Columbine, Virginia Tech Anniversaries: Reverence, Vigilance, Prevention

As America commemorates the anniversaries of the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech tragedies on the fateful days of April 16 and 20 respectively, we must pause.

The events demand reverence for those who lost their lives and prayer for their families.

Vigilance, especially during these tragic anniversary times, is also in order. An abundance of caution must be the foundation of mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery principles of crisis management.

Columbine: A Snapshot

On April 20, 1999, two students killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before committing suicide. The tragedy sparked a national response on school violence, bullying, character education, crisis planning, warning signs, police tactics, and firearms.

The tragedy continues to be analyzed due to its issues including the following:

• Diversionary tactics
• Propane tanks converted to bombs
• Nearly 100 explosive devices and bombs
• Firearms including a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9mm, and a 9mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun.

Columbine, and other incidents, led to a U.S. Secret Service report that shared the following findings relative to pre-attack behavior:

• Incidents of targeted violence at school were rarely sudden, impulsive acts.
• Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
• Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
• There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
• Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern, or indicated a need for help.
• Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.
• Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
• Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.
• In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
• Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.

Virginia Tech: A Snapshot

The serenity of Virginia Tech was shattered on April 16, 2007, with 32 students and teachers killed and 17 wounded.

This violence was particularly heart wrenching because it was preventable. But lessons were not learned from the Columbine tragedy and numerous government documents including the following:

• “Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools,” August 1998
• “The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States” by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, May 2002
• “Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities,” May 2003

Despite a student killing two students on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston residence hall, there were no precautions taken by school administration for the possibility that other shootings may occur. It was more than two hours later when an email alert was sent to the entire campus, but no emergency actions, such as lockdown, were implemented. Reprehensibly, the email did not emphasize that two students were killed or that the shooter was still at large.

Virginia Tech was eerily reminiscent of the Columbine tragedy—whose eighth anniversary was to be commemorated in just four days. It would be later discovered that the killer was obsessed with the Columbine killings.

How is it conceivable that two people are killed on a college campus during the anniversary week of Columbine, with a killer at large and no lockdown implemented? The failure of leadership is inexcusable as nothing was done to prevent the additional killings and injuries over two hours later.

Also, despite the pleadings of a vigilant professor calling for help for this student who manifested severe, troubling warning signs, school officials failed to provide the proper intervention to protect the campus. Not only were there warning signs, but the university had been put on notice at least a year and a half before the incident.

America wake up: character education, warning signs, threat assessment, and crisis planning principles must be the order of the day.

Photo

Mourners during Virginia Tech's Day of Remembrance honoring the 32 people killed in a mass shooting one year earlier, in Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, 2008. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

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Vincent is author of over 200 articles, including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing.

Read Vincent's Report

A Crisis of Leadership: A Response to the Virginia Tech Panel Report

Columbine, Virginia Tech Anniversaries: Reverence, Vigilance, Prevention

As America commemorates the anniversaries of the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech tragedies on the fateful days of April 16 and 20 respectively, we must pause.

The events demand reverence for those who lost their lives and prayer for their families.

Vigilance, especially during these tragic anniversary times, is also in order. An abundance of caution must be the foundation of mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery principles of crisis management.

Columbine: A Snapshot

On April 20, 1999, two students killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before committing suicide. The tragedy sparked a national response on school violence, bullying, character education, crisis planning, warning signs, police tactics, and firearms.

The tragedy continues to be analyzed due to its issues including the following:

• Diversionary tactics
• Propane tanks converted to bombs
• Nearly 100 explosive devices and bombs
• Firearms including a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9mm, and a 9mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun.

Columbine, and other incidents, led to a U.S. Secret Service report that shared the following findings relative to pre-attack behavior:

• Incidents of targeted violence at school were rarely sudden, impulsive acts.
• Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
• Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
• There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
• Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern, or indicated a need for help.
• Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.
• Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
• Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.
• In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
• Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.

Virginia Tech: A Snapshot

The serenity of Virginia Tech was shattered on April 16, 2007, with 32 students and teachers killed and 17 wounded.

This violence was particularly heart wrenching because it was preventable. But lessons were not learned from the Columbine tragedy and numerous government documents including the following:

• “Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools,” August 1998
• “The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States” by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, May 2002
• “Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities,” May 2003

Despite a student killing two students on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston residence hall, there were no precautions taken by school administration for the possibility that other shootings may occur. It was more than two hours later when an email alert was sent to the entire campus, but no emergency actions, such as lockdown, were implemented. Reprehensibly, the email did not emphasize that two students were killed or that the shooter was still at large.

Virginia Tech was eerily reminiscent of the Columbine tragedy—whose eighth anniversary was to be commemorated in just four days. It would be later discovered that the killer was obsessed with the Columbine killings.

How is it conceivable that two people are killed on a college campus during the anniversary week of Columbine, with a killer at large and no lockdown implemented? The failure of leadership is inexcusable as nothing was done to prevent the additional killings and injuries over two hours later.

Also, despite the pleadings of a vigilant professor calling for help for this student who manifested severe, troubling warning signs, school officials failed to provide the proper intervention to protect the campus. Not only were there warning signs, but the university had been put on notice at least a year and a half before the incident.

America wake up: character education, warning signs, threat assessment, and crisis planning principles must be the order of the day.

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

Facebook: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Vincent is author of 175 articles including his weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times; 35 countries, 21 languages, and growing. This blog was published in the Epoch Times, April 17,2015 edition.

