More details from yesterday's shooting at Virginia Tech emerge. Several of the 32 victims have been named and the gunman was a student from Centreville, a city about 30 minutes away from where I lived growing up.
Reading news reports as the events unfold has been disturbing. It gets worse when you read about some of the people who lost their lives: the world-class biomechanics researcher who was also kind and dedicated to his family; the 75-year-old aeronautics professor who blocked the classroom door with his body to save his students; the 22-year-old student who was known by his friends for always smiling and being a good listener. It's sad to think that they are gone. They were the kinds of people we need in the this crazy, messed up world.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Virginia Tech had become a popular college destination for kids from the D.C. suburbs. I don't have any direct ties to the school, but I know several people who do. Probably half of my high school applies there every year. *I* applied there. My best friend's brother went there. Forget the Cavaliers, it's the Hokies I cheer for during rivalry week. It's so terrible and bizzare to me. I can't even imagine how it feels for those who survived the mayhem or who lost friends and family when the madness was finally over.
And of course, there is already the inevitable talk about things like gun control and media violence, and I don't like it. I personally hate guns and don't care much for images of death and destruction on my TV screen, but please, barely a day has gone by with little facts or motives to speak of and we're already going to try and politicize what just happened?
I don't know. I'm still just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing.
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