Parents Demand Firing of V-Tech President & Police Chief

[Janice]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266460,00.html

Parents Demand Firing of Virginia Tech President, Police Chief Over Poor Handling of Mass Shooting

Parents of a Virginia Tech student expressed outrage Monday at what they call an inadequate response by college brass to the worst mass-murder shooting in American history.

John and Jennifer Shourds of Lovettsville, Va. demanded the immediate firings of University President Charles Steger and Virginia Tech Campus Police Chief W.R. Flinchum who he said "screwed up" the handling of separate shooting incidents that left 33 students dead, including the shooter.

“My God, if someone shoots somebody there should be an immediate lockdown of the campus,” said John Shourds. “They totally blew it. The president blew it, campus police blew it.”

The Shourds said they received a phone call from their daughter, Alexandra, a freshman at the college in Blacksburg, who was unsure of how to handle a vague university e-mail received around 9:20 a.m. regarding the first shooting incident that happened at the West Ambler Johnston Hall around 7:15 a.m. Later, it was learned that a lone gunman entered that hall, two buildings away from Alexandra’s dorm, and opened fire, killing two people.

Shourds said the e-mail left no detailed information of how the students should proceed and didn’t call for a campus lockdown. There were no public safety announcements or warnings before the second shooting at Norris Hall that killed 30 people.

John Shourd said he told his daughter to stay put and avoid her 10 a.m. class until the university sent more information.

At about 9:50 a.m., Alexandra Shourds told her father a subsequent e-mail was sent to students instructed them to stay put and not go anywhere. An e-mail announcing the cancellation of classes for the day didn’t come until 10:16 a.m., said John Shourds.

He said many lives could have been saved had the school locked down the campus immediately after the first shooting.

“A lockdown may have not have stopped the killing but it could have lessened the tragedy,” said Shourds.

At a press conference, Steger said authorities believed that the shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus and defended the university’s handling of the tragedy.

"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," Steger said. "We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it."

Shourds said he believes the school delayed the call to lock down the school because there was only approximately two weeks left until the end of the semester.

John Shourds was at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles airport dropping another daughter off for her flight back to college at Michigan State University when he got the first call from Alexandra.

Since that call, Shourds said he and his family have felt anger, fear and indignation over the day’s events. The Shourds have been trying to contact their daughter as much as possible and John Shourds said they would have been on their way to see Alexandra had they had any success in booking hotels in the Blacksburg area.

He said no apology or excuse will meet his satisfaction without the ouster of the university’s top officials. He wasn’t pleased with the Steger’s comments after the incident, either.

“I hold this president completely accountable,” said Shourds. “They are cowards. They can’t come out and say they made a mistake.”

Shourds said he is second-guessing his decision to push his daughter towards Virginia Tech, where several of his nieces and nephews have attended. Many of those relatives have called to offer support to the family and Shourds said many are equally displeased with the university’s initial response.

He said he initially expected the university to respond as it did to an incident last August, during Alexandra’s first day of class, where the campus was locked down due to a manhunt over an escaped inmate who allegedly killed a hospital guard and a sheriff’s deputy.

His daughter told him she received an e-mail warning while in class of a lockdown of all academic buildings that day. Each Virginia Tech student carries a laptop.

“There are also loudspeaker systems attached to poles along the campus,” said Shourds. “The warning system worked.”

However, John Shourds said he had doubts about the effectiveness of Virginia Tech’s campus police from the start. He called the force, “an Andy Griffith and Barney Fife” operation.

"They are really small police force for 20,000 students and they are not the best and the brightest,” said Shourds.

He said he’s leaning towards keeping his daughter at the school after this semester due to positive feedback about the school’s academic program and a learning abroad trip to Spain this summer. He said he trusts the school will do the right thing in his opinion and fire Steger and Flinchum immediately.

[Liza]

I don't think that's the right response at all. In hindsight it's so easy to say they should have done this or that, but at the time, they responded to the info they had. I don't think the president at my college would have done any different, and that doesn't mean he's irresponsible. These two men have just had the worst thing in the world happen under their watch. There's too much to investigate right now to start pointing fingers.

[Janice]

With a gunman on the loose who had just killed two people, at the very least, everyone on campus should have been notified....quickly. I think classes should have been cancelled too. The campus should also have been covered with police.

If I worked for a huge company, and a double murder took place on one end, I would expect that everyone would be alerted, so they could make their own decision as whether to stay or go home. If those students knew a double murderer was possibly on campus, my guess is many of them would have high-tailed it out of there. I know I would have. They weren't given a choice. Instead, they were sitting ducks.

This isn't 20/20 hindsight. It's common sense. University officials and police blundered horribly.

