At least 32 (plus gunmen) dead in Virginia Tech Shooting

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Jamie_B' post='474814' date='Apr 19 2007, 08:43 PM']Then it sounds as if there is some sort of disconnect between the hospital he was at and the authorties. To me once he was entered into it there should have been some sort of message sent to authorties that "hey this kids got issues" and he should have been blacklisted from there.[/quote]
Agreed. I don't know what kind of system is supposed to be in place to make this type of info known to those who do the background checks. Nor do I really know what the criteria truly are. It is possible, that even with his time spent under mental supervision/care/what have you, that it did not cross the threshold that would have made him ineligible to purchase a gun, for all I know...

[Jamie_B]

My sister had 3 people in this shooting that she either had a friend who knew or she was an aquanitce of, with her best friend's Jimmy' sister Maxine being one. I didnt know her, but I know him and just got an email from him Im going to try to attend the services. If his sister was anything like him, the world is missing a great person. They are waiting on news of when they can get the body before any funeral. Nicole White was dating the little brother of my sisters friend Christine, and Caitlin Hammaren was the little sister to her HS friend Eric who died in 911 in NY.

In may I will be featuring the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund as our Go-Bengals charity of the month.


[quote][img]http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070417/070417_victims_turner_12p.small.jpg[/img]

Maxine Turner, 22, from Vienna, Va., was a senior majoring in chemical engineering.

Turner had finished her required credits and was preparing for her May graduation but took German as an elective, said her father, Paul Turner. She was shot in the German class.

“She was very excited — she was very excited about school in general,” her father said.

An anonymous poster told MSNBC.com that she had been a classmate of Turner's at James Madison High School in Vienna. "She was at the top of our class and did really well in school ... Vienna is a very close, tight-knit community and I know those from our graduating class of 2003 and all other JMHS students past and present are grieving from this tragic loss of life."

Turner was accepted by a handful of high-profile schools, including Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. But she was determined to be a Virginia Tech Hokie, her father said.

“We tried to convince her to go elsewhere. When you get accepted to Johns Hopkins, it’s a very prestigious school,” he said. “But no, she wanted to go to Virginia Tech.”

Turner recently helped found a chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a sorority for women in engineering. She had accepted a chemical engineering job with W.L. Gore & Associates in Elkton, Md.

“It’s a terrible loss,” her father said Wednesday, weeping. “I cannot understand the legislators in this country, not putting in laws that protect people.”[/quote]


[quote][img]http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070419/070419_victims_white2_3p.standard.jpg[/img]

Nicole White, 20, of Carrollton, Va., was a junior majoring in international studies and German. White graduated from Smithfield High School in 2004, according to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.

White worked at a YMCA as a lifeguard and was an honor student in high school, the newspaper reported.

Laurie Guiffre wrote to MSNBC.com that she had grown up with White, remembering her friend as a person of great character with a genuine love for animals.

"I keep trying to come to terms with the fact that she is no longer here and I will never see her again." Guiffre wrote.

Another childhood friend, Michelle Clay, of Toccoa Falls, Ga., recalled that "[Nicole] was one my four best friends, and we all shared everything."

"I never imagined she would be gone in the blink of an eye."[/quote]



[quote][img]http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/070418/n_vatech_caitlinhammaran_obit_070418.vsmall.jpg[/img]

Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., was a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to officials at her former school district.

“She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I’ve had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator,” said John Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, where she graduated in 2005. “Caitlin was a leader among our students.”

Minisink Valley students and teachers shared their grief Tuesday at a counseling center set up in the school, Latini said.

Vanessa Oravec posted on MSNBC.com that Hammaren was her dorm resident adviser. "She was the nicest person I have ever met," Oravec wrote.

"She would do anything for you at the drop of a hat without any questions. She was always there to help you, or just talk. Late night she would stop in and say hi whenever she could. She was always dedicated to helping her friends and the community."[/quote]