Seung-Hui Cho (January 18, 1984–April 16, 2007), also known as Cho Seung-Hui or Seung Cho was a mass murderer who shot and killed 32 people and wounded many more.
The shooting rampage, termed the "Virginia Tech massacre," took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University—commonly known as Virginia Tech—in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. He committed suicide after law enforcement officers breached the doors of the academic building in which he had killed 30 of his 32 victims and wounded many more, both faculty and students. Cho was a South Korean national with permanent resident status in the United States and was a senior English major at Virginia Tech.
Childhood and adolescence: In September 1992, Seung-Hui Cho immigrated to the United States at age 8 with both of his parents and his older sister, Sun-Kyung Cho. Cho's family lived in Detroit, Michigan before moving to Centreville, an unincorporated town located in western Fairfax County, Virginia about 25 miles (40 km) west of Washington, D.C. Cho was a permanent resident of the United States and a South Korean national whose permanent address was in Centreville.
His behavior as a young child: Cho's maternal great-aunt, Kim Yang-soon, described Cho as "cold" and a cause of family concern from as young as 8 years old. According to Kim—who met him only twice—Cho was extremely shy and "just wouldn't talk at all." He was otherwise considered "well-behaved," readily obeying verbal commands and cues. The aunt said she knew something was wrong after the family's departure for the United States because she heard frequent updates about Cho's older sister, but little news about Cho. During a New Year's telephone call in 2006, Cho's mother told the elderly aunt that Cho might have autism; a developmental disability marked by profound social isolation and delayed speech acquisition. No autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho's parents, and no records or other evidence have surfaced to indicate such a diagnosis was made or relied upon by U.S. school authorities. Cho's relatives thought that he was mute or even mentally ill. According to Cho's uncle, Cho "didn’t say much and didn't mix with other children." Demeanor at Virginia Tech: Cho was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, majoring in English, although he had told others he was a business major. At the time of the attacks, he was living in Suite 2121 in Harper Hall, a dormitory just west of West Ambler Johnston Hall, with five roommates.
The Psychiatric Evaluation: According to Virginia law, "A magistrate has the authority to issue a detention order upon a finding that a person is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment." The magistrate also must find that the person is an imminent danger to himself or others. On December 13, 2005, Cho was temporarily detained for a psychiatric assessment, as he was suspected to be mentally ill and a danger to himself or others by a Montgomery County, Virginia district court. Virginia Special Justice Paul Barnett certified in an order that Cho "[presented] an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness," and directed that as a "Court-ordered Out-Patient he follow all recommended treatments." Following a psychiatric evaluation and medical exam which noted Cho's flat affect and depressed mood, he was ordered to undergo outpatient care and was released on December 14, 2005. Some reports state that Cho is believed to have been taking psychiatric medications for depression, but there is no record of this.
“Virginia state law on mental health disqualifications to firearms purchases, however, is worded slightly differently from the federal statute. So the form that Virginia courts use to notify state police about a mental health disqualification addresses only the state criteria, which list two potential categories that would warrant notification to the state police: someone who was “involuntarily committed” or ruled mentally “incapacitated.”” Cho was not involuntarily committed and was still legally eligible to buy guns under Virginia law. A Virginia state official and other law experts have argued that under United States federal law, Justice Barnett's order meant that Cho had been "adjudicated as a mental defective" and was thus ineligible to purchase firearms under federal law.
In a New Year's call in 2006, Cho's parents told the elderly aunt that he might have autism, a developmental disability marked by profound social isolation and delayed speech acquisition. However, no autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho's parents, and no records or other evidence have surfaced to indicate such a diagnosis was ever made, let alone relied upon, by U.S. school authorities.
The Virginia Tech Massacre:
Around 7:15 a.m. EDT (11:15 UTC), Cho allegedly killed two students, Emily J. Hilscher and Ryan C. "Stack" Clark, on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston Hall, a high-rise co-educational dormitory. Police had not positively stated that Cho was the perpetrator of that shooting in addition to the later one, although forensic evidence confirmed that the same gun was used in both shooting incidents. Within the next two and a half hours, Cho returned to his room to re-arm himself and mailed a package containing pictures, digital video files and documents to NBC News. At approximately 9:45 a.m. EDT (13:45 UTC), Cho then crossed the campus to Norris Hall, a classroom building on the campus where, in a span of nine minutes, Cho shot dozens of people, killing 30 of them. As police breached area of the building where Cho attacked the faculty and students, Cho committed suicide in Norris 211 with a gunshot to his head. The police identified Cho by matching the fingerprints on the guns used in the shootings with immigration records. Cho's rampage occurred on April 16, 2007, just four days before the 8th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.
