that orchestrated this heinous act. It's more difficult to focus on him because he is dead and will never face a trial for his actions but we cannot shift our blame to anyone else. The school acted as quickly as they could with the information they had at the time.
No one else is to blame for this besides the gunman. Let's not forget it! It's a shame that he got off so easy but we must not divert our anger and blame for this incident to anyone other than this man.
1 comment:
I completely agree that the blame should remain focused on the gunman and no one else. It is impossible for anyone to have foreseen such an event. Sure, the kid showed signs that he was mentally ill, but you can't lock someone up for being weird.
The focus should also be on the victims. I hate the word victim...so, the focus should be on the students, faculty, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends...that lost their lives.
What have we learned from this. Like you mention, we can't run scared and lockdown our campuses like prisons and treat every weird student as an inmate. Rather, we must take this opportunity to reflect on our own lives, realize how precious our time on earth is and savor every moment with the ones you love. Leave no regret in your wake.
Peace.
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