2. Investigate the mental history of Cho from childhood to the time of the crime, and determine if there were warning signs missed by the school and or mental health services, that might have prevented this tragedy. The commitment hearing would be included in this investigation.

3. Review the timelines of the incident beginning when he went into West Ambler Johnson dorms to the end of the incident at Norris Hall.

4. Review and assess all of the States services and agencies involved in the incident for the recommendations on improving any State responses to any future incidents of this kind.

6. 7:02 am, Emily Hirscher, dropped off by her boyfriend, enters West Ambler Johnston Hall followed by Cho

7. 7:15 am she is shot in her room by Cho along with RA Ryan Clark

8. 7:17 am Cho cancels accounts and changes clothes in his room.

9. 7:20 am Va Tech Police receive a call from a student about a secondhand report of a student in Hirscher’s room falling off a loft bed.

10. By 7:24 am, VA Tech Police are aware of the double shooting, and are on scene asking for more staff and crime scene technicians.

11. By 7:30 am, the investigation is underway, and police interview witnesses, no one was able to give a description of anyone leaving the dorm after shots were heard.

12. 7:40 am VA Tech police chief is notified. He tries to notify the Office of the Executive Vice President, and notifies the Blacksburg Police Dept. asking for detectives and evidence technicians.

13. 7:55 am Dr. Spencer arrives from Burruss Hall after being told by a housekeeper that an RA was shot in West Ambler Johnston Hall.

14. 7:57 am VA Tech Police Chief finally reaches the Office of the Executive Vice President to inform him of the events in West Ambler Johnston.

15. 8:00 am classes begin as scheduled. The Tech Center for Continuing Education is locked down without orders to do so.