Photos

1. Mourners during Virginia Tech's Day of Remembrance honoring the 32 people killed in a mass shooting one year earlier, in Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, 2008. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

2. The cover of the study “Campus Attacks” released in April 2010. (Courtesy of FBI, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secret Service)

3. Victims of violent crime by age. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Education)

Warning Signs Are Critical to Violence Prevention

On July 23, 2015 a senseless shooting took place at the Grand 16 Theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.

A deranged gunman opened fire killing two people and injuring nine others before committing suicide.

Despite decades of mental health warning signs-including a judge’s order sending him to a psychiatric treatment center as a danger to himself and others-the killer was able to legally purchase his handgun because he was never involuntarily committed.

FBI Director’s Transparency

As a response to another tragedy with warning signs, FBI Director James B. Comey met with reporters at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC regarding the June 17, 2015 killings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Comey honestly presented a mistake in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and stated the killer “should not have been able to legally buy the gun…”

The killers previous admission during an arrest for drug possession should have disqualified his gun purchase.

However, an agent for the FBI background check system who was performing the review failed to contact the Columbia, South Carolina police department, who was responsible for the arrest, because of a clerical records error listing the wrong police agency.

Workplace Violence: Warning Signs

Aside from incidents from outsiders, the U.S. Department of Labor addresses workplace violence warning signs from frequently encountered situations among co-workers as follows:

• Concealing or using a weapon
• Physical assault upon oneself or another person
• Actions which endanger, destroy, or sabotage property
• Intimidating or frightening others
• Harassing, stalking, or showing undue focus on another person
• Physically aggressive acts, such as shaking fists at another person, kicking, pounding on desks, punching a wall, angrily jumping up and down, screaming at others
• Verbal abuse including offensive, profane, or vulgar language
• Threats (direct or indirect) whether made in person or through letters, phone calls, or electronic mail

Warning Signs Failure: Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech tragedy provides lessons to be learned as American schools soon open for a new year.

On April 16, 2007, a student shot and killed two students on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston residence hall at 7:15 a.m. Although police responded to this incident, the killings were treated as an isolated incident by the college president with no common sense precautions implemented that other shootings may occur.

It was more than two hours later, at approximately 9:26 a.m., when an email alert was sent to the entire campus without implementing any emergency actions or a lockdown. The email did not emphasize the killings of two students, nor that the shooter was at large.

At 9:45 a.m., there was a 911 call from Norris Hall on the other side of the campus. In this building, the shooter continued his rampage killing 30 more people—25 students and 5 faculty members, and injuring many others.

Approximately a year and a half prior to this rampage, an English professor, Nikki Giovanni, found the violence in the killer’s writings very disturbing. She wrote a letter to English Department Chair, Lucinda Roy, advising her of the problem.

During a nationally televised interview shortly after the tragedy, Roy expressed being so concerned with Cho’s writings, that she had him removed from the class so as to not disturb other students. During one-on-one tutoring sessions, Roy found Cho to be the most emotionally troubled and at-risk personality in her 22 years of teaching.

Roy had presented her concerns to university officials who did nothing, stating, among other things, that as a matter of free speech, Cho had the right to write whatever he wished and that his writings did not contain enough explicit information to do anything. In the interview Dr. Roy states:

“I think that they [concerns] should have been taken more seriously but I’m not someone who would give up easily so I went back repeatedly with my concerns and in the end I felt I was so uncomfortable that I could not leave him in the classroom because some of the other students seemed to be uncomfortable.”

The warning signs of a very dark and troubling persona of the future killer were clearly uncovered by Dr. Roy, but her requests for intervention continually fell upon deaf ears.

Also, although a judge declared the killer mentally ill a year before the massacre, he was permitted to purchase guns from a federally licensed dealer since Virginia failed to notify the federal database for gun background checks.

America must open its eyes to recognize warning signs and provide the intervention, training, healthcare, and security measures necessary to prevent additional tragedies.

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

Facebook: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

As authored for Vincent’s weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times, 35 countries, 21 languages and growing.


Photos
1. Charleston Shooting Memorial Service, June 18, 2015. (Public Domain by Nomader)
2. Virginia Tech candlelight vigil, April 17, 2007. (Public Domain, anonymous contributor)

America’s Violent Rampages: Time for Prevention

During a recent walk through Times Square to Penn Station in New York City, the heavily armed presence of the NYPD in the crossroads of the world, as well as the armed National Guard at the station, was a sobering reminder of violence throughout America.

The NYPD presence at the U.S Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square was a preventative measure influenced by the reprehensible shooting rampage on July 16 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This tragedy took the lives of four Marines and a Sailor.

Our flag flies at half-staff in the heart of every American patriot.

Aside from this incident, depraved rampages continue nationwide with headlines including the following:

• 9 Killed in Mass Shooting at Historic Black Church in South Carolina
• Five Family Members Murdered in Modesto, CA
• 12 Killed, 59 Wounded in Shooting at Colorado Theater
• 20 “Beautiful Little Kids” Shot Dead in Connecticut School
• Boston Marathon Attack Kills 3, Injures 264
• Washington Navy Yard Shooting Leaves 12 Dead

Preventing Violence: Practical Steps

During my violence prevention initiatives, I often ask attendees representing schools, colleges, houses of worship, and corporation’s questions including the following:

• Is there a violence prevention policy in place and is it continually updated and followed?
• Do you have an active threat assessment team that includes a law enforcement liaison?
• Have you conducted violence response training including table-top, partial scale, and full scale scenarios?
• Has your facility had a recent board certified security vulnerability assessment?
• Are your security personnel trained and certified according to state requirements with additional initiatives that exceed the status quo?
• What type of training have your implemented for those entrusted to your care on issues including domestic violence, warning signs, security protocols, terrorism, crisis management, harassment, bullying, and active shooter?

