- 3 days ago
Disaster Transbian episode 144
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00:00Can you take us to Virginia Tech on that horrific day?
00:05No.
00:06Don't want to go?
00:07No, it's not something that I'm...
00:10First of all, I'm having a good time.
00:12I'm going to sit here and start crying.
00:14And it was horrible.
00:18And I know people want to say that he was crazy,
00:22but I always thought he... I taught him.
00:23I thought he was evil.
00:25And that's not a term that you get to use a lot
00:28because people think, well, nobody's evil.
00:30Everybody just has a problem.
00:32But I thought he was evil.
00:33And I had said to my department head,
00:36I'm going to, you know, either you get him out of my class
00:38or I'm going to resign.
00:56Why are classes canceled?
00:57They're going to be.
00:59Because I don't want everybody to like America.
01:01Carl, so how do you like America?
01:02Your second name.
01:05May I have your attention, please?
01:07May I have your attention, please?
01:09Leave the building by the nearest exit.
01:12Do not use the elevators.
01:14Hey, all right!
01:18Obviously a major malfunction.
01:19I didn't have to do this.
01:25I could have left.
01:27I could have fled.
01:29But you know,
01:30I will no longer run.
01:32If not for me,
01:34for my children,
01:36for my brothers and sisters.
01:39I did it for them.
01:40When the time came,
01:42I did it.
01:45I had to.
01:47Joel Sung-hui was a South Korean mass murderer
01:50who perpetrated the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007.
01:54Cho killed 32 people
01:57and wounded 17 others
01:59with two semi-automatic pistols
02:02on April 16, 2007
02:04at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
02:08This killing is the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
02:13and was at the time
02:15the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
02:17Of course,
02:18not counting any of the slaughterings
02:20obtained of American Indians
02:21such as Wounded Knee
02:23or Sand Creek, for example.
02:25Because, you know,
02:26whitewashing of history.
02:28You have vandalized my heart,
02:30raped my soul,
02:31and torched my conscience.
02:32You thought it was one pathetic more life
02:34you were extinguishing.
02:36Thanks to you,
02:37I died like Jesus Christ
02:38to inspire generations
02:40of the weak and the defenseless people.
02:42A senior level undergraduate student
02:45of creative writing at the university,
02:47Cho died by suicide
02:49after police breached the doors
02:51of Virginia Tech's Norris Hall,
02:53which Cho had locked with heavy chains
02:57where most of the shooting had taken place.
03:12Born in South Korea,
03:18Cho was eight years old
03:19when he immigrated to the United States
03:22with his family.
03:23He became a U.S. permanent resident
03:25as a South Korean national.
03:28At the time of the shooting,
03:30Cho had the legal status
03:31of resident alien.
03:33In middle school,
03:35he was diagnosed
03:35with severe anxiety disorder
03:37with selective mutism
03:39as well as major depressive disorder.
03:42After his diagnosis,
03:44he began receiving treatment
03:45and continued to receive therapy
03:48and special education support
03:49until his junior year in high school.
03:53Cho was bullied throughout high school.
03:57During Cho's last two years
03:58at Virginia Tech,
04:00several instances
04:00of his abnormal behavior
04:02as well as plays
04:04and other writings he submitted
04:05contained references to violence,
04:08causing concern
04:09among teachers and classmates.
04:11In the aftermath of the shootings,
04:13Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
04:15convened a panel
04:16consisting of various officials
04:18and experts
04:19to investigate and examine
04:21the response and handling of issues
04:23related to the shootings.
04:26The panel released its final report
04:28in August 2007
04:30devoting more than 20 pages
04:33to detailing Cho's troubled history.
04:37In the report,
04:39the panel criticized
04:40the failure of the educators
04:41and mental health professionals
04:43who came into contact with Cho
04:45during his college years
04:47to notice his deteriorating condition
04:50and help him.
04:52The panel also criticized
04:54misinterpretations of privacy laws
04:56and gaps in Virginia's
04:58mental health system
04:59and gun laws.
