Virginia Tech gunman allegedly Asian man

By jozjozjoz | Monday, April 16, 2007 | View Comments

If you have been following the news today then you are aware of the horrific and tragic events that have unfolded this morning at Virginia Tech. First, I’d like to send my heartfelt sympathies to the families of all the victims, many of whom may not know at this moment that their loved ones were harmed.

I first heard about this developing story when I arrived at work and logged into my gmail. I saw the message under the screenname of my brother’s girlfriend “Campus shooting. Under lockdown.” She is a student (graduates next month) at VT who lives on campus. I immediately IMed her and was glad to hear that she was okay. I have been on IM with her all morning, keeping up with the latest news reports as we get them. She still under lockdown in her dorm, waiting for formal evacuation even though it has been hours now.

I was shocked when I realized how close her dorm is to West Ambler Johnston Hall (site of the first shooting in the dorm); WAJ is literally up the hill from her dorm. We heard that the first shooting was a result of a guy arguing with his girlfriend, an RA approached them about the argument and he shot the RA and his gf. I am not sure if this is true, but the report on the other shootings in Norris (Engineering) building is that the gunman lined people up and shot them executioner style.

The gunman is reported to be a male, “Asian, wearing a vest with an “ungodly” amount of ammunition, firing at will.” I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some speculation about race in this event. (We all know about the stereotypes about Asians and engineering.) Over the weekend there were closures due to multiple bomb threats to the Engineering building. With the bulk of the deaths occurring in the Engineering building today, one wonders if there is a connection.

While much more about this story will undoubted be revealed over time, I’d like to take this opportunity to set one thing straight. There is a photo of an Asian man getting cuffed (arrested) being circulated on the AP with the following caption:

An unidentified man is arrested. It is unclear what role he played in the shooting

This is not the shooter!

The crack newsteam at 8asians wants to be first to report that the Asian man seen being cuffed in this photo is Shaozhuo Cui, a photographer for the VT student newspaper. HE IS NOT “THE SHOOTER!” The only thing Shao can be accused of shooting is photographs. Without having heard from him yet, I assume that maybe he got too close to the action before the police took him down. (We will try to get Shao’s story here.)

Many people are circulating this photo of Shao and “connecting the dots” between the alleged Asian gunman and this image.

While that’s an interesting thought, all reports are currently reporting that the actual gunman is dead by his own hand…

More to come on this developing story…

UPDATE: Luboš Motl reports a rumor with further details about the identity of the gunman.

According to unconfirmed rumors available to The Reference Frame, the killer was a 6-foot tall male Asian student between 20 and 25 years ~~from Radford University whose girlfriend from Virginia Tech left him.~~ [From Ernie: The killer has been verified as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year old Senior from South Korea.] He had two guns and wore a vest with too much ammunition.

In the morning, he went to her dormitory. She was not there so he shot her roommate and some staff of the dormitory. They didn’t shut down the university, so he continued and tried to find the girlfriend in the classroom. He didn’t know the exact location, so he has shot a couple of classes and then himself.

UPDATE: Continuing coverage at metblogs/DC and PlanetBlacksburg

UPDATE @ 5:04pm PST: Shao’s been released, according to the live news conference happening right now. They didn’t name him by name but they said but the “student that was taking pictures and was handcuffed” and now been released.

What next?

View Comments to “Virginia Tech gunman allegedly Asian man”

akrypti wrote:

holy mother…

*definitely* keep us updated.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 11:04 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz.com » Blog Archive » OMG. My brother’s girlfriend lives on campus at Virginia Tech. wrote:

[...] UPDATE: My post is up at 8asians and is cross-posted below… updates being made to the 8asians post. [...]

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 11:10 am | Permalink
§hadoΨraith§ wrote:

[...] The first 911 call was made at 7:15 AM from Ambler Johnston Hall. Two hours later, more gunshots were reported coming from Norris Hall, initially giving some the impression that several gunmen were involved. Early reports indicated the gunman was a heavily armed "Asian man looking for his girlfriend" with supporting footage of a young Asian man being detained. [...]