Active Shooter Tips

The FBI defines an active shooter as “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms.”

The quick reference guide of the agency highlights these points:

• Victims are selected at random
• Event is unpredictable and evolves quickly
• Knowing what to do can save lives

The guide also accentuates that when an active shooter in in your vicinity, you must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with the situation with three options of run, hide, or fight.

It is imperative that those responsible for security continually initiate assessments, training, and countermeasures that cover physical, personnel, procedural, and informational security.

Violence is Preventable

The continuous rampages throughout America must inspire action that prevents empowerment of those seeking to inflict harm.

The attack against military personnel in Tennessee demands military facility security enhancements including policy review of arming military personnel at recruitment centers and military sites.

The media also has an ethical responsibility. They must never expose information during an incident that can endanger the public and emergency responders. The media must also avoid empowering a shooter and copycat scenario’s by publishing propaganda and photo’s that immortalizes violent fantasies, ideologies, and actions.

As a spokesperson for a coalition of Virginia Tech families, I found it appalling that the shooter’s self-serving depravity was served by publishing photos and ramblings that served his ambition for the spotlight.

This irresponsible sensationalism, compounded by incompetent investigative reporting, lacked compassion, empathy, and sensitivity for the victims and their families.

My concerns were validated by Michael Welner, a renowned forensic psychiatrist who stated on national television that broadcasting the Virginia Tech killers “public relations tape” was a “social catastrophe.”

Final Reflections

Our First Amendment, upholding the sacrosanct principle of freedom of the press, is a heartbeat of American democracy.

But this freedom is not without responsibility.

Irresponsible media coverage can flame the fires of dysfunction for demented minds seeking the spotlight.

Just as responsible media would protect the privacy of minors involved with a crime, or sexual assault victims, glorifying violent incidents is also irresponsible.

America must establish a renewed moral compass that empowers prevention, compassion, and empathy rather than sensationalism, glorification, and insensitivity.

When moral principles are complemented by sound security measures, our nation is on the path to violence prevention and reawakening the nation.

Note Well:

Linkedin: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

Join Vincent’s Linkedin Group: The Sentinel: Reawakening the Nation

Facebook: Vincent J. Bove Consulting, Speaker Services, Publishing

As authored for Vincent’s weekly column titled “Reawakening the Nation” for the Epoch Times, 35 countries, 21 languages and growing.

Photo
1. NYPD presence at U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station, Times Square, January 31, 2015. (Vincent J. Bove)
2. FBI Active Shooter Guide (Courtesy FBI)
3. Officers with the NYPD anti-terrorism unit guard a military recruiting station in Times Square, New York, on July 17, 2015. Security at military recruiting and reserve centers will be reviewed in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Tennessee. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Active Shooter Incidents Increasing: FBI Study Demands Vigilance

According to a newly released FBI study, mass shootings are occurring more frequently in recent years—nearly one incident every month during 2000–2013.

The study highlights 160 incidents, with 486 fatalities and 557 wounded, during this timespan.

These shootings are called “active shooter incidents,” which are described as individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in populated areas.

Major Active Shooter Findings
“A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000–2013″ on the FBI website includes the following incidents:
• Virginia Tech
• Sandy Hook Elementary School
• U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Fort Hood
• Aurora, Colorado Movie Theater
• Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
• Washington Navy Yard

Some key findings include:
• Incidents increasing from 6.4 annually from the first years of the study to 16.4.
• Incidents resulted in 1,043 casualties (486 killed, 557 wounded) excluding the shooters.
• All but 6 of the 160 incidents involved male shooters and only two had more than one shooter.
• More than half of the incidents—90 shootings—ended on the shooter’s initiative (that is, suicide or fleeing).
• Nine police officers were killed and 28 were wounded in 21 of the 45 incidents where they engaged the shooter to neutralize the threat.
• The largest percentage of incidents took place in a commercial environment (73 incidents) followed by educational settings (39 incidents).

Virginia Tech Tragedy
Since I served families of Virginia Tech victims as a spokesman, I would like to honor the April 16, 2007, victims with insights in hopes that additional incidents can be prevented.

Here is an assessment from an early-warning and crisis-management perspective:

Pre-Crisis Failures
• Failure to respond to reported warning signs of a very troubled student that could have prevented the tragedy.
• Lack of a threat assessment team at Virginia Tech.
• No “heightened alert” during the anniversary week of the Columbine tragedy.
• Insufficient security measures, crisis plans, protocols, and procedures.
• Inadequate preparedness practice and drills.

Crisis Failures
• The Virginia Tech police chief and leadership team were not immediately notified of the first killings—there were critical communication delays.
• Failure to clearly notify the campus community that killings had taken place once Virginia Tech’s president was notified.
• Failure to lockdown the campus with a killer at large after the first incident. This could have prevented numerous other killings and injuries.

Post-Crisis Failures
• Continual denials by Virginia Tech President Steger of his and the leadership team’s failures.
• Immediate movement into a fundraising mode while ignoring the needs of victims and families.
• Setting up a website to defend the Virginia Tech president within three days while the victim support website took four months.