05:00In addition,
05:03the panel faulted
05:04Virginia Tech administrators
05:06in particular
05:06for failing to take immediate action
05:09after the first two deaths
05:11of Emily J. Hilsher
05:13and Ryan C. Statt-Clark.
05:16Nevertheless,
05:17the report did acknowledge
05:19that Cho must still be held
05:21primarily responsible
05:22for the killings
05:23despite his emotional
05:24and psychological disabilities
05:26having undoubtedly clouded
05:28his situation.
05:35Cho Sung-wee was born on January 18, 1984
05:39in the city of Asan
05:41in South Korea's
05:42Shonshang-nang-do.
05:44Cho and his family
05:45lived in a basement apartment
05:47in the city of Seoul
05:48for a few years
05:50before immigrating
05:51to the United States.
05:53Cho's father
05:54was self-employed
05:55as a bookstore owner
05:57but made minimal profits
05:58from the venture.
06:00Seeking better education
06:02and opportunities
06:03for his son and daughter,
06:05Cho's father
06:05immigrated to the United States
06:07with his family
06:08in 1992
06:09when Cho was eight years old.
06:12The family lived in Detroit
06:13then moved to the Washington
06:14metropolitan area
06:16after learning that it had
06:17one of the largest
06:18South Korean expatriate
06:19communities in the U.S.
06:22Cho's family settled
06:23in Centerville,
06:24an unincorporated community
06:25in western Fairfax County,
06:28Virginia,
06:28west of Washington, D.C.
06:31Cho's father and mother
06:32opened a dry cleaning business.
06:35After they moved to Centerville,
06:37Cho and his family
06:38became permanent residents
06:39of the United States
06:40as South Korean nationals.
06:44His parents
06:44became members
06:45of a local Christian church
06:47and Cho was raised
06:49as a member of this religion
06:50although in a note,
06:52Cho railed against
06:53his parents'
06:54strong Christian faith.
06:56Some members of Cho's family
06:57who had remained
06:58in South Korea
06:59had concerns about his behavior
07:01during his early childhood.
07:04Cho's relatives
07:05thought that he was
07:06selectively mute
07:07or mentally ill
07:09and have stated in interviews
07:10that he rarely spoke
07:12or showed affection.
07:14Cho attended
07:15the Poplar Tree Elementary School
07:17in Chantilly,
07:19an unincorporated small community
07:20in Fairfax County.
07:23An anonymous family acquaintance
07:24claimed that,
07:25quote,
07:25every time he came home
07:27from school,
07:27he would cry
07:28and throw tantrums,
07:29saying he never wanted
07:30to return to school,
07:32unquote.
07:33According to a former
07:34fifth grade classmate
07:36of Cho's,
07:36Cho finished
07:37the three-year program
07:39at Poplar Tree Elementary School
07:40in one and a half years
07:42and was pointed to
07:43as a good example
07:44by teachers
07:45and was not disliked
07:47by other students.
07:49Cho attended
07:50two secondary schools
07:51in Fairfax County,
07:53Ormond Stone Middle School
07:54in Centerville
07:55and Westfield High School
07:57in Chantilly.
07:58By the eighth grade,
08:00Cho had been diagnosed
08:01with selective mutism,
08:02a social anxiety disorder
08:04that inhibited him
08:05from speaking
08:06in specific instances
08:07and or to specific individuals.
08:11He was reportedly bullied
08:12for his shyness
08:13and unusual speech mannerisms
08:15throughout high school
08:17and at least once
08:18for his ethnicity.
08:20Other former classmates
08:21stated he was a loner
08:23who did not seem interested
08:24in interacting
08:25when teachers
08:26or other students
08:27tried to include him.
08:31During Cho's ninth grade year
08:32in 1999,
08:34the Columbine High School massacre
08:36made international news.
08:38Cho was reportedly transfixed
08:40by the news
08:41and idolized Eric Harris
08:43and Dylan Claybold.