The Weapons: During February and March 2007, Cho began purchasing the weapons that he later used during the killings. On February 2, 2007, Cho purchased his first handgun, a .22 caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol, from TGSCOM Inc., a federally-licensed firearms dealer based in Green Bay, Wisconsin and the operator of the website through which Cho ordered the gun. TGSCOM Inc. shipped the Walther P22 to JND Pawnbrokers in Blacksburg, Virginia, where Cho completed the purchase transaction and picked up the handgun. Cho bought a second handgun, a 9 mm Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol, on March 13, 2007 from Roanoke Firearms, a licensed gun dealer located in Roanoke, Virginia. Cho was able to pass both background checks and successfully complete both handgun purchases after he presented to the gun dealers his U.S. permanent residency card, his Virginia driver's permit to prove legal age and length of Virginia residence and a checkbook showing his Virginia address, in addition to waiting the required 30-day period between each gun purchase. He was successful in completing both handgun purchases, even though he failed to disclose on the background questionnaire information about his mental health history leading to court-ordered outpatient treatment at a mental health facility. On March 22, 2007, Cho purchased two 10-round magazines for the Walther P22 pistol through eBay from Elk Ridge Shooting Supplies in Idaho. Cho purchased additional ammunition magazines from the Wal-Mart and Dick's Sporting Goods stores. Based on a preliminary computer forensics examination of Cho's eBay purchase records, investigators suspect that Cho may have purchased an additional 10-round magazine on March 23, 2007 from another eBay seller who sold gun accessories.
The Motive: During the investigation, the police found a note in Cho's room that in which he criticized "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans." In the note, Cho continued by saying that "you caused me to do this." Early reports also speculated that Cho was obsessed with fellow student Emily Hilscher and became enraged after his romantic overtures were rejected. During the investigation, law enforcement officials could not find evidence that Cho knew Hilscher or the other students killed during the rampage. According to Heather Haugh, Hilscher's roommate, she also knew of no connection between Hilscher and Cho.
The Aftermath: Police investigators found that Cho fired 170 shots during the bloody killing spree, with evidence technicians finding at least 17 spent ammunition magazines at the scene. During the investigation, federal law enforcement investigators found that the serial numbers were filed off both the Walther P22 and the Glock 19 handguns used by Cho during the killing spree. According to a CBS report, "Cho Seung-Hui's violent writing [and] loner status fit the Secret Service shooter profile." Violent writing was one of the most typical behavioral attributes of school shooters, according to a 2002 US Secret Service study. "The largest group of [school shooters] exhibited an interest in violence in their own writings, such as poems, essays or journal entries (37 percent)," the report concluded. Some also showed an interest in violent video games (12 percent), violent movies (27 percent) and violent books (24 percent).
The Victims: During the two attacks, the shooter's bullets killed 27 students and 5 faculty members and wounded many more.