Failure of Leadership
In my opinion, it is inconceivable that two students were killed on a college campus during the week of the anniversary date of Columbine, and that—with a killer at large— there was no immediate notification to the community, nor was there a lockdown.

It is also inexcusable that proper decisions were not made to prevent the 30 killings and multiple injuries that occurred over two hours later.

The Virginia Tech president and policy group failed to protect their community. The fact was that two students had been killed and the killer was at large.

The U.S. Department of Education insights in its publication “Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities” were not heeded, including the following: “Evacuate or lock down the school as appropriate. This step is crucial and should be one of the first decisions made, regardless of the order in which initial decisions are implemented.”

Call for Vigilance
In an age of increased active shooter incidents—compounded by the possibility of a Mumbai-style terrorist incident—all of us in both law enforcement and private sectors must enhance vigilance to safeguard America and reawaken the nation.

Note Well
As originally published in Vincent's weekly column titled "Reawaken the Nation" for the Epoch Times on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.


Photos
1. A carved-wood ‘VT’ rests on the grave of Virginia Tech University student Jarrett Lane in Narrows, Va., on May 13, 2007. Lane, a 22-year-old senior, was killed along with 26 other students and 5 University staff members during a shooting rampage the previous month. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
2. “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000–2013” released by the FBI on Sept. 16, 2014. (Courtesy FBI)
3. Vincent J. Bove speaking on behalf of the families of the Virginia Tech victims at a meeting with the Virginia governor on June 23, 2007.
4. Cover of the Vincent J. Bove October, 2007 report titled "Crisis of Leadership: A Response to the Virginia Tech Panel Report"
5. FBI bomb technician’s vehicle. (Courtesy FBI)

Campus and School Violence Continues: Crisis Management Readiness Needs Improvement Nationwide

As tragic headlines continue to punctuate a culture of violence affecting schools and campuses nationwide, parents, faculty, administrators and staff must answer the questions: "Are we doing all we can to foresee and prevent a crisis? Are we ready if our school does experience a crisis?"

Seven Murdered at Oikos University: An Oakland, California Christian Campus

On Monday of Holy Week, April 2, 2012, seven people were shot to death and three wounded at Oikos University, a Christian college in Oakland, California. The tragedy emerges as one of the deadliest attacks on a campus in California history.

Three Students Murdered at Chardon High School in Ohio

On Monday, February 27, 2012 three students were killed and several wounded at Chardon High School in Ohio. Published reports stated the student killer tweeted he would bring a gun to school and no one took it seriously.

Nebraska Vice Principal Murdered at School

On January 5, 2011 a 17-year-old student killed the assistant principal, wounded the principal and committed suicide at Millard South High School in Omaha, Nebraska. In a facebook rambling filled with expletives he warned people would hear about the "evil" he did.

Ohio State University Murder by Terminated Janitor

On March 9, 2010, Nathaniel Brown, an Ohio State University janitor fatally shot a supervisor and injured another after being told he was fired. Published reports indicated a failed background check lacking the diligence to notice the killer's lie about his past criminal record on the university's job application.

Three Faculty Members Shot Dead at University of Alabama-Huntsville

On Friday, February 12, 2010 three faculty members were shot dead and three hurt when shots were fired at a University of Alabama-Huntsville faculty meeting.

Suspect Amy Bishop was taken into custody by police shortly after the shootings and has been charged with capital murder and attempted murder.

Since the shootings, violent incidents have surfaced surrounding the suspect that deserves comprehensive investigations including an attempted mail bombing in 1993. Although Bishop and her husband were questioned, they were not charged. Dr. Paul Rosenberg received the bomb after Bishop quit her job at Children's Hospital in Boston following her poor review by Rosenberg.

Bishop also killed her brother in 1986 by gunshot, but authorities ruled it accidental.

Published reports indicated the shootings at the University of Alabama-Huntsville took place after tenure was denied to Bishop and that administration received complaints by students on her behavior on numerous occasions.

As details emerge, the issue of failing to respond to warning signs and red flags as well as comprehensive background checks of employees in positions of trust will be in need of assessment.

Manhattanville College Student Murdered on Campus

On Monday, February 22, 2010 Marissa Pagli, an 18 year-old Manhattanville student was found strangled to death in faculty housing on the campus in Purchase, New York. The police ruled the incident a homicide.

Two days later, her mother, Stacey Pagli, 37, was arrested and charged with the murder of her daughter according to Harrison police Captain Anthony Marraccini.

A published television report stated that students were notified via text message of the incident but it never mentioned a murder or a crime.

Two students shot at Colorado Middle School

On February 23, 2010 a seventh and eighth grader were shot at Deer Creek Middle School in Colorado as they were leaving school for the day. The school is just a few miles from Columbine High School which experienced one of the most tragic school violence tragedies in American history.

A gunman wielding a high powered rifle was tackled and subdued by school staff until deputies arrived.

David Benke, a math teacher at the school who first tackled the shooter, cited having previous drills with students at the school.

Virginia Tech Keeps Federal Education Report on Officials Actions Secret

On February 23,2010 a published report documented the continuous crisis management failures surrounding the Virginia Tech tragedy.

Excerpt reprinted from hamptonroads.com

Va. Tech won't release early report on actions in massacre

February 23, 2010

BY DAVID RESS, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Virginia Tech is keeping secret a report by federal education officials on its officials' actions during the April 16, 2007, massacre.

The university is declining to release the U.S. Department of Education's preliminary findings on its compliance with federal law on campus security that governs notification of threats to students and requires effective emergency plans.

