tragedy in blacksburg

I’m absolutely livid. I’m pissed because thousands of college students lost their innocence today. I’m angry because 30 people lost their lives at the hands of an irrational monster. I’m fuming mad because 30 families have had their lives changed forever.

According to some news reports, the gunman (who may or may not be a student at Virginia Tech) went to his girlfriend’s dorm at 7 in the morning today. They began to argue. The residential advisor came out and tried to stop the fighting. The gunman pulled out a gun and opened fire, shooting both the girlfriend and the advisor, one of them confirmed dead.

And then 2 hours later (what law enforcement was doing between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. is beyond me), the gunman entered the engineering building, chained the doors shut, and opened fire on a classroom, shooting off a round before moving on. At the end of his rampage, 29 more people had died, including the gunman. 23 more people are injured, some in critical condition. And a college campus finds itself forever changed.

My mom called me this morning, panicking. She had heard that there were all these shootings at Virginia Tech today and she knew that Jesse was a proud alumnus and still has ties there. She was aware that Jesse and I frequent the sleepy, little town of Blacksburg. And she was scared. I told her that Jesse and I were ok and that we were waiting to hear back from friends. “What can I do?” she asked me. I didn’t know what to say so I said the first thing that popped into my head: “Pray, Mami. That’s all we can do right now.”

And as Jesse and I wait to hear back from his friends to make sure they’re ok, I can’t help but be angry. How could something like this happen? Have we not learned from Columbine? Are we seriously back here again? Let the seemingly endless discussion of video game violence, 2nd amendment rights, and bad parenting begin.

But before we start the political diatribe, I just want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry people died. I’m sorry that many students’ lives have been forever altered. I’m horrified that we haven’t learned anything from previous school shootings.

My heart goes out to everyone has been affected by this tragedy. I hope the students and administrators at Virginia Tech know that the country is mourning with them.

Today, we’re all honorary Hokies and our thoughts and prayers are with the Virginia Tech community.

For news updates: check WaPo and MSNBC