Today, April 16, 2007, there was a terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech in Blackburn, VA located between Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. A shooting, a senseless massacre of 32 students, plus gunman totaling 33.
This incident outrages me as a civilian and a parent. Eight years ago on April 20, 1999, I lived in Colorado and happened to be 10 miles from a Columbine High School where 12 students, a teacher, and the two gunmen were killed. As a parent I work hard to raise my children - I have sacrificed more than could be written - it is cruel to take them away in such a stupid killing spree for someone's attempts to set their name in a blaze of bloody gore!
I cannot erase from my memory the haunting of that terrible and tragic day near Littleton, Colorado. Ironically a few weeks ago I had to give a speech to my college class at American University in which I was calming my employees at a bank branch and what I would have to say to them during that horrible event.
The news has not yet released the name of the gunman. I hope they never release it after living through the aftermath of Columbine. I refuse to list here the name of the horrible young men that shot the innocent high school children and place their names in history which is exactly what they wanted. I make a plea here to all journalists not to release the name of the gunman - erase him/her from history!
This is a shameful, senseless death and these gunman should be forgotten and wiped out of history's memory as if they never even existed. We will not forget the victims or the senseless tragedy. The names of the victims should be reported, not the gunmen.