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 12:37 pm | Permalink
Matt wrote:

I’ll be very surprised if the shooter was “Asian” in the sense that many Americans hold. The more likely reality is that he was Western Asian. Remember the UNC Chapel Hill incident? Google it…

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 12:59 pm | Permalink
Ken Narasaki wrote:

Thanks, Joz Joz Joz, for clearing up the matter of the photo, and thanks for giving us all a glimpse into what’s going on…

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 1:06 pm | Permalink
James wrote:

doubt this is an issue of semantics regarding the term “asian”. shooter was asian based off eyewitness accounts. the typical eyewitness is not going to differentiate between types of asian. most closely associated physical type to the term “asian” is probably east asian.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 1:15 pm | Permalink
Dave wrote:

Most American Students wouldn’t know to refer to Middle Easterners and Pakistanis as “Asian” if the students reported Asian, they probably meant Chinese, Korean, Japanese ect..

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 1:45 pm | Permalink
jack wrote:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=67f_1176750363&p=1

That video is from MSNBC where a victim identifies the shooter as an Asian man in his 20s.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 3:48 pm | Permalink
Sam wrote:

Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the shooter was a 24 year old Chinese national who arrived via San Francisco from Shang Hai. He arrived on August 7th 2006.

Ring a bell?

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 4:38 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here.]

i have jjk’s photo on my website.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 4:47 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:

Tim, I question the validity of your claim that James Jay Kim is the gunman.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 5:15 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

jozjozjoz, I’m starting to doubt my ource as well. But for now, I stand by my story.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/343354,vatech041607.article

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here.]

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 5:27 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:

Tim, the Sun Times story says the gunman was a Chinese national. Your story states a Korean-American.

I would be very careful before putting up a post that declares the identity of a murderer like that.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 5:33 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:

Tim, you offer no proof that the information is true.

I have asked you several times now.

Please cite a source or retract and apologize.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 5:37 pm | Permalink
james wrote:

wow you’re claiming someone is the gunman with no evidence whatsoever.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 6:15 pm | Permalink
Bertie wrote:

Careful. Don’t publish someone’s name like that, especially imputing a horrendous crime, unless you are sure you’re right. You could be setting yourself up for a libel suit.

(Hi Ernie!)

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 6:21 pm | Permalink
Jarred Wilson wrote:

Many of the eyewitnesses (VT Students) who have been interviewed on the MSM news outlets have described the gunman as “Asian”. In American parlance, this refers to “Orientals” as opposed to Middle Eastern. The ethnocultural background and the motivation of the gunman is a legitimate line of enquiry. Especially, when every ethnic group except Euro-Americans, sees the world through the prism of race.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 7:13 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

Jozjozjoz

I will issue a formal apology and retract all that was written about James Jay Kim on my blog. I like your website and that I respect what you have to say.

Tim

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here. The supposed "formal apology" and "retraction" was never done. Instead, Tim just deleted his post. What an inappropriate way to respond to making such a false and horrible accusation of someone.]

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 7:20 pm | Permalink
listener wrote:

Also, I want to bring to attention that Wayne Chiang, the guy whose pictures of himself with half a dozen guns were splashed all over the net from facebook, has issued a statement on his livejournal announcing he is NOT the shooter. I am surprised that fox news is openly discussing these facebook pictures. It’s irresponsible media coverage in my opinion. I urge Wayne to contact the media ASAP to clear his name

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 7:35 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070417/610000000020070417062725E5.html

this piece of news is very interesting. i quote

“The shooter is said to be a young Asian male, but Lee said chances are low he is a Korean.

“I don’t believe any of the Korean students own a gun,” he said.”

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here. The supposed "formal apology" and "retraction" was never done. Instead, Tim just deleted his post. What an inappropriate way to respond to making such a false and horrible accusation of someone.]

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 8:15 pm | Permalink
jsp wrote:

It’s very terrible that this happened. WTF was going on that messed-up, evil shooter’s head?

I fear that yet another backlash may occur. If not nationally, then locally in Virginia.

If there are any incidents racially motivated backlash towards asians, it should be reported.

And another thing to some of those asian guys on –those– message boards (you know who you are…) DO NOT EVER JOKE ABOUT KILLING WHITES OR BLACKS. IT is NEVER ok to spread hate or joke about killing, or even appear that you do. That whole gangsta militant poser thing may feel cool to you, but it sure as hell appears stupid and pathetic to everyone else on the outside.

Fight anti-asian racism the smart way.
Not by spouting out violent fantasies.

Use persuasion. Improve your writing skills and personal communication skills. Communicate your personal stories.

Expose the mountain of racism (in the media, your own interpersonal incidents, etc…) towards asians, don’t promote it.

