Virginia Tech and the aftermath

It’s a sad day in America when your children cannot go to school and be safe. I read a few blogs today from this student who was on the VTech campus. On one blog, he mentioned that his girlfriend was in one of the classrooms in Norris Hall. Thankfully, she was only grazed by a bullet in the hand. She has a few fractured bones, but other than that is well. He mentioned that she said, “I got red on me.” That put everything into perspective for me. Yes, we heard of the shooting. Yes, we understand that 32 people were shot and killed by this lunatic as well as others that were injured. But did we really stop to think of the scene itself? I didn’t. It never dawned on me what those students that made it out alive actually saw. They saw their teachers, classmates, friends being shot. THEY SAW IT!! They were standing right there. They bear witness of the tragedy on that campus that day. Those pictures will live on in their minds for the remainder of their lives. Not only did this girl see what was going on, not only does she still carry a piece of the bullet in her hand, not only did she see her teacher shot and “didn’t think the teacher Herr Bishop made it out of the whole thing”, but she also kept her head about her and was a hero to the other students in her class that lived through the ordeal. She and another student barricaded the door so the shooter could not get back inside to finish the job he started. I read here that only 4 people walked out of that classroom. “The rest were dead or wounded.” That’s a class of about 25 students plus a teacher. I do not know how many of those remaining 21 students were only injured but that number is astounding.

Another thing I find so sad in this whole situation is the story of Liviu Librescu. This 76 year old man survived the Holocaust to be gunned down in this tragedy. This website tells the story of how he threw himself in front of the gunman so his students could get away. EVERY one of his students LIVED because of this man’s sacrifice.

My thoughts and prayers go with each person on the Virginia Tech campus as well as each person who has been touched by this tragedy.