From Deseret News archives:

Vengeful video: Snarling gunman was angry at rich 'brats'

Published: Thursday, April 19, 2007 12:27 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Midway through his murderous rampage, the Virginia Tech gunman went to the post office and mailed NBC a package containing photos and videos of him brandishing guns and delivering a snarling, profanity-laced tirade about rich "brats" and their "hedonistic needs."

"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today," 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui says in a harsh monotone. "But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off."

NBC said the package contained a rambling and often incoherent 23-page written statement, 28 video clips and 43 photos. Several of the photos showed him aiming handguns at the camera.

The package arrived at NBC headquarters in New York Wednesday, two days after Cho killed 32 people and committed suicide in the deadliest one-man shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. It bore a Postal Service time stamp showing that it had been mailed at a Blacksburg post office at 9:01 a.m. Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after Cho first opened fire.

That would help explain one of the biggest mysteries about the massacre: where the gunman was and what he did during that two-hour window between the first burst of gunfire, at a high-rise dorm, and the second fusillade, at a classroom building.

Story continues below
"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats," says Cho, a South Korean immigrant whose parents work at a dry cleaners in suburban Washington. "Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything."

Earlier in the day, authorities disclosed that more than a year before the massacre, Cho was accused of sending unwanted messages to two women and was taken to a psychiatric hospital on a magistrate's orders and was pronounced a danger to himself. But he was released with orders to undergo outpatient treatment.

The disclosure added to the rapidly growing list of warning signs that appeared well before the student opened fire. Among other things, Cho's twisted, violence-filled writings and sullen, vacant-eyed demeanor had disturbed professors and students so much that he was removed from one English class and was repeatedly urged to get counseling.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
Mary Altaffer, Associated Press

People hold hands as they pray together during a service on the Virginia Tech campus. Thirty-three died in Monday's rampage.

previousnext

Latest comments

U. professor dies after fall from bus

Thank you. To be WILLING to offer the seat is gentlemanly, and a woman...

Broncos make Aggies pay

Why couldn't I hear the Aggie fight song during the telecast? I hope it's...

pass interference. just because you dont think so doesnt make it so. the...

Memo out again tonight for Jazz

Take the minutes Fess and continue to learn and all the while improve your...

What a clown. Wimmer definitely leads the league in stupidity statistics.

"Carl Wimmer will "SOON" be looking for a new Job outside of Utah very...

Boring!!!! Turn the page!!! The Asterisk is for the size of the TV band....

Letters: Democracy dwindles

"The point of no return is reached when those living on government largesse...

Both teams didn't deserve to win because one of them scored more points than...

"to davis for getting so far with players that actually live in your...

Advertisements