Seung-Hui Cho

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Cho Seung-hui
StatusDeceased (suicide)

Template:Koreanname Template:Korean name Cho Seung-hui (Korean: 조승희; January 18, 1984[1] – April 16, 2007) was the spree shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre[2][3][4] of April 16, 2007, according to police reports. He committed suicide as law enforcement closed in on him.

Biography

Cho was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with his parents in September 1992 at the age of 8.[5] He was a South Korean national and a permanent legal resident of the United States.[6] Cho had a permanent address in Centreville, Virginia, an unincorporated community in western Fairfax County thirty miles west of Washington, D.C., and a few miles directly south of Washington Dulles International Airport.[7] His parents run a dry cleaning business, and his sister is an alumna of Princeton University. Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Virginia.[8]

According to Virginia Tech, Cho was an undergraduate in business [9] but changed to English major in his senior year.

Behavior

A university spokesman described Cho as a "loner," and said university officials were having a hard time finding information about him.[10] A Korean club on campus reported that he rarely joined or talked with them at all.[11] Cho is also believed to have been taking medication for depression,[12] and had earlier been accused of setting a fire in a dormitory, and stalking women on campus.[13]

According to a classmate in Cho's 3000 level Playwriting class, "Cho was really, really, quiet. I can't even remember one word he said the entire semester." Although the class was a workshop class, in which students were encouraged to submit their plays for class discussion, when Cho was asked to comment, "he would just shrug and say nothing." According to the professor who taught the class, Cho never participated in class discussions: "He was just there, I can't even describe it. He would just sit and watch us, but wouldn't say anything. It was his lack of behavior that really set him apart. He basically just kept to himself, very isolated. I remember only once he smiled, but it wasn't very big." [14]

Attributed writings

The head of the Virginia Tech English Department quoted a colleague, Lucinda Roy, as describing Cho as troubled.[15] Roy was concerned about an assignment that Cho turned in last year, a one-act play he wrote entitled "Richard McBeef." The play is about a thirteen-year-old boy who accuses his stepfather of molesting him. The boy talks of killing his stepfather and they get into a violent argument. The play ends with the stepfather striking the boy with a deadly blow.[16]

In a second play attributed to Cho on the title page of the typescript and by MSNBC News[17] posted at AOL News, a group of teenagers plot to kill a teacher who is ruining their lives, abusing all the students in the class (apparently metaphorically) while in a casino. They sing the lyrics to "Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N' Roses. Later one of the teens wins a huge jackpot, which the teacher, Mr. Brownstone, then claims.[18]

According to a classmate in Cho's 300-level play-writing class, Cho's "writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque." [19]

Virginia Tech massacre

Main article: Virginia Tech massacre

According to television news reports on April 17, Cho left a note criticizing "rich kids," "debauchery," and "deceitful charlatans" before killing two people in a dormitory room on April 16, 2007.[20] Two hours later, Cho crossed the campus to continue his rampage in a classroom building.[4] Police identified Cho by matching fingerprints on the guns used in the shootings with immigration materials.[4] The words "Ismail Ax" were found written on his arm in red ink.[21] Officials have described finding a March 9, 2007, purchase receipt for a Glock 9mm[20] used in the assault[22] and note that permanent residents in Virginia may legally purchase firearms with proof of residency.[23] Cho bought the second weapon, a Walther .22 caliber pistol, a week earlier. The serial numbers on both guns had been filed off.[24].

Cho committed suicide in Norris Hall with a gunshot to the head[25] as police closed in on him[26].

See also

Notes

  1. ^ NPR
  2. ^ VT front page
  3. ^ John M. Broder. "Virginia Gunman Identified as a Student". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  4. ^ a b c "Gunman Identified as Massacre at Virginia Tech Enters Second Day". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  5. ^ "Campus gunman lived in U.S. since 1992 - official". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  6. ^ Gunman's writings raised concerns
  7. ^ Centreville Student Was Va. Tech Shooter
  8. ^ Gunman Is Described as Quiet and 'Always by Himself'
  9. ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-shooter18apr18,1,5242052.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=4&cset=true
  10. ^ Gunman identified in Virginia Tech shootings
  11. ^ "범인은 '외톨이'" 조승희 누구인가, retrived from Chosun.com 07-04-17
  12. ^ "Virginia Tech Police Still Search for Motive After Identifying Shooter".
  13. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/cho.profile/index.html
  14. ^ Cho's classroom colleague reacts to tragedy The Collegiate Times. Accessed 4-17-2007
  15. ^ "Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This'". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  16. ^ Virginia Killer's Violent Writings The Smoking Gun. Accessed 4-17-2007
  17. ^ MSNBC News announcement at 3:45 pm ET April 17, 2007; transcript not yet available.
  18. ^ "Richard McBeef" script posted at AOL Accessed April 17, 2007.
  19. ^ Cho's classroom colleague reacts to tragedy The Collegiate Times. Accessed 4-17-2007
  20. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Newsday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Aamer Madhani. "Sources: College gunman left note", Chicago Tribune, April 17, 2007
  22. ^ "Gunman ID'd as student; tests tie same gun to both attacks". New York Newsday. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  23. ^ "Shooter Identified as Cho Seung-Hui". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  24. ^ "Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This'". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  25. ^ David Schoetz, Ned Potter, Richard Esposito and Pierre Thomas and the staff of ABC News. "Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This'". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "CNN profile of Cho". CNN.

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