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Families of Tech Victims Get Word

August 22, 2007

By Bill McKelway

Members of as many as 25 families who lost loved ones at Virginia Tech heard for the first time last night an assessment of a still-unfinished report on the massacre.

In an 80-minute conference call, the leader of a panel investigating the April 16 shootings walked family members through a draft of the report, which will number some 300 pages when it is made public next week.

The review last night was meant to provide an overview of the four-month investigation ordered by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Only family members of the 27 students and five teachers killed by gunman Seung-Hui Cho were allowed to participate. Another session will be held for family members of those who were wounded but survived.

Family members reached last night declined to be quoted by name but said they were heartened by comments from retired state police Superintendent W. Gerald Massengill, chairman of the eight-member panel.

"I was privileged to participate, but I really don't want to comment. It was a private conversation," Massengill said.

A parent of one of the students killed by Cho said last night, "I feel better tonight than I did yesterday." Massengill, the parent said, promised that the report would be thorough and critical where appropriate.

Massengill has been criticized by some family members for his early praise of law enforcement's immediate response to the shootings. This week, he said Cho's attack was largely unstoppable once it got under way.

But he has promised that key issues involving Cho's much-criticized mental-health care and the school's emergency alert system have been closely examined in the report.

An internal report prompted by the shooting massacre, meanwhile, is scheduled to be released today by Virginia Tech.

The report, ordered by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger in May, will review three major areas of concern: security, communication, and counseling.

The report comes as the Massengill panel received permission to delay issuing its findings until next week. It had been planned for release on Friday. But after meeting for nearly 12 hours Monday, the panel said it needed more time, according to a spokesman.

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.