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No Drugs In Cho’s System

June 21, 2007

By Rex Bowman

Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he massacred 32 students and faculty members in April, a toxicological exam has concluded.

The toxicology report from the state medical examiner's office, summarized by state police yesterday, found no trace of prescription drugs or toxic substances in Cho's body, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

The conclusions of the exam, conducted as part of an autopsy, are consistent with the absence of any prescription drugs or narcotics in Cho's room, which was searched by investigators shortly after his April 16 shooting rampage.

However, Cho's roommate, Joseph E. Aust, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Cho's morning routine had included taking prescription medication. Aust's recollection, if accurate, raises the possibility that Cho took medication at some point but stopped sometime before carrying out his deadly attack.

The toxicology report, which Geller said police are not releasing because it is part of a criminal investigation, also confirmed that Cho died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Cho shot himself as campus police rushed up the stairs toward the second-floor room where he had just killed his final victims.

Tod Burke, professor of criminal justice at Radford University, said the toxicology report isn't surprising, and anyone who thought the presence of drugs in Cho's blood system might somehow better explain his deadly actions was trying "to make sense out of nonsense."

"Obviously there was a problem, and it was a psychological problem," Burke said. "Even if he was on medication, his behavior still was unusual during his time at Virginia Tech. Sometimes an orange is just an orange."

Cho first came to the attention of school administrators in late 2005 when two female students complained that he had bothered them and an English professor alerted campus police that his writings were violent and disturbing.

A special justice determined that Cho was a danger to himself and ordered him to undergo outpatient treatment. Cho made an appointment with Tech's Cook Counseling Center, but it isn't known to what degree he followed up. A review panel appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is trying to determine how much mental help Cho received.

Also yesterday, Tech announced it will soon use text messages, e-mails and instant messaging to alert students, faculty and administrators about emergencies. Members of the Tech community can start signing up for the "VT Alerts" system July 2.

The announcement of the expanded alert system came one day after a Tech spokesman said the university is considering whether to reconfigure hardware on doors at the school's 100 or so general-purpose classrooms so they can be locked from the inside. Students and professors at Norris Hall, where Cho killed 30 of his 32 victims, struggled to keep Cho out of some classrooms but could do so only by holding the doors shut.

Contact Rex Bowman at rbowman@timesdispatch.com or (540) 344-3612.