Virginia Tech Shooter Emails Released: Early Warning, Timely Response Failure

Since the Columbine tragedy on April 20, 1999, I have been advising educators, counselors, threat assessment teams and law enforcement officials nationwide to put into practice the findings of Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools. This critical document for violence prevention was released on August 22, 1998 by the United States Department of Education as a response to the tragic loss of life at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon.

Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools–August 1998
Offers research-based practices designed to assist school communities identify these warning signs early and develop prevention, intervention and crisis response plans. The guide includes sections on:

• Characteristics of a School that is Safe and Responsive to All Children
• Early Warning Signs
• Getting Help for Troubled Children
• Developing a Prevention and Response Plan
• Responding to Crisis
• Resources
• Methodology, Contributors, and Research Support

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On Thursday, December 18, 2008 the student newspaper of Virginia Tech, The Collegiate Times, posted on their website a series of emails to and from Cho’s email address to university personnel as well as email communications among university personnel regarding Cho. These documents clearly demonstrate the disturbed nature of the shooter and the harsh reality of the failure of Virginia Tech to respond to such serious warning signs.

As more information continues to be released, it is beyond comprehension that nine years after Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools was made available, eight years after the Columbine tragedy and five years after the United States Secret Service's report titled Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and Creating Safe School Climates, Virginia Tech failed to have a threat assessment team and failed to respond to such overt warning signs in a way that would have prevented the April 16, 2007 tragedy in Blacksburg, Virginia.

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Collegiate Times E-mails sent to Cho	Click here to visit site
Collegiate Times Documents concerning Seung-Hui Cho	Click here to visit site
Collegiate Times Documents shed light on Cho's past	Click here to visit site
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools – August 1998	Click here to visit site
Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide – April 2000	Click here to visit site
Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and Creating Safe School Climates	Click here to visit site
THE FINAL REPORT AND FINDINGS OF THE SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES – May 2002	Click here to visit site
PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON CRISIS PLANNING: A GUIDE FOR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES – May 2003	Click here to visit site
Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy – June 2007	Click here to visit site
Vincent Bove Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site