Virginia Tech Attack, Part One

In this series of articles we'll take a look at Seung Hui Cho's attack on Virginia Tech in April 2007. We'll examine the history of the school in brief, Cho's history and documented challenges, the attack and the response.

Joshua Borelli

April 18, 2017

This photo, taken by our Editorial Director less than one week after the attack occurred, shows the memorials that were placed in front of and around the review stand on one side of the drill field / quad at Virginia Tech.

The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University… otherwise known as Virginia Tech. Many people aren’t aware of the “State University” part and it didn’t become obvious just how important that part of the name was until after Seung Hui Cho barricaded himself into Norris Hall to murder 30 people and injure an additional 25 before taking his own life upon arrival of the police. To adequately cover the series of events surrounding this attack, Cho’s background, preparation and more, will take more than one article. This series will revolve around Virginia Tech, its history, Cho’s history, the attack there and more to include some comment on the political vagaries that impacted how it was reported on.

University History

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The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.

About the Author

Joshua Borelli

Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.