Spread the word.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 8:49 pm | Permalink
from-IA-to-MN wrote:

In 1991, a Chinese national, Lu, studying at the University of Iowa opened fire, killing his advisor, another student that the advisor had chosen to win a prize over Lu’s thesis, and few other people, finally killing himself.

Mental health issues now also loom large in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area affecting the Hmong immigrants.

Do we think mental issues don’t affect Asians? Have we also bought into the stereotype ourselves that Asians are “model minorities” and we don’t have problems like that, or is it just something that “normal” Asians don’t talk about?

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 8:50 pm | Permalink
Lex wrote:

Just imagine the racial outlash this is going to trigger. This is in rural Virginia for crying out loud.

If I am Asian living in the area, I will be ready for crusade by the local militia.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 8:56 pm | Permalink
Lex wrote:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007323.htm

Classic, classic self hating hatred trying to spread even more hatred.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 9:21 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:

Mr. Jarred Wilson did NOT just use the term “Orientals.” I don’t care if you put it in parens; it doesn’t make it any less offensive. Asian NEVER refers to “Orientals” unless we’re speaking about commodities. Objects. Inanimate objects.

On that note, is this really a race issue here? People were killed. There was a psychotic gunman. I don’t care if he was purple-skinned. Let’s just do a diligent investigation and get all the legitimate facts out as soon as possible.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 9:37 pm | Permalink
Stick wrote:

I’m willing to go out on a limb and predict little if any racial back lash and I went to college in Stillwater, OK. infinitely more rural than anything in VA.

Posted on 16-Apr-07 at 10:39 pm | Permalink
dwir917 wrote:

Some have compared this to the massacre in Iowa, but if it stemmed from a girl who broke up with him, it is actually more like the church shooting that happened in Emporia, KS, in about 1988 or 1989. In that case, an Emporia State University college student from China was angry that the girl (another student) who invited him to her Baptist church’s Bible study didn’t want to be his girlfriend and he took revenge by opening fire in the church. I don’t think he killed himself, though. I think he is in prison.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 4:21 am | Permalink
VT Student wrote:

I am a student at VT and friends with Shao , the one pictured above. I just want to update that he was released and is doing well, aside from his picture being plastered across the news and people suspecting he was involved.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 4:31 am | Permalink
tim wrote:

Virginia Tech Shooter Is Korean American – Seung Hui Cho

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3048110&page=1

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here. The supposed "formal apology" and "retraction" was never done. Instead, Tim just deleted his post. What an inappropriate way to respond to making such a false and horrible accusation of someone.]

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 5:32 am | Permalink
listener wrote:

I have a problem with Chicago Sun Times. I feel like everytime there is some sort of crisis this particular newspaper blames the Chinese right away. It seems that it is always the first newspaper to come out with negative press for Chinese and Chinese Americans.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 5:36 am | Permalink
Oliver Williamson Jr wrote:

There shouldn’t be any racial backlash. Not in the U.S., anyway. Of course, if a similar crime had been committed in South Korea by a “white guy”, then there would be massive rallies in front of the U.S. Embassy and Seoul City Hall and A LOT of nastiness all over the country. And there would probably be annual marches on this date for the next several years. What will almost certainly happen is a massive effort by the Koreans to shift all the blame onto America, as they do with nearly everything else, including their own extreme materialism. Some may even go so far as to declare that Cho Seung-Hui was framed by the Americans.

I’m glad I’m not in South Korea anymore.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 6:14 am | Permalink
sad wrote:

it doesnt matter what nationality he was. he was a killer!!! he killed so many people. i dont understand why the attention is turning towards “what nationality the killer is?” all that should matter is that he was a killer. it saddens me!

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 8:00 am | Permalink
james wrote:

Unfortunately, whether you want to address it or not, there are racial issues that matter regarding the VT massacre. As an Asian-American, we have to be aware that there may be some sort of racial backlash after this event. Just as Muslim Americans to this day, must deal with stereotypes rooted from not only 9/11 but the media as well (shows such as 24), we may also deal with something similar albeit to a lesser degree.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 8:17 am | Permalink
T.T wrote:

