I'll Mourn With Virginia Tech
A student from Georgia was one of the first victims shot to death.
Ryan “Stack” Clark was shot in the neck in West Ambler Johnston Hall, where the gunman started his rampage, said Vernon Collins, the coroner in Columbia County, Ga.
Collins said the Virginia State Police asked him and a deputy sheriff to notify Clark’s family in his hometown of Martinez, Ga.
His mother, Letitie Clark, “was in shock and disbelief that her son was gone,” Collins said. Collins said he didn’t know whether Clark died at the scene or at the hospital. He said an autopsy will be conducted by a medical examiner in Roanoke.
According to Virginia Tech’s Marching Virginians Web site, Clark was a fifth-year member of the marching band program and a resident assistant at West Ambler Johnston. He majored in biology and English, and carried a 4.0 grade-point average. He expected to graduate in December 2006 and planned to pursue a doctorate in psychology with a focus in cognitive neuroscience.
I am in utter shock and disbelief. People are wondering the shooter's race. Why should it matter? There are 33 people dead. 29 people wounded and we are wondering what he looked like? Death has no face, race, color, gender, sexual preference, nothing! A killer can be anyone. Clearly, evidence is found in this TRAGIC event that took place yesterday in Blacksburg, VA.
No place is safe. Sad to say, but its not. How many of you thought that going to college, living in a dorm was safe. Well not as safe, as I once took it for. You never know someone's TRUE life story, unless you've lived it with them. No one knows my true life story. I don't even remember everything. So, don't assume.
And I cannot say be nice to everyone you see because yesterday, Cho Seung-Hui lined students up execution style. Did he know them? Probably not. They were just walking in the hallway. And Dr. Joseph Cacioppo of Montgomery Regional Hospital said that, there wasn't a shooting victim that didn't have less than three bullet wounds in them. Can you believe that? He lined students up.
There would have been more deaths if a single student would not have thought to barricade the door. Zach Petkewicz, I applaud your quick thinking. Just before the door was completely barricaded, the shooter stuck his gun through the door. He pulled the gun out and shot twice through the door because he thought someone may have been leaning up against the door. Much to the students surprise, the shooter continued down the hallway.
Cho Seung-Hui. This next sentence may not shock anyone but I just cried. No really, I did. Cho came to the United States in 1992, through Detroit, Michigan, a department of Homeland Security official said. He had lawful permanent residence, via his parents, and renewed his green card in October 2003, the official said. His current residence was Centreville, Virginia. Shocked? I am. Like, you never know. The shooting didn't take place in Detroit but it could have. What if he would have went to Wayne State? You never know! You never know!
His reasons for doing this? In his note he said, You caused me to do this. He also mentioned rich kids, debauchery,too much indulgence in pleasures usually considered immoral, especially sexual activity and excessive drinking, and deceitful charlatans, A person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud, on campus, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Ryan Clark. he was trying to help a domestic argument. He was only doing his normal RA responsibilities. He was one of the two people killed in the dorm at 7:15 that morning. It was him. RIP Ryan. Your family, friends, and marching band mates are in my prayers.
CNN stated that as students bodies were being carried out, their cell phones were ringing in their pockets and bags. I bet that it was their parents trying to make sure their children were okay. If only a cell phone call could save a life. Only.
Stay strong my fellow readers. Trust in God. Don't say these people were in the wrong place at the wrong time. No. They were in the right place at the right time. God knows what he did. God planned this. Why? We may never know the TRUE answer however, we do know God would never do anything out of order. These people's lives were complete. They had done everything they needed to do. Let's join together in prayer. Bow your heads. Take a moment of silence. Say a simple prayer for the families and students at Virginia Tech. Remember, our time on earth is unsure. You may be here today and gone as soon as tonight. Get yourself together. Get in order. I love you all. And I pray for each and everyone of you every night. I pray for my friends. I pray for my friend's friends. I pray for their friends.
I bow my head in honor to those lives lost....