… The university received the federal report at the start of the month. The Education Department issues such initial reports of findings when officials believe they have found at least one violation and some type of follow-up action or communication is required.

"This continues Virginia Tech's long history of a closed culture highly resistant to changes needed to protect their campus," said S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy at Security on Campus, a nonprofit founded by the parents of Lehigh University student and murder victim Jeanne Clery.

"Instead of being transparent about what happened and facing up to it, they're continuing to obfuscate and delay as if they've failed to learn the lessons of April 16 that nearly the entire rest of the higher education community has."

The federal law on campus security is named for Clery, who was raped and killed in her residence-hall room in 1986.

The U.S. Department of Education has under advisement a Freedom of Information Act request from Carter for a copy if its findings.

Carter said Tech is one of only two universities to have been subject to a full Department of Education review for problems with compliance with campus security law.

In 1997, the Education Department found that Tech did not accurately disclose sexual assaults on campus.

As incidents of school and campus violence tragically continue, the principles of crisis management

• Mitigation and Prevention
• Preparedness
• Response
• Recovery

must be the focus of intensified training, development and implementation.

READ MORE

Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide For Schools And Communities	Click here to visit site
US Attorney orders review of 1993 mailbombing case tied to Amy Bishop	Click here to visit site
Manhattanville Murder - CBS Video Clip	Click here to visit site
Teacher tackles gunman after school shootings	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

Jury Finds Virginia Tech Negligent in April 2007 Shooting Tragedy

Over the past five years I have worked diligently to prevent campus violence by addressing the failures of Virginia Tech with the April 2007 tragedy that left 32 people dead and many others injured.

On March 14, 2012 a jury found Virginia Tech negligent in their response to the tragedy and families seeking truth, accountability and consequences had their perseverence served with the verdict. Celeste Petersen, mother of Erin Petersen who was killed stated, "We wanted truth from the beginning and we got it. All I know is today we got what we wanted."

This verdict is not only a moral victory for the families but a reminder that sound leadership, competence and judgement are required for all entrusted with protecting educational communities.

Aside from this decision, a Federal Report also stated Virginia Tech failed to warn the campus as memorialized in my previous blog:

Federal Report: Virginia Tech Violated Law Failing to Warn the Campus

December 11, 2011 Blog

Since the April 16, 2007 tragedy, I have stated emphatically in my presentations, blogs, response and newest book Listen To Their Cries, that Virginia Tech failed their community with an inexcusable response to the tragedy. Essentially, I have expressed their response as a failure of judgment, competence and leadership that allowed more than two hours to pass after the first killings before issuing an alert to their campus. Compounding this failure was another clear expression of egregious negligence, their warning was vague. The results were the senseless and preventable deaths of 30 more community members after the first two murders and many additional injuries.

On December 9, 2010 my teachings on the failure of Virginia Tech were affirmed by the findings of the United States Department of Education’s report and were published in reports throughout the nation.

Reprinted From Google News

Feds: Va. Tech broke law in '07 shooting response

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Federal education officials have found Virginia Tech broke the law when it waited two hours to warn the campus that a gunman was on the loose, too late to save 30 students and faculty who went to class and were killed in the 2007 rampage.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a report Thursday rejecting the university's defense of its conduct and confirming that the school violated the Clery Act, which requires that students and employees be notified of on-campus threats.

The report concludes that the university failed to issue a timely warning to the Blacksburg campus after student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed two students in a dormitory early on the morning of April 16, 2007.

"Virginia Tech's failure to issue timely warnings about the serious and ongoing threat deprived its students and employees of vital, time-sensitive information and denied them the opportunity to take adequate steps to provide for their own safety," the report stated.

Virginia Tech officials did not send an e-mail to the campus community about the shootings until two hours later, about the time Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more students and faculty, then himself.

It is my hope that this United States Department of Education report serves truth, accountability and consequences and that these issues are further served by the pending lawsuits against the university by victims of the tragedy.

READ MORE

USDOE Report	Click here to visit site
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide For Schools And Communities	Click here to visit site
The Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

Federal Report: Virginia Tech Violated Law Failing to Warn the Campus

Since the April 16, 2007 tragedy, I have stated emphatically in my presentations, blogs, response and newest book Listen To Their Cries, that Virginia Tech failed their community with an inexcusable response to the tragedy. Essentially, I have expressed their response as a failure of judgment, competence and leadership that allowed more than two hours to pass after the first killings before issuing an alert to their campus. Compounding this failure was another clear expression of egregious negligence, their warning was vague. The results were the senseless and preventable deaths of 30 more community members after the first two murders and many additional injuries.

On December 9, 2010 my teachings on the failure of Virginia Tech were affirmed by the findings of the United States Department of Education’s report and were published in reports throughout the nation.

Reprinted From Google News

Feds: Va. Tech broke law in '07 shooting response

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Federal education officials have found Virginia Tech broke the law when it waited two hours to warn the campus that a gunman was on the loose, too late to save 30 students and faculty who went to class and were killed in the 2007 rampage.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a report Thursday rejecting the university's defense of its conduct and confirming that the school violated the Clery Act, which requires that students and employees be notified of on-campus threats.

The report concludes that the university failed to issue a timely warning to the Blacksburg campus after student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed two students in a dormitory early on the morning of April 16, 2007.

"Virginia Tech's failure to issue timely warnings about the serious and ongoing threat deprived its students and employees of vital, time-sensitive information and denied them the opportunity to take adequate steps to provide for their own safety," the report stated.