Racial stereotypes stem from media ambiguities. According to CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting/index.html), Seung Hui Cho is simply described as a “loner.” I feel that CNN fail to provide clarity in their depiction of Mr. Cho. First, this description suggests that Mr. Cho’s motivation to carry out such act resulted from disparities in social settings. However, in another article from April 16, 07, CNN reported that it was due to an ending romance. Second, this reinforces the stereotype that most AA males are loners, a misconception coined by the entertainment industry. Lastly, CNN is aiding a stereotype that all AA males seen by themselves are subject to attention for suspicious activities. In conclusion, ambiguities in the media lead to further racial stereotypes by establishing a stereotypical image, aiding an existing image, and defining inappropriate scenarios to direct stereotypes.
The media needs to be clear and use only relevant descriptions in crises. People, lets prevent suspicion for AA males studying by themselves in the library.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 10:09 am | Permalink
Anon wrote:

Flavor of the Month, give it a year, a memorial service or two, and the next big new story will happen. Anyone remember who shot the Amish schoolhouse last year? Or the shooting on the Native American reservation.

Granted, they were not record setting like this one, and not by minorities, nonetheless I give this one year, a few covers on Time and Newsweek and then we go into the Presidential campaign in november.

Then the race argument will shift back to black/white with Barack. Granted this taint will stay but if anything it’ll encourage AA to change the public perception.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 10:51 am | Permalink
Matt Clark wrote:

James,

I am white and predict no anti-Korean backlash. The Muslim 9/11 thing is different in important aspects — there is no Korean jihad against the West, etc.

White Americans see Americans of Korean descent as hardworking, assimilationist (is that a dirty word here?), decent, entrepreneurial, and low crime. Plus there isn’t a pattern of violent crimes committed by K-A’s (or A-A’s). So this will be seen as a one-off by white America.

Now, if it had been a Muslim doing this for jihadist purposes, the reaction would be different. Very different.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 11:17 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:

Tim,

I took it upon myself to remove your links from 8Asians. Your promise to “apologize and retract” did not happen. Instead, you deleted your post as if you never made a big mistake.

Please do not use 8Asians to “attention whore.”

Perhaps if you do actually “apologize and issue a retraction, I might feel differently about your comments, your posts, and your blog.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 12:10 pm | Permalink
Max wrote:

No mention here about “wanusmaximus”.

The broadcast/armchair interweb diggers were in full force trying to connect him to the shootings.

http://wanusmaximus.livejournal.com/

Let’s hope there aren’t any Vincent Chin incidents.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 12:30 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

I did issue a formal apology on my blog right after I removed Kim related posts. I guess you didn’t see it.

However, the formal apology is now taken down along with some other vt-shooting related stories at about 4:30PM EST.

I corresponded with James Jay Kim over email and extended my personal apology. Needless to day he was very upset. I’m an ignorant attention-whore.

[Edit by Joz: Link to Tim's site removed]

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 12:46 pm | Permalink
tim wrote:

Cho’s girlfriend?
http://www.roanoke.com/vtvictims/wb/113483

[Edit by Joz: Link to Tim’s site removed]

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 1:09 pm | Permalink
lex wrote:

QUOTE:
listener wrote:

I have a problem with Chicago Sun Times. I feel like everytime there is some sort of crisis this particular newspaper blames the Chinese right away. It seems that it is always the first newspaper to come out with negative press for Chinese and Chinese Americans.
END QUOTE

They probably have an agenda up their sleeve.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
lex wrote:

QUOTE:
Racial stereotypes stem from media ambiguities. According to CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting/index.html), Seung Hui Cho is simply described as a “loner.” I feel that CNN fail to provide clarity in their depiction of Mr. Cho. First, this description suggests that Mr. Cho’s motivation to carry out such act resulted from disparities in social settings. However, in another article from April 16, 07, CNN reported that it was due to an ending romance. Second, this reinforces the stereotype that most AA males are loners, a misconception coined by the entertainment industry. Lastly, CNN is aiding a stereotype that all AA males seen by themselves are subject to attention for suspicious activities. In conclusion, ambiguities in the media lead to further racial stereotypes by establishing a stereotypical image, aiding an existing image, and defining inappropriate scenarios to direct stereotypes.
The media needs to be clear and use only relevant descriptions in crises. People, lets prevent suspicion for AA males studying by themselves in the library.
END QUOTE

Ah yes, the classic outcast stereotype. Right, Asian males are foreign, lonely, angry, and have a tendency to kill upon arousal. The yellow fever Hollywood boys are gonna love this!

