Casepin
Back to cases

Case file

Virginia Tech shooting

SOLVED2007Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, Virginia3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · suicide · crimes against children — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On the morning of April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old senior at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, carried out two shooting attacks on campus. Around 7:15 a.m., Cho entered a dormitory room in West Ambler Johnston Hall and fatally shot 19-year-old freshman Emily Jane Hilscher. A resident assistant, 22-year-old Ryan C. Clark, responded to the gunshots and was also killed. Hilscher died at a Roanoke hospital roughly three hours later. Cho then returned to his own dorm room, changed clothes, deleted his computer files, and mailed a package of writings and video recordings to NBC News from a nearby post office.

Approximately two hours after the first attack, around 9:40 a.m., Cho entered Norris Hall, an academic building, carrying two semi-automatic pistols — a .22-caliber Walther P22 and a 9mm Glock 19 — along with nearly 400 rounds of ammunition. He chained the building's main entrance doors shut and left a note falsely warning of a bomb. He then moved through classrooms on the second floor, shooting students and faculty in several rooms over roughly ten minutes. Victims included professors G. V. Loganathan, Jamie Bishop, Kevin Granata, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, and Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who held a classroom door shut so his students could escape through windows before he was fatally shot. Student Matthew La Porte was killed attempting to confront Cho. In total, 30 people were killed at Norris Hall in addition to Cho, who fatally shot himself as police reached the second floor of the building. Seventeen people were wounded by gunfire, and six others were injured jumping from windows to escape.

The Virginia Tech Review Panel, an eight-member state-appointed panel convened by then-Governor Tim Kaine, later documented Cho's history of selective mutism and severe depression diagnosed in eighth grade, his special education support through high school, and a 2005 finding by a Virginia special justice that declared him mentally ill and ordered outpatient treatment following stalking complaints from two female students. Because he was not involuntarily committed to inpatient care, existing law did not bar him from purchasing firearms. The panel's August 2007 report criticized university administrators and police for delays in warning the campus after the first shooting, and identified gaps in mental health law, privacy statutes, and information-sharing that left Cho's condition unaddressed while he was a student. The panel concluded that Cho bore ultimate responsibility for his actions.

The shooting prompted changes to Virginia law closing loopholes that had allowed people adjudicated mentally unsound to purchase handguns undetected, and led to federal legislation strengthening the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, signed by President George W. Bush on January 5, 2008. The incident drew international attention, including statements of condolence from numerous world leaders, and prompted widespread review of campus safety and mental health policies at universities in the United States and elsewhere.

Key facts

Victims
G. V. Loganathan, Minal Panchal, Matthew La Porte, Liviu Librescu, Jamie Bishop, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, Emily Jane Hilscher, Waleed Shaalan, Henry Lee, Ryan C. Clark, Kevin Granata, Partahi Lumbantoruan
Date
2007
Location
Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, Virginia
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 2005

    A Virginia special justice declared Seung-Hui Cho mentally ill and ordered him to attend outpatient treatment following an investigation into stalking complaints from two female students.

  2. 2007-04-16

    Cho shot and killed Emily Jane Hilscher and Ryan C. Clark in West Ambler Johnston Hall at around 7:15 a.m.

  3. 2007-04-16

    Cho mailed a package of writings and videos to NBC News, postmarked 9:01 a.m.

  4. 2007-04-16

    Cho entered Norris Hall around 9:40 a.m., chained the entrance doors, and began shooting in classrooms, killing 30 people before fatally shooting himself as police arrived.

  5. 2007-04-17

    A memorial convocation was held at Cassell Coliseum, addressed by President George W. Bush; a candlelight vigil also took place at the University of Virginia.

  6. 2007-04-18

    NBC News received and later aired portions of the package Cho had mailed, including his manifesto and video recordings.

  7. 2007-08

    The Virginia Tech Review Panel released its report (the Massengill Report) detailing findings on Cho's history and institutional failures.

  8. 2007-12-19

    The U.S. Senate passed H.R. 2640, strengthening the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

  9. 2008-01-05

    President George W. Bush signed H.R. 2640 into law.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • G. V. Loganathan

    VICTIM

    Professor fatally shot while teaching an advanced hydrology engineering class in Norris Hall.

    citation on file

  • Minal Panchal

    VICTIM

    Student fatally shot near the doorway of Norris Hall room 204.

    citation on file

  • Matthew La Porte

    VICTIM

    Student and Air Force ROTC cadet fatally shot after attempting to confront the gunman in room 211.

    citation on file

  • Liviu Librescu

    VICTIM

    Engineering professor and Holocaust survivor fatally shot after blocking a classroom door to let students escape through windows.

    citation on file

  • Jamie Bishop

    VICTIM

    Instructor fatally shot while teaching Introductory German in Norris Hall.

    citation on file

  • Jocelyne Couture-Nowak

    VICTIM

    Professor fatally shot teaching Intermediate French in Norris Hall room 211.

    citation on file

  • Emily Jane Hilscher

    VICTIM

    19-year-old freshman fatally shot in her dormitory room in West Ambler Johnston Hall.

    citation on file

  • Waleed Shaalan

    VICTIM

    Student fatally shot after being wounded in an earlier pass through the classroom.

    citation on file

  • Henry Lee

    VICTIM

    Student fatally shot in Norris Hall room 211 while helping barricade the door.

    citation on file

  • Ryan C. Clark

    VICTIM

    22-year-old resident assistant fatally shot while responding to gunshots in West Ambler Johnston Hall.

    citation on file

  • Seung-Hui Cho

    CHARGED

    Perpetrator identified as responsible for the shootings; died by suicide at the scene before any criminal charges could be filed or adjudicated.

    citation on file

  • Kevin Granata

    VICTIM

    Professor fatally shot in a Norris Hall hallway after investigating the commotion.

    citation on file

  • Partahi Lumbantoruan

    VICTIM

    Student killed in Norris Hall classroom shooting.

    citation on file

Places

Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, Virginia

37.2294, -80.4231

View on the map

Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in two separate attacks on campus before killing himself, making it the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Where did the shooting happen?
Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, Virginia.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.

Sources

  1. Virginia Tech shootingwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — The Washington Postnews · The Washington Post · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — ABC Newsnews · ABC News · 2026-07-07
More cases in Virginia