Virginia Tech officials did not send an e-mail to the campus community about the shootings until two hours later, about the time Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more students and faculty, then himself.

It is my hope that this United States Department of Education report serves truth, accountability and consequences and that these issues are further served by the pending lawsuits against the university by victims of the tragedy.

READ MORE

USDOE Report	Click here to visit site
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide For Schools And Communities	Click here to visit site
The Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

USDOE: Virginia Tech 2007 Tragedy Response Violated Notification Law

According to published reports throughout the nation on May 19, 2010, the preliminary U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) investigation of the Virginia Tech tragedy found the university violated federal law requiring timely warning of a crisis on campus.

Virginia Tech was notified of this USDOE finding on January 21, 2010 but only made it public (despite attempts by the press for Virginia Tech to release it earlier based on the Freedom of Information Act) on May 18, 2010—accompanying the federal report with their 73 page response.

Reprinted From U.S. News & World Report

Report Says Virginia Tech's Slow Response to Shootings Violated Law

May 19, 2010

BY JEFF GREER

An Education Department report released on Wednesday says that Virginia Tech failed to comply with a federal law that requires quick alerts to students in the event of campus emergencies. The document claimed the school responded too slowly to the 2007 campus shootings that killed 32, the Washington Post reports. This preliminary report prompted a swift rebuttal by the school, saying that the federal investigation of the school's response to the shootings had factual and legal errors.

The report says that Virginia Tech violated the Clery Act, a statute that necessitates swift alerts when campus emergencies unfold. Virginia Tech failed to notify the campus community quickly enough after the shooting of two students in an on-campus dormitory, the report says. The shooter, a Virginia Tech student named Seung Hui Cho, shot and killed 30 others in a campus building about two hours later.

"Virginia Tech failed to issue adequate warnings in a timely manner in response to the tragic events of April 16, 2007," the federal officials write in the report. "There are two aspects to this violation. First, the warnings that were issued by the university were not prepared or disseminated in a manner to give clear and timely notice of the threat to the health and safety of campus community members. Secondly, Virginia Tech did not follow its own policy for the issuance of timely warnings as published in its annual campus security reports."

In my opinion, the 73 page rebuttal of Virginia Tech to the USDOE findings is outlandish. Tech’s approach, through their new Director of Emergency Management Michael Mulhare—who was not at the university during the tragedy—is an attempt to obfuscate the meaning of timely warning and emergency notification as distinct policies that are not clearly defined.

What remains irrefutably clearly defined is that two students were killed on campus and the killer was at large, yet, Virginia Tech administration did not diligently, clearly and immediately notify the community of this tragedy. This lack of judgment, competence and leadership was responsible for 30 additional fatalities and many other injuries. Families entrusted their children and loved ones to the care of Virginia Tech who failed to protect them from crimes that were preventable. The continual disingenuous manipulation of information by VT administrators not only dishonors the victims but shamefully disrespects their families.

The reasonable mind does not need a policy to immediately take action to protect students and the college community when such a horrific act takes place on a campus and the killer is at large. Nevertheless, if Virginia Tech is going to continually look for loopholes and technical jargon in their chronic menagerie of denial, distortion and deception (obviously administration is aware that additional lawsuits are pending) perhaps they should know that the reasonable standard with such a crisis at a campus was very clearly documented years before the tragedy in the Recovery section (page 4-2) of the USDOE May 2003 Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities: Respond within seconds

This reasonable standard was also clearly documented years before the tragedy in the 2005 Department of Education handbook titled The Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting (pages 61-62) guiding schools on the implementation of the Clery Act which says:

"The warning should be issued as soon as the pertinent information is available because the intent of a timely warning is to alert the campus community of continuing threats especially concerning safety, thereby enabling community members to protect themselves."

READ MORE

Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide For Schools And Communities	Click here to visit site
The Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting	Click here to visit site
USDOE Report and Virginia Tech Response	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

Lifeboats for Virginia Tech President and Officials First; Students Left to Fend for Themselves during America’s School Violence Titanic

According to published reports throughout the nation today, some Virginia Tech officials warned their families first of the killings on April 16, 2007 and President Charles W. Steger's office was locked down well before the campus-wide alert.

These reports, as gleaned from a newly released addendum to the Virginia Tech Panel Report, also state that a student survived several hours after being shot without anyone notifying her family. The student, Emily Hilscher, subsequently died without Virginia Tech following the most basic crisis management and human empathy principles of notifying her parents about her injuries or whereabouts until she passed. These are indicative of egregious negligence, incompetent leadership and a grave insult to Emily, her family, the Virginia Tech community, the people of Virginia and the nation.

Essentially, the lifeboats were seized by the President and other university officials, who placed their own personal safety and that of their relatives above the students and staff entrusted to their care. An administrative building and office were locked down in advance and the word was communicated selectively to families of officials before alerting the student body through a vague and untimely message of the danger.

Virginia Tech officials failed to follow the basic standard of crisis management as outlined in the May 2003 document published by the U. S. Department of Education titled Practical Information on Crisis Management: A Guide for Schools and Communities. The officials failed to "Respond within seconds, Evacuate or lock down the school as appropriate, Communicate accurate and appropriate information and keep students, families, and the media informed".

Yet, it seems even more deficiencies of the leadership will be revealed as we approach the December 14, 2009 oral arguments with demands being made by the Petersen and Pryde families through their lawsuit for full disclosure, accountability and consequences.