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 2:07 pm | Permalink
james wrote:

When I say racial backlash, I do not mean that people across the country are going to commit crimes against Koreans (and further, I do not think the general public will distinguish this crime as a Korean-specific crime but rather an Asian crime). I mean, in the back of Joe Shmoe’s mind now when he sees a ‘strange’ or antisocial Asian or maybe an Asian person who just broke up with his girlfriend (whatever the motivation of this massacre ends up being), this event may pop into his mind. This is similar to how people may perceive Middle Easterners at an airport or an antisocial high schooler that dresses in dark clothing. It may be subtle, it may not even manifest itself as actions, but just the preconcieved perception itself is something I do not look forward to as an Asian American.

As for Anon’s post, I disagree completely. The Amish incident took place within an Amish community. This is a mainstream crime on a large public university. Have people forgotten Columbine? Not really. And this massacre was on an even larger scale. True, it will not be on the same proportion as 9/11, but nonetheless, this is one of the most tragic/inexplicable events in modern US history committed by a single person.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 2:52 pm | Permalink
Andymatic » Blog Archive » Asian Photographer Arrested in Vermont - Then Released wrote:

[...] Nice. The Asian man seen being cuffed in this photo is Shaozhou Cui, a photographer for the VT student newspaper. HE IS NOT “THE SHOOTER!” The only thing Shao can be accused of shooting is photographs. Without having heard from him yet, I assume that maybe he got too close to the action before the police took him down. [...]

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 3:30 pm | Permalink
Women's Space/The Margins wrote:

Cho Sueng-Hui and the Virginia Tech Massacre: These are the Sons America Has Raised…

This is the young man who shot 32 people dead, then shot himself, and injured many more. His name was Cho Seung-Hui. He was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with his mom, dad and sister in 1992, when he was eight years old…

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 3:36 pm | Permalink
Lubos Motl wrote:

Could you please unscratch everything in my quote except for “Radford University”? All the other data are correct. What you did makes it look like my guess wasn’t right.

It is also correct that her most well-known boyfriend was from Radford, it just wasn’t the killer.

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 4:06 pm | Permalink
rom wrote:

Racial sterotypes go all ways to all communities. How many peoples first reaction was that it was a white miltia guy? I remember the same instance when two african american guys did the sniper shootings off the highway a while back. Your first reaction for many it is the racist white guy. If anything this shows violent behavior occurs in all “races”. BTW- My brother could never officially date a South Korean Woman because her parents would disown her. Racism is a human problem…

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 5:40 pm | Permalink
T.T wrote:

When I was walking out of my dorm tonight, I heard a playful, Caucasian hall mate said “…start shooting up schools.” A while later, in the midst of a stressful three minutes before a physics exam, a young, AA male whispers playfully, “I hope there will be another VT massacre.” After hearing his statement, I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. Within nanoseconds, I regained my conscientiousness and thought to myself, “Maybe he meant: I hope there will be a power failure so we don’t have to take this exam.” Regardless, what both of them said was an epitome of stupidity. People, republicans, democrats, men, women, FPS gamers, America, what happened yesterday was a tragedy. To those that find humor in this, picture that your brother, sister, husband, wife, grandpa, grandma, twin etc., was in that classroom. Also, take one second and fit into the shoes of many family members of the victims. How would you feel if the one you love died such horrible death? Lets all be more mature and sensitive to the emotions of others. I find that this side (the east) of America needs to work on that the most. Lets have freedom but with consideration of the people that surround you. Like Van Gogh once said, “We are not here for ourselves alone.”

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 6:53 pm | Permalink
Women's Space/The Margins wrote:

Police Arrest Asian Reporter at Virginia Tech…

For those who doubt that the Virginia Tech massacre will result in multiple new forms of harassment of Asian people, it certainly has and will. The above photo is from the 8Asians blog which reported the massacre yesterday. 8Asians blogger j…

Posted on 17-Apr-07 at 7:23 pm | Permalink
rom wrote:

For those who doubt that the Virginia Tech massacre will result in multiple new forms of harassment of Asian people, it certainly has and will.

Has there been any news reports to confirm this?

Posted on 21-Apr-07 at 10:21 am | Permalink
Debbie wrote:

I think it is very disappointing that people will target those of Asian descent because of what one young man did, horrible as that is. It serves no other purpose whatsoever to attack a person because he or she is Asian, than to prove that those doing the attacking must love their ignorance because they cannot help showing it off.

America is supposed to be a civilized, developed country, but if people are attacked because they are Asian then it proves those doing the attacking are not progressing in their intelligence, but are regressing back to an ignorance of profound proportions.

Debbie

Posted on 21-Apr-07 at 12:26 pm | Permalink

8 Asians