Virginia Tech Shootings: Eyewitness Reports & Updates

[Quaoar]

This thread is like a train that derailed at the platform.

 

[Huckleberry]

This simply is not true anymore. More like the hijacker will not hijack because they know they will fail. 911 took care of that. The passenger now has a mindset of kill or be killed. This makes bad odds for hijackers. The hijacking problem has been solved.

That would seem rational. I remember one time in high school the class had to each prick our fingers for a drop of blood. Some people had to place their hand against a hard surface to force the metal deep enough to draw blood. A few passed out completely before they could even prick themselves. It's not a completely rational process. I'm not at all convinced that the same thing wouldn't happen today under the same circumstances.

 

[Anttech]

It doesn't imply anything period.

You're making it a fact that the average man has a higher sex drive than men. I disagree.

Im not making anything, I am stating, or rather asserting. You can disagree as much as you like, but you are flying in the face of science.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/malesexualresponse.htm
For example.
It makes absolute sense from an evolution perspective that men have a higher sex drive than women. The more women you have sex with the more baby, and the better the change your genes carry on.

For an economical perspective just look at the porn industry, a capitalistic, market driven, industry. If the modern woman wanted porn she would get it, but you don't see at as much as mens porn, simply because there isn't the demand for it.

anyway... why don't we start another thread if you want to continue this

 

[Huckleberry]

So you think this person had plans of walking out of there alive? Going to jail for the rest of his life?

He knew he was going to die. He just wants to be remembered, and taken seriously. The press gives him both those things. In a nutshell he was content with that.

No, I don't think he planned on walking out alive. I am not certain he planned on killing himself either, although he was probably prepared to do so. I think he intended to martyr himself and would rather kill himself than be captured. His own suicide wasn't the cause of the murders. It was an effect.

Because a person is suicidal does not mean in any way that they are a psychopath and prone to this behavior.

 

[robphy]

[update:
"The Collegiate Times is an independent student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903."
http://collegiatetimes.com (which, for now, redirects to http://www.collegemedia.com/ ) is trying to report on events. ]

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Ohh quiet trying to put words in my mouth. I am saying that Mens libido's are stronger than Woman, why is it that hardly heard of Woman raping men? Woman perhaps have more control of there sex drive, or is it just that it isn't as strong as a mans. There are definite Biological (historical, pre-society) reasons for this anyway.

No I don't think woman are frigid, and I know woman enjoy fantasising over images as much as men do. BUT I still am firm in my belief that mens sex drive is stronger than that of womans. Anyway to counter your example, why isn't the rest of the world like the Bonobo's ? Please don't tell me its because we are all culturally wrong

My point was that women would be the target market for media depicting male's sexuality...you brought up the libido.
You say there is less demand, I say there was never a supply. A lot of societal aspects go into conditioning women to not seek sexual images of men out. Yet, look at "300." Seems women were buzzing about this.And your article was written by David Delvin, GP and family planning specialist and Christine Webber, psychotherapist. Not exactly hard science...

 

[Anttech]

Ill dig up some hard science if you want... But first I sleep, Its late over here..

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Put it in a new thread, too. Nighty night:zzz:

 

[Moonbear]

Why is a thread on VA Tech killings now discussing women's libidos? If you want to discuss sex drive, discuss it in Biology or Mind and Brain. This isn't the time or place for that discussion. Let's get this thread back on topic ASAP or it's going to be locked.

 

[mattmns]

Wow that is crazy! Why did no one attempt to take down the gunman? I can't say exactly what I would do in the situation, since I was not in it, but I would probably try to take the guy down. Why not? If I die, well then I don't have to worry about school and if I am successful then I am a hero

 

[JasonRox]

Wow that is crazy! Why did no one attempt to take down the gunman? I can't say exactly what I would do in the situation, since I was not in it, but I would probably try to take the guy down. Why not? If I die, well then I don't have to worry about school and if I am successful then I am a hero

It's not easy to take someone down by yourself. Now, getting someone to work with you to take him down is probably just as hard.

Sure you can try, but if you're going to make a hopeless attempt, you're better not do anything at all. If anything, that will make the gunman angrier and shoot everyone in sight.

 

[hypatia]

What a horrid thing, my heart goes out to all the students and families who have lost so much today. I can only imagine the fear of all the parents, who watched this happen on TV today. A grim day indeed.

 

[mattmns]

Why not at least make an attempt. The gunman is said to have shot over 60 people. What are these people doing? Just sitting around waiting to be shot? I guess it does not make sense why a group of people did not rush him. Yes, he has a gun, but eventually he has to reload (granted that may take only a few seconds), but if a large group of people are rushing this guy, he is going down. Of course I am assuming he is not using an automatic weapon (I think the news said he was using a 9mm).