08:45Break or break or what?
08:45Ninety years on.
08:46Oh, break or break or break?
08:48Oh, break or break?
08:50Oh, you're back.
08:58I'm here.
09:01Okay, try and keep
09:12as many people down
09:13as you can.
09:17Okay.
09:21Do you know who he is?
09:24Okay.
09:24Okay.
09:24Do you know who he is?
09:25Okay.
09:25Do you know who he is?
09:25Okay.
09:31Do you know what he is?
09:32Hmm.
09:32Hmm.
09:34Hmm.
09:55Hmm.
09:55Hmm.
09:55Hmm.
09:56Hmm.
09:57Hmm.
09:58Hmm.
09:59Hmm.
09:59Did you hear any shots fired?
10:13Okay, good.
10:14I want you to just stay there.
10:29I want you to stay there.
10:59Okay, units responding and I'm seeing promptly in the student lot.
11:08There's 144 additional shots fired at large caliber.
11:11144 more shots fired at large caliber 1130.
11:20Shots fired mid-size.
11:22Throughout the massacre in the library, they ordered everybody to get up,
11:27said how long they had been waiting for this and seemed to be enjoying themselves,
11:33shouting things like,
11:34After shooting,
11:36Claybold called out to Harris that he found a n*** and tried to pull Scholes out from under the table.
11:43Harris left Pascal and joined him.
11:46According to witnesses, they taunted Scholes for a few seconds,
11:49making derogatory racial comments.
11:53The gunmen both fired under the table.
11:55Harris shot Scholes, once in the chest, killing him.
11:58And Claybold shot and killed Ketcher.
12:01Though Scholes was not shot in the head, Claybold said,
12:04I didn't know black brains could fly that far.
12:08You know what I hate?
12:09Stupid people.
12:11Why must so many people be so stupid?
12:15You know what I love?
12:16Natural selection.
12:18God damn, it's the best thing that ever happened to the earth.
12:21Getting rid of all the stupid and weak organisms.
12:25Organisms is spelled wrong.
12:26But it's all natural.
12:29Yes!
12:29I wish the government would just take off every warning label.
12:33So then all the dumbasses would either severely hurt themselves or die.
12:38And boom!
12:39No more dumbasses.
12:41Heh.
12:41And sorry if I offended you.
12:43But if I did,
12:45that means you are one of the people that I mention that I hate.
12:48So I guess I'm not sorry.
12:50You asshole.
12:52Harris sat down with his back to a bookshelf
12:54and fired his shotgun.
12:56through the roof of his mouth.
12:59Claybold went down on his knees
13:01and shot himself in the left temple
13:03with his Tech-9.
13:05An article by the Rocky Mountain News
13:08stated that Patty Nielsen overheard them shout
13:10one, two, three
13:13in unison
13:13just before a loud boom.
13:16Nielsen later said that she had never spoken with
13:18either of the writers of the article.
13:26But she decided to spill my blood.
13:31You forced me into a corner
13:32and gave me only one option.
13:34The decision was yours.
13:36Now you have blood on your hands
13:37that will never walk off.
13:38If you can, can you bring the bus over here, maybe?
13:41Yeah, where you at?
13:42In 800 Ocean County.
13:43Okay.
13:44Okay.
13:44Okay.
13:45All right.
13:45Bye.
13:52Cho wrote in his school assignment
13:54about wanting to repeat Columbine.
13:57The school contacted Cho's sister
14:00who reported the incident to their parents.
14:02Cho was sent to a psychiatrist.
14:04In his freshman year at Virginia Tech in 2003,
14:09Cho enrolled as an undergraduate major
14:11in business information technology.
14:14By his senior year,
14:16Cho was majoring in English,
14:18intending to become a writer.
14:20You gotta be shitting me, Joker.
14:22You think you're Minty Spillane?
14:24You think you're some kind of fucking writer?
14:26At the time of the attacks,
14:28Cho lived with five roommates
14:30in a three-bedroom suite in Harper Hall.
