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Shootings Shock Students In Va.

February 15, 2008

By Rex Bowman and Will Jones

College students in Blacksburg and Richmond said the shootings at Northern Illinois University were unsettling and eerily reminiscent of a student's rampage at Virginia Tech last year.

"As soon as I heard about it, I had a sense of dej? vu," said Meredith Kenney, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech junior from Randolph, N.J. "I was shocked immediately, and concerned, because I remembered exactly how it felt here."

Tech was the scene of the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history in April when a student killed 27 students and five teachers.

Kenney said Tech students were watching coverage of the Illinois shooting on television and dealing with the latest shooting individually. Kenney, who is the spokeswoman for Tech's Student Government Association, said the group is sending flowers to the student government association at the Illinois college, and the student legislative bodies are writing letters of condolence.

Meanwhile, Hokies United, the student group that spearheaded the campus' reaction to the April massacre, is sending a banner of support to the school. Tech was overwhelmed with flowers, letters and banners in the aftermath of its tragedy.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the school," said Tech student Ryan Gleeson, a hospitality and tourism major from Fairfax Station.

At Virginia Commonwealth University, students expressed similar feelings but differed on whether they felt unsafe on campus.

"It's sad, but it's true. It seems like violence is going rampant again, especially colleges. America is getting worse and worse," said David Preut, a sophomore from Fredericksburg.

Even so, Preut said he doesn't worry about a similar incident happening at VCU.

Jeff Smith, a sophomore from Fairfax County, said the shooting defies understanding. "How does a violent massacre ever sit with anyone? It's tragic. It's sick. So many people cut down in their prime."

Danko Drincic, a freshman from Alexandria, couldn't help but recall the rampage at Tech.

"Tech seems to be encouraging other people who are on the breaking point . . . that they can get their message out. It just makes you feel less safe."

Jenn Catton, a graduate student, agreed. "It makes me nervous, and it makes me sad that someone's so upset that they're moved to hurt someone like that."

Rex Bowman can be reached at (540) 344-3612rbowman@timesdispatch.com

Will Jones can be reached at (804) 649-6911 rbowman@timesdispatch.com