 

[Moonbear]

Why not at least make an attempt. The gunman is said to have shot over 60 people. What are these people doing? Just sitting around waiting to be shot? I guess it does not make sense why a group of people did not rush him. Yes, he has a gun, but eventually he has to reload (granted that may take only a few seconds), but if a large group of people are rushing this guy, he is going down. Of course I am assuming he is not using an automatic weapon (I think the news said he was using a 9mm).

Not a whole lot of people are going to intentionally turn their risk of death into a certain death by charging at a crazed man weilding a loaded weapon. From the sound of it, they didn't have time to react. It's easy to sit here reading about it from the safety of our homes and saying, "I'd so jump that guy" but a lot harder to react in any way at all when frozen in fear or caught amidst chaos.

Of course, we also don't know that anyone DIDN'T try to do just that, and ended up on the victim list because of it.

 

[tim_lou]

Oh boy... this is just insane. The school should've reacted after the first shooting... I can't imagine what happens if something like this happens in my university.

Something must be wrong with American... first Columbine, now this?! the whole idea of shooting innocent for nothing is just absurd. I've never heard of news like that in China...

 

[mbrmbrg]

Why not at least make an attempt. The gunman is said to have shot over 60 people. What are these people doing? Just sitting around waiting to be shot? I guess it does not make sense why a group of people did not rush him. Yes, he has a gun, but eventually he has to reload (granted that may take only a few seconds), but if a large group of people are rushing this guy, he is going down. Of course I am assuming he is not using an automatic weapon (I think the news said he was using a 9mm).

I think you may have hit on something when you asked why a *group* of people didn't rush him.
In a crazy panicked situation like this, how will a conglomorate of untrained civillians manage to form a cohesive group? (Something as simple as "C'mon you guys, rush him with me!" Then you have to hope that enough people will be behind you... And you only have what? 25 seconds?)

 

[AsianSensationK]

Awful story. It doesn't seem like the kid had any intention of letting anyone escape.

Wow that is crazy! Why did no one attempt to take down the gunman? I can't say exactly what I would do in the situation, since I was not in it, but I would probably try to take the guy down. Why not? If I die, well then I don't have to worry about school and if I am successful then I am a hero

If you did that, you'd probably have to throw something at him fast, and hope a different guy is close enough to tackle him. The likelihood of getting shot is still tremendously high. And that still relies on the fact that you wouldn't be frozen solid. All in all a bad situation. If it were me, I'd probably jump out the window or hide.

It's amazing how the actions of one person can affect an entire nation. It's tragic that this guy decided to make such a negative impact.

 

[mattmns]

Yes, it is easy to sit here and say I would have rushed him, and I am not trying to blame any of the students, or put them down in anyway if they did not attempt to take the guy down. In all reality I would probably be running for cover. I guess I was never really detailed enough in what I was saying. I would not just come out and start rushing this guy head on, as has been said, that would be almost certain death. But I would still think that someone would be behind him, or in some sort of position to hit him from behind, and perhaps at least knock him down for a few seconds. Of course we don't have every little detail, so it is hard to say. I would still think that I would try to do something. I am not trying to sound brave or anything, but I think it is much better to risk a few lives trying to take this guy out in order to at least attempt to stop the death of 60+.

 

[FrogPad]

Yes, it is easy to sit here and say I would have rushed him, and I am not trying to blame any of the students, or put them down in anyway if they did not attempt to take the guy down. In all reality I would probably be running for cover. I guess I was never really detailed enough in what I was saying. I would not just come out and start rushing this guy head on, as has been said, that would be almost certain death. But I would still think that someone would be behind him, or in some sort of position to hit him from behind, and perhaps at least knock him down for a few seconds. Of course we don't have every little detail, so it is hard to say. I would still think that I would try to do something. I am not trying to sound brave or anything, but I think it is much better to risk a few lives trying to take this guy out in order to at least attempt to stop the death of 60+.

I would imagine he was using surprise to accomplish his goal. I would imagine he was quickly moving into classrooms and unloading on unsuspecting people. I don't know the specifics of the weapons he were using, but a safe bet is 13 round clips. With two pistols, that would have been plenty for a classroom. Being caught off guard with a madman with two pistols would be hard pressed to organize a rush on the gunman.

