You mention about schools needing to be more nurturing, and as more info comes out, it does appear an english teacher who read one of the shooters disturbing screen plays attempted to direct him to counseling, so awareness of things like that are much more widespread than they used to be (if only more parents were so attentive).

I've just recently heard that he was possibly on depression meds, and from other events, I wonder if it will turn out he had been treated for some type of bi-polar disease.  I don't know what the common med for that is, but it seems to me that many of the more out-of-character violent sprees by people have been those who quit their medication without medical supervision. 

From a security standpoint, I don't think there is any way to stop things like this from happening.  In smaller schools, like elementary-high schools, you can always lock doors, hirer more guards and maybe even install metal detectors and do searches - but that isn't possible on a campus with 25,000 students, the majority who commute to the school.  Even gun control is not an answer - there are those that smarmily say this could never happen if the guy only had access to a knife, but that's simply not true - there have been several well documented attacks around the world (I'm thinking specifically of one in Ireland 4 years ago and another in Japan a few years back) with knives or other blades.

We can only wait and see what we would each do in circumstances like these.  I, too, have had a gun in my face, and it has simply made me much more aggressive about my personal space.  But the feeling of being victimized never goes away.  There are some incredible tales of heroism to come out of this event as there seems to be in most similar crimes (think of the man in NYC who threw himself in front of a subway train to cover and protect a stranger who had fallen onto the tracks). 

Nice post, I hope you have success in the future with your own issues and how you cope with the memory.bb.

The thing about the English teacher really irked me.  She was completely ignored by the rest of the staff and, even when Cho did try to take her advice to get help, he was also let down.  Too often people expect mentally disturbed students to get help on their own.  More needs to be done to help students with problems like his.  Most universities are just not equipped to handle the mentall ill.  I, for one, know that first hand.  I was suspended from classes after being treated for pyschiatric problems, but no one from the college really offered a helping hand, just a boot out.  That was very hard for me to deal with.  I was two semesters away from graduation and, after ten years of treatment, am now finally trying to get back in.  However, I was never deemed a danger to other students or myself, the university just deemed I was not well enough to attend classes.  If I had had at least one advisor who was familiar enough with my problems to help, that would have been blessing.  In the case of Cho, it is truly sad that no one could've helped him or at least prevented him from acting out.

Young men with bi-polar disorders do tend to act out like he did, but in smaller ways.  My family has a history of this illness and only now has there been enough information for us to recieve more help, however the stigma is what really prevents people from getting immediate help.  If you are already feeling like an outsider in society, you'll become even more isolated as soon as you are deemed mentally deficient.  Especially the young have a hard time.  When I was first involuntarily admitted into a facility for my mental illness, I lost all of my friends.  They refused to believe that there was anything wrong with me.  It was too much for them and even worse for me.  I was Cho's age when I was first treated for bi-polar disorder, however my doctors did not know what exactly it was, so I was first treated for depression and anxiety, was over medicated, and missed a lot of classes, and later, when my family refused to help, I became homeless.  That's what happens to many mentally ill people.  It's a shame.  What helped me survive was the support of my younger brother who also suffers from similiar problems.  Together we've managed to get healthy!

I agree with you on the security points.  Not all mentally ill people act out like this.  You can't predict who is going to be violent.  Also, on a major college campus, it's incredibly difficult to create a lock down -- there's too many commuters and other students off campus coming in, however announcing the danger on radio and television stations could have forewarned people off campus at least.  Perhaps there needs to be other ways to work things out, but it's still difficult.

The biggest thing as far as the gun control issue is that if you are mentally ill, you cannot purchase guns.  I know I can't, however since nothing much was done to get Cho psychiatric help, he could still get a gun.  Another similiar case, was the Uni-bomber -- he was mentally ill yet he still could make bombs and send them to people in the mail.  There's only a small percentage of mentally ill people who do this, the trick is to get people therapy so they can direct and work out their aggression in creative and constructive ways, yet these individuals were isolated, refusing to even talk directly with others.  How do you help someone who is so sick they cannot acknowledge they need help?

Thanks so much for your kind comments and insights.  They are truly appreciated as we all try to make sense out of the senseless!