14:33I'm related, but you can actually be there
14:35to one of the most of the quality of the year
14:37by Adam O'Gero's class over there, bro.
14:39He's playing with the T-pointing T.
14:41He's playing the finale of the show.
14:43Oh, my God.
14:47Oh, my God.
14:51Josh.
14:52Hey, James, how do you see?
14:53Look at this.
14:58Shit.
14:59Can you do this on stage?
15:01We need that.
15:01My music is just like this.
15:04Go have a big shot.
15:06I sure do.
15:07I'll give you five dollars.
15:09Sure, yeah.
15:10God bless America.
15:12We're almost kind of so exciting.
15:14Yeah, that's right.
15:16You're actually capturing the magic of...
15:18Did he like music, for example?
15:21Yeah, he did.
15:22He listened to a lot of rock,
15:25a lot of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana.
15:28You were saying that there was one song
15:30you could keep playing over and over?
15:31What was that?
15:32It was Shine Down.
15:32Shine Down.
15:33By Collective Soul.
15:37It was on his laptop.
15:39His laptop, and you guys heard it?
15:40I heard it.
15:41It would wake me up in the morning sometime.
15:42Oh, yeah.
15:45I can't let your life shine down.
15:47Nikki Giovanni says she taught Cho in a poetry class in the fall of 2005.
15:54She had him removed from her class because she found his behavior menacing.
15:58She recalled that Cho had a mean streak and described his writing as intimidating.
16:06Giovanni reports that Cho wore sunglasses in class and that when she tried to get him
16:11to participate in class discussion, Cho remained silent.
16:17In Giovanni's class, Cho had intimidated female classmates by photographing their legs
16:23under their desks and by writing violent and obscene poetry.
16:26In the fall of 2005, Giovanni told the then department head, Lucinda Roy, she was willing
16:34to resign before she was going to continue with Cho.
16:38Roy removed Cho from the class.
16:42Roy says that since she found Cho's writings to be very disturbing, she asked for help from
16:48the police and the university administration.
16:50However, Roy states that the police had difficulty since Cho did not make any explicit threat.
16:59After Giovanni was informed of the massacre, she remarked that she, quote,
17:04knew when it happened that that's probably who it was and would have been shocked if it wasn't, unquote.
17:12Roy had taught Cho an introduction to poetry the previous year.
17:16She described him as, quote, actually quite arrogant and could be quite obnoxious and was also deeply,
17:24it seemed, insecure, unquote, and that she told him numerous times to go to counseling.
17:30She said that Cho resisted speaking in class and took cell phone pictures of her.
17:35After Roy became concerned with Cho's behavior and the themes in his writings, she started meeting
17:43with Cho to work with him one-on-one.
17:47However, she soon became concerned for her safety and told her assistant that she would use the
17:53name of a dead professor as a duress code in order to alert the assistant to call security.
18:00After Roy notified authorities of Cho's behavior, she urged Cho to seek counseling.
18:08Roy described Cho as seeming extraordinarily lonely and said that Cho said to me once he was lonely
18:16and didn't have friends.
18:18Other professors were familiar with Cho's disturbing demeanor and recommended that Cho seek counseling.
18:24Some professors were not aware until informed by others that Cho had mental health problems
18:31and had been reported to the police, afterwards speculating that the information was not accessible
18:38or was privileged and could not be released.
18:42It is reported that in his first year at Virginia Tech, Cho tried to fit in,
18:47but had become very isolated in his last year.
18:50During one party, he sat in the corner and repeatedly stabbed the carpet in a girl's room
18:57while his roommates were present.
19:01Fellow students described Cho as a quiet person who would not respond if someone greeted him.
19:09Student Julie Poole recalled that on the first day of the literature class the previous year,
19:15the professor found that Cho had written only a question mark instead of his name
19:19on a sign-in sheet, so, quote,
19:22we just really knew him as the question mark kid, unquote.
