Virginia Tech shooting

The Virginia Tech shooting was a <a href="/facts/Spree_killer/yspGM6DY">spree shooting</a> that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the <a href="/facts/Virginia_Tech/5nNYd0ur">Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University</a> (Virginia Tech) in <a href="/facts/Blacksburg,_Virginia/l9MWy6MS">Blacksburg, Virginia</a>, United States. <a href="/facts/Seung-Hui_Cho/43aJGYkR">Seung-Hui Cho</a>, an <a href="/facts/Undergraduate/GVvPMLFN">undergraduate</a> student at the university, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two <a href="/facts/Semi-automatic_pistol/nlBHDhu2">semi-automatic pistols</a> before committing suicide. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape Cho.
The first shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a <a href="/facts/Dormitory/xcNqAakk">dormitory</a>, where two people were killed; the main attack was a <a href="/facts/School_shooting/1oHHBQue">school shooting</a> at Norris Hall, a classroom building, where Cho chained the main entrance doors shut and fired into four classrooms and a stairwell, killing thirty more people. As police stormed Norris Hall, Cho fatally shot himself in the head. It was the <a href="/facts/Mass_shootings_in_the_United_States/2MgwFGex">deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history</a> and remained so for nine years until the <a href="/facts/Pulse_nightclub_shooting/wgHS5XYp">Pulse nightclub shooting</a>. It remains the deadliest <a href="/facts/School_shooting/1oHHBQue">school shooting</a> in U.S. history and the deadliest mass shooting in <a href="/facts/Virginia/g2kucGdn">Virginia</a> history.
The attacks received international media coverage and provoked widespread criticism of <a href="/facts/U.S._gun_culture/d2VRqFe5">U.S. gun culture</a>. It sparked debate about <a href="/facts/Gun_violence/HsWjAyB4">gun violence</a>, <a href="/facts/Gun_law/Cj6cg4ft">gun laws</a>, gaps in the U.S. system for treating <a href="/facts/Mental_health/QIszfk6D">mental health</a> issues, Cho's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations, <a href="/facts/Privacy_law/MqQ3j0UU">privacy laws</a>, <a href="/facts/Journalism_ethics_and_standards/KnmkMdHN">journalism ethics</a>, and other issues. News organizations that aired portions of Cho's multimedia <a href="/facts/Manifesto/m82XTbq2">manifesto</a> were criticized by victims' families, Virginia law enforcement officials, and the <a href="/facts/American_Psychiatric_Association/xn9juNST">American Psychiatric Association</a>.
Cho had previously been diagnosed with <a href="/facts/Selective_mutism/01JDwg83">selective mutism</a> and severe <a href="/facts/Major_depressive_disorder/l2lQeWqr">depression</a>. During much of his <a href="/facts/Middle_school/l1I61k1U">middle school</a> and <a href="/facts/High_school/GjEqd0fa">high school</a> years, he received therapy and <a href="/facts/Special_education/NfT0NmjS">special education</a> support. After graduating from high school, Cho enrolled at Virginia Tech. Because of federal privacy laws, the university was unaware of Cho's previous diagnoses or the accommodations he had been granted at school. In 2005, Cho was accused of <a href="/facts/Stalking/2BPyXe69">stalking</a> two female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice declared Cho mentally ill and ordered him to attend treatment. Because he was not institutionalized, he was allowed to purchase guns. The shooting prompted the state of Virginia to close legal <a href="/facts/Loophole/4tqRl902">loopholes</a> that had allowed individuals adjudicated as mentally unsound to purchase handguns without detection by the <a href="/facts/National_Instant_Criminal_Background_Check_System/7jCrNfY0">National Instant Criminal Background Check System</a> (NICS). It also led to the passage of the first major <a href="/facts/Gun_law_in_the_United_States/R4BPlJRX">federal gun control</a> measure in the U.S. since 1994. The law strengthening the NICS was signed by President <a href="/facts/George_W._Bush/mYSgM515">George W. Bush</a> on January 5, 2008.
Administrators at Virginia Tech were criticized by the Virginia Tech Review Panel, a state-appointed panel tasked with investigating the incident, for failing to take action that might have decreased the number of casualties. The panel's report also reviewed gun laws and pointed out gaps in mental health care as well as privacy laws that left Cho's deteriorating condition untreated when he was a student at Virginia Tech.: 78 : 2 <a href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Virginia_Tech_shooting¶ms=37.227_N_80.422_W_region:US-VA_type:event">37°13′37″N 80°25′19″W / 37.227°N 80.422°W / 37.227; -80.422</a>

Virginia Tech shooting open-in-new

Virginia Tech shooting