I'm with you all the way on trying to do something to this guy. I would hope that I would try something, but it really depends on the situation. If he did this with just pistols, then yeah... there had to be many points of vulnerability on his part. Still, the odds of taking down a decently skilled gunman are very slim. Distance is safety for the gunman, and if he holds distance... there ain't much you can do, unless you have a gun right back.

 

[edward]

I would imagine he was using surprise to accomplish his goal. I would imagine he was quickly moving into classrooms and unloading on unsuspecting people. I don't know the specifics of the weapons he were using, but a safe bet is 13 round clips. With two pistols, that would have been plenty for a classroom. Being caught off guard with a madman with two pistols would be hard pressed to organize a rush on the gunman.

I'm with you all the way on trying to do something to this guy. I would hope that I would try something, but it really depends on the situation. If he did this with just pistols, then yeah... there had to be many points of vulnerability on his part. Still, the odds of taking down a decently skilled gunman are very slim. Distance is safety for the gunman, and if he holds distance... there ain't much you can do, unless you have a gun right back.

30 round clips are available for most any semi automatic hand gun.

 

[drankin]

I would imagine he was using surprise to accomplish his goal. I would imagine he was quickly moving into classrooms and unloading on unsuspecting people. I don't know the specifics of the weapons he were using, but a safe bet is 13 round clips. With two pistols, that would have been plenty for a classroom. Being caught off guard with a madman with two pistols would be hard pressed to organize a rush on the gunman.

I'm with you all the way on trying to do something to this guy. I would hope that I would try something, but it really depends on the situation. If he did this with just pistols, then yeah... there had to be many points of vulnerability on his part. Still, the odds of taking down a decently skilled gunman are very slim. Distance is safety for the gunman, and if he holds distance... there ain't much you can do, unless you have a gun right back.

You said it, "...a gun right back". It's hard to kill people when they are shooting back at you.

 

[FrogPad]

30 round clips are available for most any semi automatic hand gun.

True that...



If he had two pistols, 60 rounds is just scary.

 

[tim_lou]

the point is... he had TWO pistols (it was all over NBC news)... and it was crazy... he was an asian too, what a disgrace to the asian race! (not trying to be racist... I heard that he is a Chinese too... man...)

 

[Ki Man]

he was an asian too, what a disgrace to the asian race! (not trying to be racist... I heard that he is a Chinese too... man...)

makes me ashamed... we're supposed to be the ones taking advantage of the university system, not destroying it

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Guess he didn't feel he needed to tow the line.

 

[moose]

30 round clips are available for most any semi automatic hand gun.

Uhh... I can reload almost as fast as it takes for someone to make one shot. This guy seems like he may have been pretty well trained. Sometimes when I'm out on the range shooting around or during a course, I hope to god that not many people with evil intentions can shoot like that. Luckily most of these freaks just buy or find a firearm and just go shooting people with it.

Also, if someone who has enough brains wants to kill a lot of people, that person will be able to. If guns weren't readily available, this kid could have blown up the freakin classroom.

 

[J77]

What a terrible, sad incident

Will lessons be learnt?

I stand by what I said when the Amish shootings took place -- not matter how responsible you are, if you own a gun you're part of the problem; if there's a demand, there will be more guns readily available for crazy, selfish scum.

 

[desA]

A tragic incident. My sincerest condolences to everyone involved. These events are a shock to everyone.

Surely the US needs to take a look at their gun laws? This simply cannot continue.

 

[Integral]

What a terrible, sad incident

Will lessons be learnt?

I stand by what I said when the Amish shootings took place -- not matter how responsible you are, if you own a gun you're part of the problem; if there's a demand, there will be more guns readily available for crazy, selfish scum.

Since cars cause about 3 times as many deaths as murders every year, doesn't it make sense to say "if you own a car you part of the problem"

We also need to outlaw mashed potatoes, you are aware that over 90% of the prison population eats mashed potatoes, clearly if we outlaw them we can empty the prisons.

Can we please put an end to the purely emotional nonsense and really talk about the problem.

 

[Integral]

You said it, "...a gun right back". It's hard to kill people when they are shooting back at you.

I cannot support turning our university campuses into armed camps.

The real question is how to stop the mass murders. It is sort of like an airplane accident, it gets lots of coverage and convinces many that airplanes are dangerous. Statistics tell us otherwise, but still 200 dead makes headlines, just like this tragic event makes head lines. But really considering the vast number of US citizens who own weapons the number who commit murder (either mass or single) is very small.

I saw a show recently about teenage thrill killers (they don't all use guns) seems that they have some distinctive brain patterns. There could be some amount of detection and prevention if this type of analysis were used on a regular basis. Of course this does bring up privacy issues.