READ MORE

Va. Tech Report: Staff warned their families first	Click here to visit site
'Inexcusable' actions in Va. Tech killings report	Click here to visit site
Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Addendum to the Report of the Review Panel	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

Seung-Hui Cho's Medical Records Released; Virginia Tech Families Continue Quest for Truth and Accountability

The recently released mental health records of Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho reveal that the Virginia Tech Cook Counseling Center had numerous opportunities to deal with Cho's mental instability and apparently dropped the ball, according to a lawyer for the families' of Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson, students killed in the April 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy.

In an August 21, 2009 article by Richmond Times-Dispatch Reporter David Ress, the families' lawyer says the records challenge the university's claim that Cho was dealt with properly.

Excerpt reprinted from timesdispatch.com

Families say files contradict Va. Tech

August 21, 2009

BY DAVID RESS, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

…

"The records are remarkable for what they don't contain," the families' Reston-based lawyer, Robert T. Hall, said.

Tech released two sets of medical records Wednesday — one from the university's Cook Counseling Center, the other discovered last month in the home of the center's former director.

Cho shot and killed 32 students and professors on April 16, 2007, before killing himself.

About seven months before that, the counseling center advised Associate Dean Mary Ann Lewis that staff members could find no mental-health history on Cho, according to legal papers filed in Blacksburg by the families yesterday. Lewis asked the counseling center about Cho's history in September 2006, after a professor asked Lewis for help in dealing with the troubled student.

The legal papers formally ask Robert C. Miller, the former director of the counseling center, to admit:

• That Tech's director of residence life, Gerald Kowalski, told Miller that a judge found Cho to be an imminent danger to himself or others on Dec. 14, 2005, and that Cho had kept knives in his dorm room and had a history of erratic behavior.
• That a counselor spent only 30 minutes with Cho after the judge's finding, which included a court order that Cho get mental-health care. That order and her session with Cho were on Dec. 14, 2005.
• That the counselor did not try to make any diagnosis of Cho or arrange for any follow-up care.
• That counseling center staff rated Cho as "troubled" and needing follow-up within two weeks after he called the center on Nov. 30, 2005, to say he was depressed and having panic attacks.
• That Miller was aware of an incident earlier in 2005 that led Tech professor Nikki Giovanni to demand he be removed from her class.

Hall said the families of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde, two of Cho's victims, believe those were among the facts that Miller should have known. The families are claiming that Miller, along with several other university officials and the university itself, were negligent in monitoring and treating Cho.

Hall said the families are disputing an assertion by Tech that the counseling center acted appropriately and offered to provide treatment to him.

Miller's lawyer, Edward J. McNelis III, said Miller has sworn under oath that he inadvertently removed the Cho file and added that the families' request for admissions from Miller are not facts but only contentions about what Miller knew. He said Miller is confident that the allegations against him by the families will be proven false in court.

…

According to the released records, Virginia Tech's Cook Counseling Center was made aware of Seung-Hui Cho's problems as early as November 30, 2005, nearly a year and a half before the April 16, 2007 tragedy where he took the life of 32 students and teachers as well as his own. The failure to recognize the warning signs of Cho's seriously troubled mental state must be fully investigated as the quest for truth and accountability continues.

READ MORE

Families say files contradict Va. Tech	Click here to visit site
Tech Gunman's Records Reveal Lack of Treatment	Click here to visit site
Attorneys: Medical Records Show gaps in Tech's monitoring of Cho	Click here to visit site
Cook director in possession of Cho's records was fired	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

Virginia Tech Family Members Urge Governor Kaine to Reconvene Panel

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"While we appreciate the hard work of the Virginia Tech Review Panel, the report issued by the Panel contains grave errors, misinformation, and glaring omissions.

"We believe the panel needs to be reconvened, due to several factors: The time constraint the Panel worked under; the information withheld from the Panel; the erroneous information given to the panel; the information newly discovered by family members; the recent 'discovery' of the missing files; and the panel's failure to interview Dr. Miller."
— Press Release from Virginia Tech Family Members

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The tragedy at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007 claimed the lives of 32 people and wounded many others. It was an act of unprecedented violence and brought unimaginable heartbreak into the lives of the victims' families.

After the tragedy, the governor appointed the Virginia Tech Review Panel to review the incident. Family members had petitioned the governor to have representation on the panel but were denied.

Now, more than two years after the tragedy, the 'missing' medical records of the killer were recently located in the home of Dr. Robert Miller, former director of Virginia Tech's Cook Counseling Center. The governor's panel, which included the former Secretary of Homeland Security and former Superintendent of Virginia State Police, failed to interview Miller. Compounding the travesty, Virginia Tech administration received the records on a Thursday but delayed informing the State Police and the governor until the following Monday. It is reprehensible that despite the criticism against Virginia Tech administration for failing to use sound judgment after the first two killings, they once again failed to "respond within seconds" which is a foundation of crisis management as recommended by the U.S. Department of Education.

Because of the many inconsistencies, inaccuracies and omissions in the panel report as well as these new developments, the Virginia Tech Family Members are urging the Governor to reconvene the Virginia Tech Panel.

FROM VIRGINIA TECH FAMILY MEMBERS

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

BASED ON NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN INVESTIGATION,
FAMILY MEMBERS OF VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING VICTIMS
& THE SURVIVORS URGE GOVERNOR TO
RECONVENE THE VIRGINIA TECH PANEL

Richmond, VA – The following statement was released this morning from family members of shooting victims from the tragedy at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007:

"On April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech our loved ones were killed and injured in a shooting rampage by a fellow student. We still suffer emotional pain dealing with the impenetrable layers of bureaucracy in our simple quest for answers. An accurate, complete and thorough accounting of what happened before, during and after April 16th, 2007 is the legacy we seek on behalf of those who died and those who survived.