1. Ryan Clark (22) Martinez, Georgia —senior in Psych/Biology/English
2. Emily Hilscher (19) Woodville, Virginia—freshman in Animal Sciences
3. Minal Panchal (26) Mumbai, India—masters student in Architecture
4. G. V. Loganathan (53) Erode, Tamil Nadu, India—professor of Engineering
5. Jarrett Lane (22) Narrows, Virginia—senior in Civil Engineering
6. Brian Bluhm (25) Louisville, Kentucky—masters student in Civil Engineering
7. Matthew Gwaltney (24) Chesterfield County, Virginia—masters student in Environmental Engineering
8. Jeremy Herbstritt (27) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania—masters student in Civil Engineering
9. Partahi Lumbantoruan (34) Medan, Indonesia—PhD student in Civil Engineering
10. Daniel O'Neil (22) Lincoln, Rhode Island—masters student in Environmental Engineering
11. Juan Ortiz (26) Bayamón, Puerto Rico—masters student in Civil Engineering
12. Julia Pryde (23) Middletown, New Jersey—masters student in Biological Systems Engineering
13. Waleed Shaalan (32) Zagazig, Egypt—PhD student in Civil Engineering
14. Jamie Bishop (35) Pine Mountain, Georgia—German instructor
15. Lauren McCain (20) Hampton, Virginia—freshman in International Studies
16. Michael Pohle Jr. (23) Flemington, New Jersey—senior in Biological Sciences
17. Maxine Turner (22) Vienna, Virginia—senior in Chemical Engineering
18. Nicole White (20) Smithfield, Virginia—junior in International Studies
19. Liviu Librescu (76) Ploieşti, Romania—professor of Engineering
20. Jocelyne Couture-Nowak (49) Truro, Nova Scotia—professor of French
21. Ross Alameddine (20) Saugus, Massachusetts—sophomore in English/Business
22. Austin Cloyd (18) Champaign, Illinois—freshman in Int'l Studies/French
23. Daniel Perez Cueva (21) Woodbridge, Virginia—junior in International Studies
24. Caitlin Hammaren (19) Westtown, New York—sophomore in Int'l Studies/French
25. Rachael Hill (18) Richmond County, Virginia—freshman in Biological Sciences
26. Matthew La Porte (20) Dumont, New Jersey—sophomore in Political Science
27. Henry Lee (20) Roanoke, Virginia/Vietnam—freshman in Computer Engineering
28. Erin Peterson (18) Centreville, Virginia—freshman in International Studies
29. Mary Karen Read (19) Annandale, Virginia—freshman in Interdisciplinary Studies
30. Reema Samaha (18) Centreville, Virginia—freshman in Urban Planning
31. Leslie Sherman (20) Springfield, Virginia—junior in History/Int'l Studies
32. Kevin Granata (45) Toledo, Ohio—professor of Engineering
All Day: VA Governor Kaine declares a statewide day of mourning. Alumni encourage display of the Virginia Tech school colors: orange and maroon.
William Massello, an assistant state medical examiner, said autopsies of Cho's 32 victims revealed that he fired "more than 100" bullets into them. "Some were hit once; some were hit several times, more than once. We had two, three, four, maybe even as high as six." The initial autopsy of the Virginia Tech gunman found no gross brain function abnormalities that could explain the rampage that left 32 people dead. - Bird
The shooting rampage, termed the "Virginia Tech massacre," took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University—commonly known as Virginia Tech—in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. He committed suicide after law enforcement officers breached the doors of the academic building in which he had killed 30 of his 32 victims and wounded many more, both faculty and students. Cho was a South Korean national with permanent resident status in the United States and was a senior English major at Virginia Tech.
Childhood and adolescence: In September 1992, Seung-Hui Cho immigrated to the United States at age 8 with both of his parents and his older sister, Sun-Kyung Cho. Cho's family lived in Detroit, Michigan before moving to Centreville, an unincorporated town located in western Fairfax County, Virginia about 25 miles (40 km) west of Washington, D.C. Cho was a permanent resident of the United States and a South Korean national whose permanent address was in Centreville.
His behavior as a young child: Cho's maternal great-aunt, Kim Yang-soon, described Cho as "cold" and a cause of family concern from as young as 8 years old. According to Kim—who met him only twice—Cho was extremely shy and "just wouldn't talk at all." He was otherwise considered "well-behaved," readily obeying verbal commands and cues. The aunt said she knew something was wrong after the family's departure for the United States because she heard frequent updates about Cho's older sister, but little news about Cho. During a New Year's telephone call in 2006, Cho's mother told the elderly aunt that Cho might have autism; a developmental disability marked by profound social isolation and delayed speech acquisition. No autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho's parents, and no records or other evidence have surfaced to indicate such a diagnosis was made or relied upon by U.S. school authorities. Cho's relatives thought that he was mute or even mentally ill. According to Cho's uncle, Cho "didn’t say much and didn't mix with other children." Demeanor at Virginia Tech: Cho was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, majoring in English, although he had told others he was a business major. At the time of the attacks, he was living in Suite 2121 in Harper Hall, a dormitory just west of West Ambler Johnston Hall, with five roommates.
