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Last Trial in Virginia Tech Massacre (2007) Finds the School Negligent by Surajit Sen Sharma
It happened on April 16, 2007, and this is 2012, but neither the public nor the parents of students who were killed by the crazy gunman have forgotten their pains. While ample evidence had poured in from the media at the time showing negligence on part of Virginia Tech authorities, it took the due process of law almost 5 years to realize that yes, the school authorities were negligent.
03/15/12
are disappointed with today’s decision and stand by our long-held position that the administration and law
In deciding the last pending
enforcement at Virginia Tech did their absolute best
lawsuit stemming from the
with the information available on April 16, 2007.” Mr.
killings of more than 30 students by a crazy gunman
Owczarski also informed the media that the school
the jurors held that the authorities were negligent in
would review the case with the Attorney General before
not issuing proper warning and campus-wide alert in
further action.
time. While the first two murders happened close to 7 am, it took the authorities another 2 and half hours
Facts of the case show that while two deaths occurred
to issue a campus-wide alert. In the time between the
at around 7 am on the fateful day, the School
authorities were convinced that the two murders were
authorities, knowing that the gunman was still to be
‘domestic violence’ and posed no threat to the general
apprehended, sent out a casual email mentioning that
campus.
two shooting incidents had occurred, without pointing out to students that the gunman was still at large.
The parents of two murdered students stayed vigilant over the fate of their lawsuit for the last 5 years,
Tech officials woke up to the situation and sent out
and remarked that their slain daughters would have
a mass email with specific warning 10 minutes after
expected this persistence from their parents. The
the gunman Cho had initiated his first round of mass
families of both students earlier rejected their share
slaughter within classrooms. There was no way the
of a $11 million settlement contending that justice for
victims could have read that email – they were either
their slain daughters were what they were looking for,
dead or cowering behind brief barricades trying to
not money.
protect their lives.
The court vindicated their faith by forcing the Virginia
The plaintiffs also alleged that the school administrators
Tech authorities to come out with the truth, which may
had tried to cover up their missteps by fabricating
not have happened if the plaintiffs in the case had
official timelines to reduce the amount of their
accepted the earlier settlement by the school. However,
negligence. The Virginia Tech administrators said the
the results of the civil lawsuit are scoffed at by the
mistakes in timelines that had been caught, and that if
authorities.
interpreted properly might lead to the conclusion that the authorities had acted with greater responsibility
Virginia Tech spokesman, Mark Owczarski said, “We
PAGE
than interpreted from the true timeline, were just
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