16. President Steiger finds out about the shootings at approximately 8:10 amBetween 8:10 and 8:40 am, police from all agencies involved continue to investigate the shooting, interview Emily’s roommate who informed them that Kevin Thornhill her boyfriend, always drops her off on Monday mornings before class. He is then named a “person of interest” and police begin looking for him. They put his house under scrutiny until he could be found. Two Virginia Tech Senior officials have talked to people one about the shooting, and the other to arrange for a babysitter. The Emergency Response Team is called to handle the possible arrest of a suspect. Some students who are able to leave West Ambler Johnston go to class at Norris Hall. Chief Flinchum and President Steiger are in communication with each other. One student is in critical condition, and the other is dead. This is a domestic incident as far as all are concerned at this point. More police from both the Blacksburg and the VA Tech departments are added to the investigation. Someone with Cho’s general description was observed around the area known as the Duck Pond around 8:20 am. Bank deposits scheduled for daily pick up are cancelled, and the Policy Team meets to discuss what the plans are to inform students of the incident at West Ambler Johnston. CITATION Pan09 1033 (Panel, 2009)<br />From 8:40-9:00 am, President Steiger is updated that the female victim’s boyfriend is being searched for as a person of interest, and the Governor’s Office is notified by the Policy Team of the incident. Police are making phone calls to each other’s officers and alerting the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office advising them to watch out for Kevin Thornhill’s vehicle. A member of the Policy Team leaks an e-mail to a colleague in Richmond, telling them that a student had been killed, and another wounded and saying that the colleague should not tell anyone about this. With the first class ending, the Policy Team comprises a notification to be sent out via e-mail to the university, advising students of the incident at West Ambler Johnston. The message was delayed at first as technical difficulties arise. The public school in Blacksburg is locked down until further notice, and the College of Veterinary Medicine is locked down. No one is expecting the horrors yet to come later in the morning. CITATION Pan09 1033 (Panel, 2009)<br />Between 9:00 am and 9:40 am, Cho goes to the Blacksburg Post Office, where he sends a package to NBC, which contains his videotapes ranting about wanting to even the score with everyone who has oppressed him, an 1800 word tirade and photos depicting himself with various weapons. He hints at the events to follow, in the contents of the package. He mails a letter to the English Department as well, criticizing Carl Bean. The second class of the day convenes on campus, and the college decides to postpone sanitation services for the day. People see Cho both outside and inside Norris Hall, but he has a class in this building. No one notices him chain three entrance doors. A bomb threat is found and the faculty member passes it to the cleaning staff to deliver to the Dean. Meanwhile a traffic stop produces Kevin Thornhill, who was headed back to the campus to locate the female victim, as she was not responding to his calls. A VA Tech Police captain is appointed as liaison on the Policy Team. The management of the college sends out messages via e-mail informing the entire campus of the morning incident. The Policy Team is updated to the police opinion that Thornhill does not seem to be the gunman although residue test results are forthcoming. CITATION Pan09 1033 (Panel, 2009)<br />Roughly 9:40 am, gunfire breaks out in Norris Hall as Cho begins shooting. The unlucky group of 13 Engineering students were in room 206, where he murders 9 students and the professor and wounds 3 more students. He moves across to room 207 and after shooting the teacher turns the gun on the students moving up and down the aisles. In room 205, hearing the noise down the hall, they manage to barricade the door keeping Cho out. Further away in room 211, a student is asked by the teacher to dial 911. Despite putting a desk in front of the entrance, Cho manages his way through the door to room 211, and begins to shoot the occupants of this room as well. During this time, 911 is on the line of Colin Goddard who called them. He is shot in the leg, dropping the phone, which is then picked up by Emily Haas, another student in the French Class. She is heard by Cho as she begs police to arrive. He fires at her and two bullets graze her head. She appears dead, but she is hiding the phone, keeping the connection with the 911 operator. There are two other students feigning death, and all three survive. Cho has been silent during the whole incident. (Panel, 2009)<br />For the next ten minutes, as Cho continues with his rampage, the Blacksburg Police Department receives a call concerning the shooting, has trouble understanding the caller, and finally realizing that the problem was on campus, transfers the call to the VA Tech Police Department. When the message reaches them, they call for the EMS personnel in the county to react to the situation at the campus. Police are arriving on the scene at Norris Hall, and attempt to shoot the locks open, which doesn’t work. President Steiger notices police activity around Norris Hall. While all of this is happening, Cho tries to reenter room 207 unsuccessfully, finally making his way back to room 211. He returns to walking up the aisles and shooting people again. Goddard is hit a couple more times. A janitor runs into Cho, but manages to escape to another floor. Cho then attempts to get into room 204 where the professor uses his body to keep the door shut while 10 students manage to escape from the window. Cho pushes his way in, shooting the professor and two additional students who were attempting escape out of the window. Moving on, he goes back to room 206, shooting more people. (Panel, 2009)<br />9:50 am, police gain entry into Norris Hall, and following the sound of gunfire make their way to the second floor of the building, beginning the task of rescue and assessment of the wounded. Just as police start on the second floor, Cho commits suicide, by gunshot wound to the head. The whole massacre in Norris Hall only lasted 11 minutes; however, Cho managed to squeeze off 174 shots, kill 30 victims, himself included, and wound 17 additional people during that small window of time. (Panel, 2009)<br />Due to a lack of communication at the college level, the seriousness of Cho’s problems were never addressed, as they were in the elementary, grade school, and high school levels. His parents were not included in the situations concerning their son at school, so they could not intervene, and help Cho during these stressful years. While the review panel found many faults in the system, including but not limited to: a lack of interdepartmental sharing of information, a lack of communication between medical facilities, and a failure of the system in general in regards to the way commitment to a mental facility is conducted, they did not fail to recognize that the biggest impediment to Cho was himself, in hiding his mental history when questioned. (Panel, 2009)<br />In conclusion, this incident was the largest school shooting in the history of our country. It drew national attention as well as local. The way this incident was handled, and the red flags missed by VA Tech and the Virginia Medical Professionals was studied extensively by a review panel of experts in order to recommend changes in the law to prevent this sort of incident from repeating itself. Had anyone looked more closely at the warning signs, or connected the dots in this case, informed his parents, or insisted that more action be taken as early as 2005, 32 people may still have been alive today. Privacy laws such as HIPPA and FERPA may have been put into place with good intentions, however this country needs to make sure that those laws are completely understood by the professionals charged with keeping them, and there should be instances where in the interest of public safety, troubled students should be taken more seriously. More precautions must be taken to identify and treat these students, and mental history information should have a special category of privacy laws, allowing institutions a way to track these records.<br />References:<br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY 1033 NBC/MSNBC. (n.d.). Seung-Hui Cho. Retrieved February 08, 2010, from http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/Virginia_Tech_massacre?fwd=1&qpvt=va+tech+massacre&src=abop&q=va+tech+massacre<br />Panel, V. T. (2009, November 15). Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Addendum to the report of the review panel,presented to Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved February 11, 2010<br />Pumroy, D. K. (2007). What Caused the Tragedy at Virginia Tech? (J. Wyatt, Ed.) Behavior Analysis Digest International , 19 (2), pp. 5-7.<br />