April 17, 2007

UPDATE: April 19, 2007 There is no indication that he ever went to Indonesia, and the person pulled down the flickr picture. So now it is clear he identified strongly with the Islamic story of Ismail, the “Son of Sacrifice.”     If this picture is the killer, and it was posted August 1st 2006, then, the mystery of Ismail Ax is solved. It sure does look like him.   See for yourself, a police photo of Seung Hui Cho is here. UPDATE: For this to be him, he would have had to be in Indonesia in July of 2006. It just seems strange for there to be another South Korean, about the same age, both with a similar names (Seung Hui Cho / Cho Seung Hoo / Jo Sung Ho) and has the nickname spelled Ismail (a unique spelling). 10:38:28 AM

Seung Hui Cho, a permanent resident of the United States, a Korean national and a Virginia Tech student has been identified as the gunman in the shootings that left 33 people dead on the Virginia Tech campus Monday, ABC News has learned. The student left a "disturbing note" before killing two people in a dorm room, returning to his own room to re-arm and entering a classroom building on the other side of campus to continue his rampage, sources said. Cho's identitiy has been confirmed with a positive fingerprint match on the guns used in the rampage and with immigration materials. It is believed that he was the shooter in both incidents yesterday. Sources say Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol, sources said. Witnesses had also told authorities that the shooter was carrying a backpack. Sections of chain similar to those used to lock the main doors at Norris Hall, the site of the second shooting that left 31 dead, were found inside a Virginia Tech dormitory, sources confirmed to ABC News. 5:42:06 AM

Virginia Tech Students Tell Their Stories Online Through Blogs ... MTV.com - There are many first-person accounts of the incident available to anyone with a computer.  MTV's James Montgomery has collected some of the sites here. Student blogs tell stories of a panicked campus, and phone calls from worried parents. Special warning, some of the language might be rough, and some of the accusations unfounded.  Remember that when you read these personal accounts. UPDATE: More local blogging on the tragedy. And here's a blog entry with some photos.  4:22:45 AM

Hundreds express condolences on Facebook following tragedy National Post - The National Post contacted Virginia Tech student Judith Payne through Facebook.com, a social networking Web site popular with students and young people. "I've been checking Facebook to see if any of my friends have posted anything, saying if their okay etc," Ms. Payne. "I had a friend send me a message saying that she was happy I was okay. I've been talking non-stop to friends on the phone, and on AIM [AOL Instant Messaging], making sure that everyone's okay. I've been checking MySpace too, but those sites haven't really said very much." 4:11:05 AM

As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 75-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 32 dead and over two dozen wounded. Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter, who had attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio. Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe. "My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." 4:09:01 AM