The Psychiatric Evaluation: According to Virginia law, "A magistrate has the authority to issue a detention order upon a finding that a person is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment." The magistrate also must find that the person is an imminent danger to himself or others. On December 13, 2005, Cho was temporarily detained for a psychiatric assessment, as he was suspected to be mentally ill and a danger to himself or others by a Montgomery County, Virginia district court. Virginia Special Justice Paul Barnett certified in an order that Cho "[presented] an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness," and directed that as a "Court-ordered Out-Patient he follow all recommended treatments." Following a psychiatric evaluation and medical exam which noted Cho's flat affect and depressed mood, he was ordered to undergo outpatient care and was released on December 14, 2005. Some reports state that Cho is believed to have been taking psychiatric medications for depression, but there is no record of this.
“Virginia state law on mental health disqualifications to firearms purchases, however, is worded slightly differently from the federal statute. So the form that Virginia courts use to notify state police about a mental health disqualification addresses only the state criteria, which list two potential categories that would warrant notification to the state police: someone who was “involuntarily committed” or ruled mentally “incapacitated.”” Cho was not involuntarily committed and was still legally eligible to buy guns under Virginia law. A Virginia state official and other law experts have argued that under United States federal law, Justice Barnett's order meant that Cho had been "adjudicated as a mental defective" and was thus ineligible to purchase firearms under federal law.
In a New Year's call in 2006, Cho's parents told the elderly aunt that he might have autism, a developmental disability marked by profound social isolation and delayed speech acquisition. However, no autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho's parents, and no records or other evidence have surfaced to indicate such a diagnosis was ever made, let alone relied upon, by U.S. school authorities.
The Virginia Tech Massacre:
Around 7:15 a.m. EDT (11:15 UTC), Cho allegedly killed two students, Emily J. Hilscher and Ryan C. "Stack" Clark, on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston Hall, a high-rise co-educational dormitory. Police had not positively stated that Cho was the perpetrator of that shooting in addition to the later one, although forensic evidence confirmed that the same gun was used in both shooting incidents. Within the next two and a half hours, Cho returned to his room to re-arm himself and mailed a package containing pictures, digital video files and documents to NBC News. At approximately 9:45 a.m. EDT (13:45 UTC), Cho then crossed the campus to Norris Hall, a classroom building on the campus where, in a span of nine minutes, Cho shot dozens of people, killing 30 of them. As police breached area of the building where Cho attacked the faculty and students, Cho committed suicide in Norris 211 with a gunshot to his head. The police identified Cho by matching the fingerprints on the guns used in the shootings with immigration records. Cho's rampage occurred on April 16, 2007, just four days before the 8th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.
The Weapons: During February and March 2007, Cho began purchasing the weapons that he later used during the killings. On February 2, 2007, Cho purchased his first handgun, a .22 caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol, from TGSCOM Inc., a federally-licensed firearms dealer based in Green Bay, Wisconsin and the operator of the website through which Cho ordered the gun. TGSCOM Inc. shipped the Walther P22 to JND Pawnbrokers in Blacksburg, Virginia, where Cho completed the purchase transaction and picked up the handgun. Cho bought a second handgun, a 9 mm Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol, on March 13, 2007 from Roanoke Firearms, a licensed gun dealer located in Roanoke, Virginia. Cho was able to pass both background checks and successfully complete both handgun purchases after he presented to the gun dealers his U.S. permanent residency card, his Virginia driver's permit to prove legal age and length of Virginia residence and a checkbook showing his Virginia address, in addition to waiting the required 30-day period between each gun purchase. He was successful in completing both handgun purchases, even though he failed to disclose on the background questionnaire information about his mental health history leading to court-ordered outpatient treatment at a mental health facility. On March 22, 2007, Cho purchased two 10-round magazines for the Walther P22 pistol through eBay from Elk Ridge Shooting Supplies in Idaho. Cho purchased additional ammunition magazines from the Wal-Mart and Dick's Sporting Goods stores. Based on a preliminary computer forensics examination of Cho's eBay purchase records, investigators suspect that Cho may have purchased an additional 10-round magazine on March 23, 2007 from another eBay seller who sold gun accessories.
The Motive: During the investigation, the police found a note in Cho's room that in which he criticized "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans." In the note, Cho continued by saying that "you caused me to do this." Early reports also speculated that Cho was obsessed with fellow student Emily Hilscher and became enraged after his romantic overtures were rejected. During the investigation, law enforcement officials could not find evidence that Cho knew Hilscher or the other students killed during the rampage. According to Heather Haugh, Hilscher's roommate, she also knew of no connection between Hilscher and Cho.
