Students Question School’s Decision To Send Out Warnings Via Email
Posted April 16, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some students at Virginia Tech are questioning why the school relied on email to warn them of the first gun attacks on campus Monday.
The first email was sent out hours after the initial shooting at a dormitory, and the second was issued about 35 minutes after the second wave of killings.
One of the mails cryptically warned that, “a gunman is loose on campus,” suggesting students stay inside and away from windows.
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said that before the e-mails were sent, the university began telephoning resident advisers in the dorms to warn them, and also sent people to knock on doors.
Steger defended the decision to utilize email, believing it was the fastest way to spread word of the incidents, but some students vehemently argued otherwise.
“I think the university has blood on their hands because of their lack of action after the first incident,” said Billy Bason, 18.
“If you had apprehended a suspect, I could understand having classes even after two of your students have perished. But when you don’t have a suspect in a college environment and to put the students in a situation where they’re congregated in large numbers in open buildings, that’s unacceptable to me.”
“What happened today this was ridiculous,” added student Jason Piatt. “While they send out that e-mail, 20 more people got killed.”
Many wondered why no warnings were coming over the outdoor public address system on campus.
Laura Wedin, a student programs manager at Virginia Tech, said she received the first e-mail at 9:26 a.m. The massacre began at around 7:15am.
It read: “A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating.”
By the end of the attacks, 33 people, including the gunman, were dead.
