Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 16, 2008



The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting consisting of two separate attacks approximately two hours apart on April 16, 2007, which took place on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many more before committing suicide, making it the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, had been diagnosed with and was treated for a severe anxiety disorder. In 2005, Cho had been accused of stalking two female students and was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice. The incident received international media coverage and drew criticism of U.S. laws and culture from commentators around the world. It sparked intense debate about gun violence, gun laws, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations, privacy laws, journalism ethics, and other issues. The incident prompted immediate changes in Virginia law that had allowed Cho, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to purchase handguns without detection by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also led to passage of the first major federal gun control measure in more than 13 years, a law that strengthens the NICS. (more...)

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