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VA. governor starts review of massacre

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 20, 2007

RICHMOND, VA. - Gov. Timothy Kaine on Thursday created an eight-member independent panel, including former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, to review all aspects of the Virginia Tech massacre, from shooter Cho Seung-Hui's medical history to the school's widely criticized delay in warning students. Kaine announced the appointment of Ridge and experts from medicine, law enforcement and education to the group, which will be headed by retired Virginia State Police superintendent Gerald Massengill.

Schools lock down amid new threats

Scores of schools across the country shut down or evacuated students Thursday and at least a dozen people were arrested or under investigation amid a wave of campus threats. Among them:

A 12,000-student school district in Yuba City, Calif., about 35 miles north of Sacramento, was locked down Thursday as authorities searched for a man they say threatened to dwarf the Virginia Tech attacks.

In Michigan, a threat posted online worried Kalamazoo Valley Community College officials enough Thursday that they shut down the campus for the week, authorities said.

In St. Augustine, a 14-year-old student was charged with a felony for threatening in an e-mail between friends to top the Virginia Tech massacre.

Lafave mentioned in killer's diatribes

Hillsborough teacher-turned-sex offender Debra Lafave's name showed up in the drawings and statements Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui sent to NBC News. Cho made profane references to Lafave, who admitted having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old. Lafave saw the material online Thursday, her attorney said, but doesn't plan to respond publicly. "Trying to speculate why a deranged individual like this killer made a reference to her is impossible," attorney John Fitzgibbons said.

Staff writer Colleen Jenkins contributed to this report, which used information from Times wires.

[Last modified April 20, 2007, 01:18:37]