Virginia Tech’s President Charles Steger is set to testify on Friday in a civil trial seeking official accountability for the slaying of 32 students and faculty on the VT campus on April 16, 2007. The massacre is the most deadly mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The president is expected to appear among the final witnesses called by attorneys for the parents of two VT students killed in the rampage. The attorneys for the parents of Julia K. Pryde and Erin N. Peterson claim their daughters and others might have survived if the university issued a warning to the campus after the occurrence of the first slayings. The wrongful death lawsuit claims VT officials delayed warning the campus of the first two slayings on the campus, which allowed the student gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, to continue his shooting rampage before shooting himself.
Shortly after 7 a.m., two students were found shot in West Ambler Johnston Hall, one was dead and the other was mortally wounded. Steger was among university officials who gathered on campus after the initial shooting, but no campus-wide alert was issued until 9:26 a.m. Officials sent an email stating a “shooting incident” had occurred, but failed to mention the gunman remained at large. The email recommended students “be cautious” but nothing further. After more shots were heard at 9:42 a.m., officials issued a more threatening alert stating, “A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.” By then, Cho had already claimed the lives of 30 students and faculty, as well as himself. The Petersons and Prydes were the only eligible families who didn’t accept their share of an $11 million state settlement.
