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Virginia Tech tragedy

Loner left dark impressions

By BILL ADAIR
Published April 18, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo/Va. State Police] Cho Seung-Hui is shown in an undated photo released by the Virginia State Police.

CENTREVILLE, Va. - On the first day of a British literature class at Virginia Tech last year, students were asked to introduce themselves. But when it was Cho Seung-Hui's turn, he didn't speak. On a sign-in sheet where he was supposed to write his name, he had simply put a question mark.

Over the weeks, he continued to mystify his classmates, said student Julie Poole. "We just really knew him as the question mark kid."

In that class and others, Cho, the South Korea-born student accused of killing 32 people in a shooting rampage Monday, earned a reputation as a loner whose writing was so violent and disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.

"His writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque," said Stephanie Derry, a classmate in a playwriting course.

The Chicago Tribune reported that he left behind a note that railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. ABC News, citing law enforcement sources, said the note, several pages long, made some explanations and says, "You caused me to do this."

But classmates, neighbors and school officials said Tuesday that they knew little about the 23-year-old student who gunned down students and faculty members in the worst-mass killing in modern U.S. history, before apparently killing himself.

"He was a loner," said university spokesman Larry Hincker, "and we're having difficulty finding information about him."

'Not hippie, not rapper'

Cho, whose full name is pronounced joh sung-wee, was a senior majoring in English. He arrived in the United States from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. His latest address is a townhouse in Centreville, Va., a leafy suburb in prosperous Fairfax County. His parents worked for a local dry cleaner.

Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School, where shooting victim Reema Samaha graduated in 2006. There was no immediate word from authorities on whether Cho knew the young woman and singled her out.

Friends and neighbors of Samaha interviewed at her home, which is just a mile from Cho's, said they did not believe that Samaha knew Cho.

Marshall Main, who lives across the street from Cho's family, described Cho's parents as friendly but quiet. "There was no communication between us and them, just a wave" when they passed in the parking lot, he said.

Main said he hadn't seen Cho very often over the years. He described Cho as "just like any teenager - not hippie, not rapper, nothing like that."

The family lives in a townhouse complex that is part of Sully Station II, a large subdivision a few miles from Washington Dulles International Airport.

Main said he didn't realize his neighbor was suspected in the shooting until late Monday night when he saw a phalanx of police cars descend on his complex. Officers ran to the rear of Cho's parents' house and then entered through the front door.

On Tuesday, more than two dozen journalists and camera crews converged on the complex, but no one was at the house.

Strange writings

In classes, Cho sat at the back, often wearing a maroon Virginia Tech hat, seldom participating. In the small English department, Cho distinguished himself for being anonymous.

Derry, a senior who took a playwriting class with him, told the Collegiate Times, a Virginia Tech student newspaper, about one play that Cho wrote about a son who "threw a chain saw around, and hammers."

She said the play ended with the boy violently suffocating his stepfather with a Rice Krispies treat.

The Smoking Gun, a Web site that often posts documents from criminal cases, posted a 10-page script for a violent play called Richard McBeef that it said was written by Cho. In the play, the characters throw plates and tools at each other and one threatens another with a chain saw.

The play ends with this stage direction: "Out of sheer desecrated hurt and anger, Richard lifts his large arms and swings a deadly blow at the 13-year-old boy."

Derry told the campus newspaper she is in turmoil.

"I kept having to tell myself there is no way we could have known this was coming," she said. "I was just so frustrated that we saw all the signs, but never thought this could happen."

Police said they searched Cho's dorm room Tuesday and confiscated writings, but they did not elaborate on the contents.

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said one of Cho's professors called him "troubled."

"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."

She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was.

'Ismail Ax'

Investigators have stopped short of saying Cho carried out both attacks. But state police ballistics tests showed one gun was used in both, the Associated Press reported.

The Washington Post reported that Cho died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on one of his arms, but law enforcement officials were not sure what the words meant.

Cho held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident, federal officials said. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony.

Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell said his shop sold a Glock pistol and a box of practice ammunition to Cho 36 days ago for $571.

"He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious," Markell said. Markell said it is not unusual for college kids to make purchases at his shop as long as they are old enough.

Markell said, "To find out the gun came from my shop is just terrible."

Information from staff writers Wes Allison and Anita Kumar, the Associated Press, the Collegiate Times and the Washington Post was used in this report. Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or 202 463-0575.

Fast Facts:

Reaction from South Korea

The Internet site of the Korea Times in Seoul, South Korea, drew many comments from readers after a 23-year-old South Korean student was accused of the massacre Monday at Virginia Tech. Here is a sampling of posted comments:

- My heart and prayers go out to the families of the victims. I pray that others will not use this tragic incident as a vehicle for retribution against Koreans living in America and especially against Korean students matriculating at Virginian Tech University.

- From an American I say that we love our South Korean friends very much. We are not without understanding. God bless our Korean allies.

- And now (Korean) President Roh Moo-hyun, will you apologize to all America for these murders committed by a S. Korean? Will you pay compensation to the families that lost their child?

- This is not and should not be a reflection on the Korean people. This is a tragic isolated incident. Why would President Roh apologize?

- I am French and my future wife is Korean. I hope the people of the world will not think that all Koreans are like this. I know that this kind of thing can, unfortunately, happen to anybody whatever his race.

[Last modified April 18, 2007, 03:11:01]