19:26Karen Graywall and Joseph Oust, who shared a dormitory suite with Cho,
19:31reported that Cho was reclusive and they mutually avoided interacting with him.
19:37Both roommates claimed Cho had an imaginary girlfriend named Jelly.
19:42Oust notes that during the last couple weeks,
19:46he noticed that Cho's sleep schedule became unusual.
19:49Andy Koch and John Eide, who once shared a room with Cho at Cochrane Hall during 2005 and 2006,
20:00state that they were aware of the imaginary girlfriend as well.
20:04Koch claimed that Cho, under the influence of alcohol at a party,
20:08described Jelly as a supermodel living in space.
20:13Koch described other incidents of disturbing behavior.
20:16Once, Cho stood in the doorway of his room late at night, taking photographs of Koch.
20:23Cho repeatedly placed harassing cell phone calls to Koch as Cho's brother, question mark,
20:30a name Cho also used when introducing himself to girls.
20:34Koch and Eide searched Cho's belongings and found a pocket knife,
20:39but they did not find any items that they deemed threatening.
20:43Koch also described a telephone call that he received from Cho during the Thanksgiving holiday break from school,
20:49during which Cho claimed to be vacationing with Vladimir Putin in North Carolina.
20:57Koch and Eide, who had earlier tried to befriend him,
21:00gradually stopped talking to him and told their friends,
21:03especially female classmates, not to visit their room.
21:07On one instance, Cho told his roommates he had frightened a girl
21:11when he went to her dorm to look her in the eyes.
21:16Cho remarked he only found promiscuity in her eyes.
21:21Koch and Eide stated that Cho had been involved in two incidents
21:25involving two different female students,
21:27which resulted in verbal warnings by the Virginia Tech campus police.
21:33The two students felt Cho was stalking them,
21:36but did not press charges.
21:38Koch and Eide state that on at least two occasions,
21:42police came to their room to investigate a girl's complaint
21:44due to Cho's behavior online.
21:47According to Koch, one of these visits,
21:50during which the police came at night to Cho and Koch's dorm
21:53and banged at the door was due to Cho's harassment of a female student
21:58and talking about suicide online.
22:02The first such alleged incident occurred on November 27, 2005.
22:08Cho had contacted through phone calls and in person
22:11by making an unannounced visit to her room
22:14with a female student who notified Virginia Tech Police Department.
22:19The police said there were no actual threats of violence in those messages,
22:23but were simply annoying.
22:26Two uniformed members of the campus police
22:28visited Cho's room at the dormitory later that evening
22:31and warned him not to contact the student again.
22:35Cho complied.
22:37The second alleged incident came to light on December 13, 2005.
22:43See how she leans her cheek upon her head?
22:47Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand,
22:49that I might touch that cheek.
22:50In the preceding days,
22:53Cho had contacted a friend of Koch via AIM
22:56and wrote on her doorboard
22:58a line from the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet.
23:01By a name, I know not how to tell thee who I am.
23:05My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself
23:07because it is an enemy to thee.
23:09Had I it writ, I would tear the word.
23:11The young woman was initially unconcerned by the AIM messages
23:15in the quotation until she was contacted by Koch via AIM,
23:20who informed her of Cho's previous, earlier stalking incident
23:23and speculated that Cho had schizophrenia.
23:27The young woman contacted the campus police,
23:30who again warned Cho against further unwanted contact.
23:34Later the same day,
23:37Cho sent an email to Koch stating,
23:40I may as well kill myself now.
23:44Worried that Cho was suicidal,
23:46Koch contacted his father for advice.
23:49Both contacted campus authorities.
23:52The campus police returned to the dormitory
23:55and escorted Cho
23:57to New River Valley Community Services Board,
24:00the Virginia Mental Health Agency,
24:03serving Blacksburg.
24:13On December 13, 2005,
24:17Cho was taken by police
24:18to the psychiatric hospital
24:20of New River Valley Community Services Board.
24:24There, Krause, the physician
24:26who examined Cho the same day,
24:28declared Cho was found mentally ill
24:31and in need of hospitalization.
