The VT Massacre that Wasn't

[bowfin]

Moderators, please delete if this has already been posted.

VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE
Death toll limited before campus gun ban
5 years ago, shooter subdued by armed students
Posted: April 22, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A deeply troubled and disgruntled foreign student runs afoul of college authorities.

He comes to the Virginia campus armed and starts shooting in one building.

But, unlike the massacre at Virginia Tech last week, the damage was contained in this incident that occurred five years ago, before the state legislature banned guns on college campuses.




Peter Odighizuwa

On Jan. 16, 2002, Peter Odighizuwa, a 43-year-old student from Nigeria, walked into the Appalachian School of Law offices of Dean Anthony Sutin, 42, a former acting assistant U.S. attorney, and professor Thomas Blackwell, 41, and opened fire with a .380 ACP semi-automatic handgun – shooting them at close range.

Also killed in the same building was student Angela Denise Dales, 33. Three others were wounded.

As soon as the gunfire erupted, two students acting independently of one another, Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, ran to their vehicles to retrieve firearms. Gross, an off-duty police officer in his home state of North Carolina, got his 9mm pistol and body armor. Bridges got out his .357 Magnum.

Bridges and Gross went back to the building where the shots were heard and as Odighizuwa exited, they approached from different angles. Bridges yelled for him to drop his weapon and the shooter was subdued by several unarmed students.

Gross went back to his car and got handcuffs to detain the shooter until police arrived.

Most news reports of the incident failed to mention the presence of two armed students and their role in subduing the shooter, saying only that he was tackled by bystanders.

Odighizuwa was tried for the murders and sentenced to multiple life terms in prison.

Virginia Tech, like many of the nation's schools and college campuses, is a so-called "gun-free zone," which Second Amendment supporters say invites gun violence – especially from disturbed individuals seeking to kill as many victims as possible.

Foreign-born student Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 and wounded another 15 before turning his gun on himself.

A year earlier, the Virginia legislature banned all guns on campus in the interest of safety

 

[nitesite]

I'm sure it is well worth reading but, alas, your link takes me to The Nebraska Outdoors site that requires a user name and password.

 

[SaMx]

If this story is true, and the other one about the teacher's aide who has a CCW permit and was in the building is true, there could be a lawsuit to allow CCW on campus.

 

[bowfin]

Added the whole story to Post #1

 

[Zach S]

IIRC Tracy Bridges was also a LEO.

 

[Eleven Mike]

As soon as the gunfire erupted, two students acting independently of one another, Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, ran to their vehicles to retrieve firearms.

And I thought Michael Gross was just an actor.

 

[joab]

Is this the Appalachian School of Law incident?

Never mind everyone else posted while I was looking

 

[Eleven Mike]

I heard on Richard Land Live that dozens of students with rifles fired back at the UT-Austin tower shooter, Charles Whitman, keeping his head down and limiting his choice of targets.

Does anyone else know about that?

Once Whitman began facing return gunfire from the authorities, he used the waterspouts on each side of the tower as turrets, which allowed him to continue shooting while largely protected from the gunfire below, which had grown to include civilians who had brought out their personal firearms to assist police. Martinez, an officer credited with neutralizing Whitman's threat, later stated in his book that the civilian shooters should be credited, as they made it difficult for Whitman to take careful aim without being hit.

 

[brickeyee]

"...before the state legislature banned guns on college campuses. "

The state legislature has NEVER banned firearms form college campuses.
The various state laws in Virginia limiting 'school' carry apply ONLY to elementary, junior high, and high schools.

The ban on concealed carry is SOLELY the responsibility of the VT administration as a school POLICY.
It does not have the force of law, just the weight of the school behind it.

Virginia Tech is a state chartered land grant university.
It has a certain amount of legal independence (it is outside the jurisdiction of cities, towns, and counties, pays no property taxes, and has the right to a police force among others).
The university has chosen to interpret this to allow it to ignore the state carry law and the state preemption law.

 

[Outlaw Man]

I heard on Richard Land Live that dozens of students with rifles fired back at the UT-Austin tower shooter, Charles Whitman, keeping his head down and limiting his choice of targets.

Does anyone else know about that?

I don't know if it was civilians or not, but someone was definitely shooting at him. One of my co-workers said he visited UT a few years later and went up in the tower. They had patched the holes, but they didn't do the best job. You could tell for certain someone was shooting back.

In Texas in the 1960s? It's entirely possible it was students.

 

[RNB65]

The state legislature has NEVER banned firearms form college campuses.

That is correct. Guns are not banned on colleges campuses in VA by state law, only by school policy.

The Odighizuwa story is true. Two off-duty LEO's retrieved their weapons and confronted him. End of shooting rampage. Like Cho, he was a deeply paranoid, angry and psychotic individual.

One key diff is that Odighizuwa wasn't on a random mass murder/suicide binge like Cho. He was mainly looking to take revenge on the people he blamed for his failed academic career.

 

[redneckdan]

pretty much most of the town turned out to take some cracks at the town. For several hours after the inceident ended, people we're still shooting at the tower.

 

[marley]

Carry at vcu is banned by state law the only universtity in the state that it is against the law to carry on campus. Patrick

 

[Black Knight]

As stated earlier the General Assembly has not outlawed carry at universities and colleges except for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), it is only the individual campus' policy (not enforcible to non students or non employees). If found carrying they can ask you to leave and if you refuse then and only then can they arrest you but only for tresspassing (failure to leave when so ordered). The confusion is the way the law is written. It says school. School is defined in the Code of Virginia or Virginia Administrative Codes as public or private K-12. IANAL but have dealt with this before, having done security at a couple of schools and a few of community colleges and one university.

 

[RNB65]

Carry at vcu is banned by state law the only universtity in the state that it is against the law to carry on campus.

Not exactly. Weapons at VCU are banned in the VCU section of the state administrative code, not the Code of VA. The Admin Code doesn't carry the same force of law as the Code of VA. VCU got lazy and decided to stick the ban in the admin code rather than write an actual school policy. The only penalty for violation is suspension/expulsion (for students), employment action (faculty/staff) and/or a trespassing charge (everyone else).