[AllIWantIsYourClutch]

Honestly, you can talk all day about what "should have" been done or what you "would have" done, but those things didn't happen. No one can change it, so the least people can do is accept the situation for what it is. I think people need to take a few days to give the situation and the victims and their families the respect they deserve and show some decency before they start pointing fingers.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by AllIWantIsYourClutch

Honestly, you can talk all day about what "should have" been done or what you "would have" done, but those things didn't happen. No one can change it, so the least people can do is accept the situation for what it is. I think people need to take a few days to give the situation and the victims and their families the respect they deserve and show some decency before they start pointing fingers.

It's the families who are demanding the firings. The school President stated that they didn't alert anyone because they thought the shooter left the campus.

I think those in charge "should have" warned students and faculty that a killer was on the loose. If they had warned them, it's fair to say that more students "would have" lived. You are right, no one can change it. They're not coming back to life. I wonder if you would be so willing to accept the situation for what it is, had one of your family members died. Would it not bother you that they weren't warned? If you were at work or school, and a double murder took place there, and they didn't apprehend the killer, would you want to know about it?

[AllIWantIsYourClutch]

Yes, it would bother me but I dont think I would be on a rampage about it less than 24 hours after the fact.

[Brieannas21]

Originally Posted by Janice

With a gunman on the loose who had just killed two people, at the very least, everyone on campus should have been notified....quickly. I think classes should have been cancelled too. The campus should also have been covered with police.

If I worked for a huge company, and a double murder took place on one end, I would expect that everyone would be alerted, so they could make their own decision as whether to stay or go home. If those students knew a double murderer was possibly on campus, my guess is many of them would have high-tailed it out of there. I know I would have. They weren't given a choice. Instead, they were sitting ducks.

This isn't 20/20 hindsight. It's common sense. University officials and police blundered horribly.

EXACTLY, You don't let a killer run loose on school grounds and not alert the students in a timely manner, you DON‘T wait 2 hours later to let people know. If they would have know when the first shooting had taken place and that they hadn’t found the guy, At least the students and teachers would have been on guard and not just walking around clueless.

[Brian Damage]

Hellllllooooooooo!!! I can't believe anybody with common sense would defend the VT President and Police Chief. They didn't just screw up, they cost dozens of lives.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by AllIWantIsYourClutch

Yes, it would bother me but I dont think I would be on a rampage about it less than 24 hours after the fact.

Who's on a rampage? The only rampage I'm aware of is the killer who roamed the campus for two hours AFTER he killed two people, and went on to slaughter 30 more people. Family members and others are speaking out. What's all this, "let time pass before giving an opinion" baloney I keep hearing? A terrible mass murder happened. People want answers, and are discussing the issue. There's no timeline or waiting period for that.

There's no waiting for the facts to come in on this particular issue either. The college President stated that he didn't alert anyone because they thought the killer had left the campus. That's a fact. Lame, inexcusable, disgusting. I think more than one person has blood on their hands here. Not intentional, but by inaction and negligence.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Brieannas21

EXACTLY, You don't let a killer run loose on school grounds and not alert the students in a timely manner, you DON‘T wait 2 hours later to let people know. If they would have know when the first shooting had taken place and that they hadn’t found the guy, At least the students and teachers would have been on guard and not just walking around clueless.

That's true. I would have left if I knew two students were killed, and the killer was possibly on campus. I know I would have left. Do you think you would have left?

[Stuck In The '70's]

Originally Posted by Janice

That's true. I would have left if I knew two students were killed, and the killer was possibly on campus. I know I would have left. Do you think you would have left?

I would have gotten out of there immediately. The Administration blew it. As long as they didn't know where this killer was they had an obligation to let the students know. They played around with people's lives. I'm sure they feel awful about it but it doesn't change what happened.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

I would have gotten out of there immediately. The Administration blew it. As long as they didn't know where this killer was they had an obligation to let the students know. They played around with people's lives. I'm sure they feel awful about it but it doesn't change what happened.

Sonny, I can just see you and me, Brieannas and Brian taking off in a car, leaving a trail of rubber behind us, lol.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Janice

Sonny, I can just see you and me, Brieannas and Brian taking off in a car, leaving a trail of rubber behind us, lol.

Hell yes, there is no way I would stick around there knowing that somebody was around shooting people.

[Chocoholic]

They should have done a lot more to get those students and teachers out of there after the first shooting was reported. To me, they are almost as guilty as the actual gunman. I've heard a few people say, "Well, they had no idea that was going to happen." but I think that's just *********. The safety of the students and staff should have been the number one priority.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Janice

Who's on a rampage? The only rampage I'm aware of is the killer who roamed the campus for two hours AFTER he killed two people, and went on to slaughter 30 more people. Family members and others are speaking out. What's all this, "let time pass before giving an opinion" baloney I keep hearing? A terrible mass murder happened. People want answers, and are discussing the issue. There's no timeline or waiting period for that.

There's no waiting for the facts to come in on this particular issue either. The college President stated that he didn't alert anyone because they thought the killer had left the campus. That's a fact. Lame, inexcusable, disgusting. I think more than one person has blood on their hands here. Not intentional, but by inaction and negligence.

Janice, I couldn't have put it any better. I agree with you 100%.