This morning began just like any other. I left my off-campus house at 12:01 pm to pick up my old roommate, Corinne, to meet my current roommate, Julia, and friend, Carly, for lunch. Five minutes later, I arrived at Corinne’s apartment and we left for West End. We found a great parking spot in the Cassell Lot – front row facing West End, right against Washington Street. At 12:11 we met Julia and Carly who were coming from McComas, and headed over to West End.
Thirty-one minutes later I received a VT Alert on my phone stating that gun shots were reported in the Coliseum Parking lot, and to stay inside. I shared the information with my roommates and friends, and we started looking around to see if anyone else got the text. We saw through the windows of the new seating area that people who were approaching the door could not open it, and were being let in individually by people standing near the door. I received a second text giving a description of the suspect, and decided to go to stay with a friend that lives in Cochrane.
There, we stayed watching the news, checking my Twitter and Facebook feeds, and listening to the police scanner online. We pieced together the information and realized that we were at the location of the first shooting less than five minutes before it occured. We heard many different rumors, received phone calls from friends and family all over the country, and hoped for the best. We finally left around 4:15 to head home.
Whenever a tragic event such as this occurs, there will always be criticism by people completely unrelated to the incident. For example, a person I will leave unnamed posted the following on Facebook:
“I may be a horrible person, but I really dont feel bad for VA Tech, seriously you think they would have the top security after they homed the deadliest gunman massacre in U.S. History. I guess im slightly dissapointed in people for being complete idiots but I cant say im suprised at all.”
My first comment, being an English major, is that if you have something extremely controversial to say which is likely to be posted all over the internet (as it was) you should probably use spell check to ensure that you can spell words like “disappointed” and “surprised” correctly. Second – we have the absolute best security I could ever wish for in a school. The officer that was shot pulled someone over for a routine traffic stop when a third party suspect approached the car and shot the police officer. Our Blacksburg and VT police as well as all the other officials who responded to the calls today did their job, and they did it well.
The second victim, found deceased in the Cage near a weapon, is believed to be the shooter. If
this is the case, the incident was under control by about 1:30 pm, as I got an alert stating that there was a possible second victim in the cage at 1:27 pm. The three hours following these incidents consisted of officials following up on reports of gunshots that may or may not have been true. Regardless of the validity of these statements, the students did the right thing by calling in suspicious activity, and the officials did the right thing by following up on the tips.
I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the police officer who lost his life, and the other officials that came to our aid to ensure that our school was safe. A member of the SWAT team escorted Julia and Carly back to their car, and another officer checked on Corinne and me on our way out to make sure we were alright. I absolutely never feel unsafe at this school. The VT Alerts came in quickly, and the school sent me a total of six alerts throughout the day to keep me safe and informed.
I love my school, and I love my Hokies. No unfortunate incident will ever change that, nor will it ever make me regret my decision to attend this wonderful school. I hope this will not affect the opinions of high school seniors, as they are receiving their Early Decision acceptance letters this week. Choosing to attend Virginia Tech has changed my life for the better, and I could not dream of a better school. This will not bring us down. This will not change or define us. As Nikki Giovanni said in her Convocation address four and a half years ago, “We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.”
Today has encouraged me to reevaluate my life. This morning I awoke stressed about finals, finding a storage unit and moving, and preparing for recruitment among other things. After the tragic events of today, I’m thankful for my wonderful friends and family, my Hokie Nation, and for simply being alive.
Rest in peace, Officer Deriek Crouse. We owe you our lives.
Photo Credit: Ashley Gassan