Stopping Cho Would Have Been Difficult, Va. Tech Panel Head Says

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ It would have been hard to stop the Virginia Tech gunman after the initial two deaths because police didn't know who they were looking for, the leader of a state study of

Monday, August 20th 2007, 9:12 pm

By: News On 6

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ It would have been hard to stop the Virginia Tech gunman after the initial two deaths because police didn't know who they were looking for, the leader of a state study of the shootings said Monday.

Meanwhile, a victim advocacy group filed a complaint alleging the university broke federal law by not spreading word about the shootings sooner.

Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot two students in the West Ambler Johnston dorm April 16, then went on to kill 30 students and faculty members more than two hours later across campus in Norris Hall. The campus was not warned about the threat until shortly before the Norris shootings began.

``If Cho was to have been stopped, it certainly would have had to happen before the first two hours (after the dorm shootings),'' said panel chairman W. Gerald Massengill. ``The time to have stopped Cho, based on what we know now, would have been prior to'' the dorm shootings.

Massengill, a former state police superintendent, spoke outside a closed meeting of the group appointed by Gov. Timothy Kaine to study the massacre, which ended when Cho committed suicide.

The eight-member panel met privately Monday to review its report. It was supposed to have submitted the report to Kaine and released it publicly Friday but late Monday asked for more time.

``The panel expects to meet again Friday to complete its deliberations and intends to submit it to the governor next week,'' said James M. Kudla, a spokesman for the panel. Kaine granted the extension.

Security on Campus filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Monday, alleging that the university violated a federal law requiring colleges to disclose campus crime information in a timely fashion.

Virginia Tech could have issued a warning earlier, said Catherine Bath, executive director of the advocacy group.

``They could've issued a warning within 10 minutes in the morning,'' she said.

Mark Owczarski, a Tech spokesman, said Monday afternoon _ the first day of fall classes _ that he hadn't seen the 34-page complaint. ``At this point we're just kind of focused in on the first day of school,'' he said.

The Education Department has received the complaint, and it is being reviewed, said spokeswoman Samara Yudof.

The Education Department can fine colleges and universities up to $27,500 for each violation of the Clery Act or can suspend them from participating in federal student financial aid programs.

The law is named after Jeanne Clery, a student at Pennsylvania's Lehigh University who was raped and killed in her dorm room in 1986.

The panel studying the shootings reviewed Cho's scholastic, mental health and medical records; personnel matters; and law enforcement's response to the killings and the criminal investigation.

Family members of the slain and injured are expected to be offered information from the report before it is made public.

When asked whether the report would answer specific questions, including whether Cho sought mental health treatment after he was committed in 2005, Massengill said only that the report will address a range of issues, including ``what could've been done differently, what should've been done differently.''

Several parents have said they want a candid accounting of how it was possible that Cho was able to kill so many. Kaine said last week that he wants to see specifics of how accountability broke down in dealing with Cho, who exhibited many signs of mental illness, including strange writings and menacing behavior.

The panel's duty was to identify the facts, Massengill said. People might want to assign blame and liability, but ``that's up to someone else,'' he said.

Virginia Tech officials are looking to the report for guidance on how colleges and universities can better handle students like Cho. The university is conducting its own review, and state police are leading the criminal investigation.

The panel also included former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, as well as experts in psychiatry, higher-education policy, and victim advocacy.