The Aftermath: Police investigators found that Cho fired 170 shots during the bloody killing spree, with evidence technicians finding at least 17 spent ammunition magazines at the scene. During the investigation, federal law enforcement investigators found that the serial numbers were filed off both the Walther P22 and the Glock 19 handguns used by Cho during the killing spree. According to a CBS report, "Cho Seung-Hui's violent writing [and] loner status fit the Secret Service shooter profile." Violent writing was one of the most typical behavioral attributes of school shooters, according to a 2002 US Secret Service study. "The largest group of [school shooters] exhibited an interest in violence in their own writings, such as poems, essays or journal entries (37 percent)," the report concluded. Some also showed an interest in violent video games (12 percent), violent movies (27 percent) and violent books (24 percent).
The Victims: During the two attacks, the shooter's bullets killed 27 students and 5 faculty members and wounded many more.
1. Ryan Clark (22) Martinez, Georgia —senior in Psych/Biology/English
2. Emily Hilscher (19) Woodville, Virginia—freshman in Animal Sciences
3. Minal Panchal (26) Mumbai, India—masters student in Architecture
4. G. V. Loganathan (53) Erode, Tamil Nadu, India—professor of Engineering
5. Jarrett Lane (22) Narrows, Virginia—senior in Civil Engineering
6. Brian Bluhm (25) Louisville, Kentucky—masters student in Civil Engineering
7. Matthew Gwaltney (24) Chesterfield County, Virginia—masters student in Environmental Engineering
8. Jeremy Herbstritt (27) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania—masters student in Civil Engineering
9. Partahi Lumbantoruan (34) Medan, Indonesia—PhD student in Civil Engineering
10. Daniel O'Neil (22) Lincoln, Rhode Island—masters student in Environmental Engineering
11. Juan Ortiz (26) Bayamón, Puerto Rico—masters student in Civil Engineering
12. Julia Pryde (23) Middletown, New Jersey—masters student in Biological Systems Engineering
13. Waleed Shaalan (32) Zagazig, Egypt—PhD student in Civil Engineering
14. Jamie Bishop (35) Pine Mountain, Georgia—German instructor
15. Lauren McCain (20) Hampton, Virginia—freshman in International Studies
16. Michael Pohle Jr. (23) Flemington, New Jersey—senior in Biological Sciences
17. Maxine Turner (22) Vienna, Virginia—senior in Chemical Engineering
18. Nicole White (20) Smithfield, Virginia—junior in International Studies
19. Liviu Librescu (76) Ploieşti, Romania—professor of Engineering
20. Jocelyne Couture-Nowak (49) Truro, Nova Scotia—professor of French
21. Ross Alameddine (20) Saugus, Massachusetts—sophomore in English/Business
22. Austin Cloyd (18) Champaign, Illinois—freshman in Int'l Studies/French
23. Daniel Perez Cueva (21) Woodbridge, Virginia—junior in International Studies
24. Caitlin Hammaren (19) Westtown, New York—sophomore in Int'l Studies/French
25. Rachael Hill (18) Richmond County, Virginia—freshman in Biological Sciences
26. Matthew La Porte (20) Dumont, New Jersey—sophomore in Political Science
27. Henry Lee (20) Roanoke, Virginia/Vietnam—freshman in Computer Engineering
28. Erin Peterson (18) Centreville, Virginia—freshman in International Studies
29. Mary Karen Read (19) Annandale, Virginia—freshman in Interdisciplinary Studies
30. Reema Samaha (18) Centreville, Virginia—freshman in Urban Planning
31. Leslie Sherman (20) Springfield, Virginia—junior in History/Int'l Studies
32. Kevin Granata (45) Toledo, Ohio—professor of Engineering
All Day: VA Governor Kaine declares a statewide day of mourning. Alumni encourage display of the Virginia Tech school colors: orange and maroon.
William Massello, an assistant state medical examiner, said autopsies of Cho's 32 victims revealed that he fired "more than 100" bullets into them. "Some were hit once; some were hit several times, more than once. We had two, three, four, maybe even as high as six." The initial autopsy of the Virginia Tech gunman found no gross brain function abnormalities that could explain the rampage that left 32 people dead. - Bird
