Virginia Tech shooting


The candlelight vigil on the night of April 17, 2007,
image taken in front of Burruss Hall

Location: Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates: 37.2231°N 80.4211°W (Ambler Johnston Hall)
37.2294°N 80.4231°W (Norris Hall)
Date: April 16, 2007; 14 years ago
c. 7:15 a.m. – 9:51 a.m.:25 (EDT)
Target: Students and faculty at Virginia Tech
Attack type: School shooting, mass murder, murder–suicide, spree shooting

Perpetrator: Seung-Hui Cho
Defenders: Liviu Librescu, Kevin Granata, G.V. Loganathan, Derek O'Dell, Katelyn Carney, Henry Lee, Zach Petkewicz, Matthew La Porte
Motive: Inconclusive

The Virginia Tech shooting was a school shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, at two buildings, West Ambler Johnston Hall and Norris Hall, on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an undergraduate student at the university and a U.S. resident of South Korean descent, killed thirty-two people and wounded seventeen others with two semi-automatic pistols. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape Cho. As police stormed Norris Hall, Cho fatally shot himself in the head. It is the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, and was also the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman until it was surpassed nine years later by the Orlando nightclub shooting.

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Victim-to-Victim Care: Honoring survivors and families through a continuum of care on this year’s Remembrance Day

Molly Dye and Olivia Ferrare, lifestyles editors Apr 15, 2021



A group of Hokies gather around the memorial during the remembrance ceremonies on April 16, 2016.

Ben Weidlich / Collegiate Times

On the news, we hear constant coverage of the plethora of mass shootings that take place across America. After the immediate relief and national mourning, many forget about the families affected by mass shootings who continue to grieve years after their losses. Joseph Samaha, father of Reema Samaha, a victim of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, founded Victim-to-Victim Family Outreach Foundation (VTV) in 2009 along with other families and victims to address and advocate for campus safety. The advisory board of VTV is made up of surviving family members of those lost on April 16.

“As we hear of the recurrence of mass shootings, we brace ourselves and understand what lies ahead for those impacted,” Samaha said. “Our hearts break, but we need to focus and prepare to assist in their recovery.”

VTV’s two-fold mission began with campus safety initiatives through the VTV Family Outreach Foundation and has since phased into providing continued support and relief to families affected by mass shootings through VTVCare. Whether it be group therapy or financial resources, VTVCare is dedicated to funding and supporting a continuum of care for victims of mass shootings and their families.

“The need to respond and find purpose to honor and remember our 32 Hokies and professors that were tragically lost, as well as 24 injured survivors, was at the forefront of our movement and mission,” Samaha said. “Members and supporters of VTVCare advocate for a continuum of care for mass shooting victims across the country. From our collective experiences, we have found that there are three important phases that victim-survivors endure from day one: Response, Recovery and Resilience. The three R’s can last over a lifetime for those physically and psychologically traumatized.”

Financially, VTVCare provides money that covers any trauma-related care and fees that are not covered by insurance.

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Liviu Librescu



Born: August 18, 1930; Ploiești, Romania
Died: April 16, 2007 (aged 76); Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death: Gunshot

Liviu Librescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈlivju liˈbresku]; Hebrew: ליביו ליברסקו‎; August 18, 1930 – April 16, 2007) was a Romanian–American scientist and engineer. A prominent academic in addition to being a survivor of the Holocaust, his major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics.

Librescu is most widely known for his actions during the Virginia Tech shooting, when he held the doors to his lecture hall closed, allowing all but one of his students enough time to escape through the windows. Shot and killed during the attack, Librescu was posthumously awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, the country's highest civilian honor. Coincidentally, Librescu's act of heroism happened on the 27th of Nisan in the Jewish lunar calendar. That date is Yom HaShoah, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.

At the time of his death, he was Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech.

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Death and legacy


Librescu's memorial stone on the Virginia Tech campus

At age 76, Librescu was among the 32 people who were murdered in the Virginia Tech shooting. On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho entered the Norris Hall Engineering Building and opened fire on classrooms. Librescu, who taught a solid mechanics class in Room 204 in the Norris Hall during April 2007, held the door of his classroom shut while the gunman attempted to enter it and yelled to his students to escape through the windows. While the shooter tried to nudge open the door, Librescu managed to prevent him from entering until most of his students had escaped through the windows. After kicking open the window screens, the students successfully escaped. Some suffered leg injuries while landing on the ground two floors below, others survived after landing on the shrubbery just below the window and then ran either to some ambulances pulling up or to the nearest bus stop. Librescu was shot four times through the door, including one through his wrist watch, freezing time. Of the 23 registered students in his class, Minal Panchal, a grad student from Mumbai, India, was the only student who lost her life, while two others, who were injured while taking cover in a corner, made it out alive. It was then noted that after the armed aggressor forced his way inside the room, he was enraged after the majority of students escaped. Before leaving the room, Cho confronted Professor Librescu and student Panchal who were lying on the ground next to the door and fatally shot them in the temple.

A number of Librescu's students have called him a hero because of his actions. Caroline Merrey, a senior, said she and about 20 other students scrambled through the windows as Librescu shouted for them to hurry. Merrey said, "I don’t think I would be here if it wasn't for [Librescu]." Librescu's son Joe said he had received e-mails from several students who said he had saved their lives and regarded him as a hero.

Following the murder of Librescu, at the request of his family and with the assistance of Gov. Tim Kaine, his body was released on April 17 and he received a funeral service at an Orthodox Jewish funeral home in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York. On April 20, he was interred in Israel. In his native Romania, his picture was placed on a table at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, and a candle was lit. People laid flowers nearby.

The massacre took place on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). On April 18, 2007, President of the United States George W. Bush honored Librescu at a memorial service held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, attended by a crowd that included many Holocaust survivors:

That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live. And this morning we honor his memory and we take strength from his example.

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United in Grief



The morning after a Virginia Tech student shot and killed 32 fellow students and faculty on April 16, the Virginia state flag flies at half mast in front of the Rotunda.

Verbatim



Beta Bridge, April 17, 2007
DAN ADDISON

“Here at UVA it makes us forget our rivalry with Virginia Tech and instead we join with them in tears and prayer.”

—Ken Elzinga, economics professor, in response to the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech