My brother wrote this about the tragedy at VT today...
This time of year brings something out in people...something
bad...something that hurts themselves and especially those around them.
8 years ago a tragedy occured. One that rocked the nation and made
every high school in America fear that they were next. Columbine
happened. Everytime you hear those words, you know exactly what they
are talking about. It was scary to think about what that meant for
everyone, it meant that every person who attended high school from that
day forward would fear that Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris attended their
own school...it meant that we weren't as safe as we thought we were.
No really can say why it happened.
Two-and-a-half weeks ago a tragedy occured. Two police officers,
those whose main job in life is to help people, to enforce the law,
even when people don't want them too, were murdered. They were
executed in the line of duty, doing the job that they do every day.
The thankless job where people call them 'pigs' and show them no
respect...where they would and have died for those same people. Now
every family that has a police officer in it fears even more that their
family member will not come home that day. It made it come closer to
home...it meant that their officer isn't as safe as they thought they
were. No one can really say why it happened.
Today a tragedy occured. At least one man decided to infiltrate a
school in a small town in Virginia and execute at what now looks like
33 people, but could be even more. It has been entitled the Virginia
Tech Massacre. It is the largest shooting rampage in United States
history. It changes everything. If it can happen in a very small town
in Virginia, why could it not happen in Charlotte, or Boone, or
Asheville, or Raleigh, or Chapel Hill, or Durham, or any one of the
many schools where someone I love attends. There are families out
there right now who do not know if their child will come home. It
changes everything. Now every person that attends college in the US
will wonder if it will come to their school...could they be next. What
would happen if someone opened fire on the students that go to school
with me...what would I do? The person who did this is reported to be
dead...as it should be in my opinion. The main story on Fox News.com
asks the question "Why". So I agree, I ask "Why"? What makes Virginia
Tech different from UNC-Charlotte, or App or Carolina. I dont think
anyone will ever be able to say why it happened.
Right now every college in the nation is in mourning over what
happened today in Blacksburg...it is truly a tragedy in every sense of
the word. I no longer feel as safe today as I did yesturday, just as I
did not feel as safe on April 21, 1999 as I did April 19, 1999, just as
I did not feel as safe on September 12, 2001 as I did September 10,
2001. But right now it is not about politics, or policy, or safety, or
how comfortable we feel...right now it is about those families, those
victims, those who have been killed in a senseless act of violence.
Our world has been changed forever. I ask that you all pray for
those who have been lost, as well as their families. I ask that you
pray that President Bush, the Governor of Virginia, Mayor of
Blacksburg, and the President of Virginia Tech all have the strength
and the mindset to deal with this problem and figure out a way to make
all of us students safe from what can happen. I ask that tomorrow at
2pm you observe the moment of silence as those who remain in Blacksburg
hold a convocation to pray for those whose lives have been lost. God
has now called His children home to be safe with Him forever.
We do all for Him...Whatever God wants.
Ryan Toomey
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