Using the internet to document the 33+ dead shooting at Virginia Tech today
First off, my heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the families of 33+ dead from the Virginia Tech shooting today. It’s just a horrible tragedy; the worst shooting (not just at a school) in US history.
The BBC has compiled a piece on how the massacre unfolded on the internet, including a cryptic email blast sent out to all students that encouraged them to “stay put” and “avoid windows.” The article also includes a first hand instant message conversation between two brothers, one of which survived in a classroom where the shooter killed 9 out of the 15 individuals in the room, including the teacher.
Expect significant repercussions in university security.
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April 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I must have my head buried in the sand. (actually, it’s buried in my chemistry book) This is the first time I’ve heard about this shooting. How horrible. I’m sitting in a class right now at ASU, and I can’t imagine if someone were to storm through the door and open fire. Wow.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:39 am
I had a thought today as I was reading/posting on another blog about this horrific event. I was thinking, couldn’t a savvy/smart software person write a tool that gunshop owners could use to run a web search to see what this person’s online conversation is? Unfortunately we have ways to hide our real persona but it might yield more than your average background check…
April 20th, 2007 at 11:13 am
“run a web search to see what this person’s online conversation is”
Awesome idea. You’d think more people would use the web for due diligence.