"As family members of the deceased and the survivors, we must make our concerns known about the recent disclosure that the medical records of Seung Hui Cho have been found in the home of the former director of Cook Counseling Center, Dr. Robert C. Miller.

"We cannot comprehend that Dr. Miller, knowing the intensity of the search for these records, did not recall taking files home with him in 2006 when he left the Cook Counseling Center. If Dr. Miller inadvertently removed the files as he claims, we find it telling that it took legal action to force him to produce the records. We also wonder if state police questioned him in April 2007, or only Virginia Tech officials. As announced by the Governor, the state police are investigating how and when someone (presumably Miller) removed the records from Cook Counseling Center. In October 2008, during the first and only formal police briefing we received, we requested that state police again look into the case of the missing files. The state police still have not told us what action (if any) they took on our request.

"The families have learned or discovered much in the past twenty-eight months – from police briefings in October 2008; through investigative reporting of the media; by our own review of the archives; at the meeting with the Virginia Tech administration; and not least via many family members' own dogged search for the truth. All of this information should have been available to the Virginia Tech Review Panel at the time of their investigation.

"While we appreciate the hard work of the Virginia Tech Review Panel, the report issued by the Panel contains grave errors, misinformation, and glaring omissions.

"We believe the panel needs to be reconvened, due to several factors: The time constraint the Panel worked under; the information withheld from the Panel; the erroneous information given to the panel; the information newly discovered by family members; the recent "discovery" of the missing files; and the panel's failure to interview Dr. Miller.

"For us, the Panel’s report serves two purposes: Acting as the official account of what happened before, during and after the largest school shooting in the history of the United States; and serving as a guideline for America's higher education institutions in planning, implementing & responding to a variety of health, safety & security concerns. We feel an incomplete and inaccurate report does not respect our loved ones, or us, and is potentially harmful to the public. We respectfully ask that Governor Kaine re-convene the panel. We consider the panel's report extremely valuable, and we cannot accept that the Commonwealth allows it to stand with errors of any kind.

"With that in mind, we ask any person with pertinent information or material facts to come forward to provide the panel the means to complete a thorough investigation. We also ask, as written in Governor Kaine's original Executive Order #53, that the panel 'offer the families of the deceased (and injured) the opportunity to provide input to the Panel publicly or privately and to offer those families who so desire an opportunity to be apprised periodically of the Panel's progress.'"

###

The Governor of Virginia would do well to listen to these cries of the Virginia Tech families. If it is determined that a competent investigation cannot be conducted under the auspices of the Governor of Virginia, perhaps, as suggested in a May 31, 2009 article by VT professor Lucinda Roy, "an independent investigative panel, chaired by someone unaffiliated with the school or with the state, would be appointed by the U.S. Department of Education." In any case, the quest to honor the memories of their loved ones and to serve other college students and families throughout the nation must continue. The truth must be served.

READ MORE

Learning More From the Tragedy at Virginia Tech	Click here to visit site
Tech Massacre: More Questions	Click here to visit site
Families ask state to reopen Virginia Tech shooting investigation	Click here to visit site
Alerts not enough, Tech could be safer	Click here to visit site
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site

Found Mental Health Records Confirm Virginia Tech Crisis of Leadership

Two years after the murders of 32 people at Virginia Tech (VT), the missing mental health records of the killer have been found. Families of the tragedy had been informed by Virginia Tech that these documents were lost.

The finding of the files resulted from the discovery process of a civil suit against VT and the Commonwealth of Virginia by the Pryde and Petersen families who lost loved ones during the April 16, 2007 shootings. The records were found in the home of former Cook Counseling Center Director Robert C. Miller who is a defendant in the civil suit. The governor’s panel report did not have access to this file and accordingly this critical information was missing from their report. The panel did not interview Miller.

As detailed in the book Listen To Their Cries and the report entitled Crisis of Leadership: A Response to the Virginia Tech Panel Report, this new information punctuates the deficiency of leadership surrounding the tragedy:

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Listen To Their Cries, August 2008
Available at Amazon.com

"An honest and straightforward record of the events of April 16th must be provided to the Virginia Tech community and the nation. Since reason dictates that there were deficiencies in the actions on that day, those responsible must be held accountable—up to the highest levels of the university. Do we not owe it to those who lost their lives, those who were injured and all those affected by this tragedy?" Page 84

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Crisis of Leadership:
A Response To The Virginia Tech Panel Report, October 2007
Click here to view

"…the purpose of this document is to draw attention to the deficiencies of crisis management on that fateful day in April 2007 and continue the call for the accountability of those responsible for the safety of students, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech. This text will focus on the insufficiency of leadership and lack of judgment in order that the truth is served." Page 5

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Listen To Their Cries and Crisis of Leadership: A Response To The Virginia Tech Panel Report have been used with school districts, educational venues, the National Conference on Ethics in America at the United States Military Academy and law enforcement personnel so that the tragedy of Virginia Tech is served with truth, accountability and consequences.

READ MORE

Va Shooter's Mental Health Files Turn Up	Click here to visit site
Editorial: In Cook debacle: explanations owed	Click here to visit site
Cover Up claims over Virginia Tech gunmen's 'missing' records	Click here to visit site
Virginia Tech Blogs	Click here to visit site