24:34He noted that Cho had flat affect
24:36and depressed mood
24:37and that Cho denies suicidal ideation
24:41and does not acknowledge symptoms
24:43of a thought disorder.
24:45The physician also noted
24:46his insight and judgment are normal.
24:50Cho, suspected of being
24:52an imminent danger to himself or others,
24:55was detained temporarily
24:56at Carilion St. Albans Behavioral Health Center
25:00in Bradford, Virginia,
25:02pending a commitment hearing
25:04before the Montgomery County,
25:06Virginia District Court.
25:08On December 14, 2005,
25:11Cho was released
25:12from the mental health facility.
25:15After Cho's release,
25:16on the same day,
25:18Virginia Special Justice Paul Barnett
25:20certified in an order
25:22that Cho presented
25:24an imminent danger to himself
25:25as a result of mental illness
25:28and ordered treatment for Cho
25:29as an outpatient.
25:32However, Cho did not receive
25:34the treatment which had been ordered
25:36as due to Virginia's health system,
25:38neither the court,
25:39the university,
25:41nor community services officials
25:42followed up on the judge's order.
25:45Because Cho was not involuntarily committed
25:49to a mental health facility
25:51as an inpatient,
25:53he was still legally eligible
25:55to buy guns under Virginia law.
25:57The killer who was known
25:59for never speaking,
26:01spewing words of hate and resentment
26:02as he prepares for his own death
26:04and the death of so many others.
26:07The video was accompanied by stills.
26:10This is how his victims
26:11probably saw Cho.
26:12This is also how he wanted
26:14to be remembered.
26:15The leading actor
26:16in a blood-drenched drama
26:18imitating his icons of brutality.
26:21I will freaking kill you!
26:22I'm gonna pull out
26:23a goddamn shotgun
26:24and blow your damn head off!
26:42Cho's mother sought help
26:58from her church
26:59for Cho's problems.
27:01Members of the church
27:02told Cho's mother
27:04that he had demonic power
27:06and needed deliverance.
27:08Before the church
27:09could meet with the family, however,
27:11Cho returned to school
27:13to start his senior year
27:15at Virginia Tech.
27:16This is a picture
27:17of Cho's Spartan room.
27:19The student who apparently
27:20lived without joy
27:21bitterly resented
27:23the pleasures of others.
27:24You had everything you wanted.
27:27Your Mercedes wasn't enough,
27:28your butts.
27:29Your golden necklaces
27:30weren't enough,
27:30your snobs.
27:32Your trust fund wasn't enough.
27:34Your vodka and cognac
27:35weren't enough.
27:36All your debauchees
27:37weren't enough.
27:38Dudes weren't enough
27:39to fulfill your hedonistic needs.
27:41If you work a long time,
27:43and I've worked for 30 years
27:44with young people,
27:45then you start to understand
27:47just how urgent their need is
27:50and how much they need
27:52to say to you.
27:53And the main thing
27:54you have to be able to do,
27:55I think, is listen
27:56and then know when you need
27:58to seek help
27:59if someone is in trouble.
28:00I know that whatever it was,
28:03he had it planned.
28:05I'm not a big fan
28:06of, you know,
28:08the mental breakdown.
28:09They plan, plan, plan,
28:10whether it's Aurora, Colorado,
28:12or whether it's
28:13the man that shot
28:15Representative Gifford
28:17and the federal judge.
28:18They plan, plan, plan,
28:20but then all of a sudden
28:21they have this,
28:22they're mentally incapable,
28:23you know,
28:24mentally incapable.
28:24They can buy a gun
28:25and buy bullets.
28:28Then I think
28:28they're very well capable.
28:30This is it.
28:34This is where it all ends.
28:37End of the road.
28:42What a life it was.
28:43So much.
28:45And the pictures pose
28:46a chilling question.
28:48What made this face
28:49turn into this?
28:58What made this face
29:16turn into this?
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