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April 16, 2007
Pray
Horror in Blacksburg. Mysterious, dark senseless evil.
My son, David graduated from Virgnia Tech last spring, but still lives in Blackburg, working on campus. He is safe, but deeply, understandably upset, and reported that they were commanded to shut down the store and leave campus by police around 9:30 this morning.
God rest the souls of the slain, and pray for those families.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
Glad to hear your son is OK. One glimmer of good news in the horror. Definitely praying.
Posted by: Dale Price at Apr 16, 2007 1:38:13 PM
Glad to hear he's safe.
Posted by: Kate B. at Apr 16, 2007 1:47:27 PM
Good Lord, Amy. Also glad to hear he's safe. I couldn't imagine being a parent with a child in a situation like that. May God's Mercy cover the campus with His love, draw souls home to Him, and comfort those who've suffered trauma and loss today.
Posted by: Aimee Milburn at Apr 16, 2007 2:10:35 PM
My wife and I met at Va Tech...we used to meet for lunch every day outside Norris...this is just awful.
Posted by: Anon at Apr 16, 2007 2:14:44 PM
MSNBC just reported 31 dead making it the worst mass killing rampage is US history. Unbelievably senseless!!! I can't imagine being a family or friend waiting to hear if my loved one is alive. God's blessing and mercy to all affected by this!
Posted by: thomps at Apr 16, 2007 2:41:08 PM
I'm glad to read he's safe. There are many families who have not heard back from their kid and knowing in their heart that he or she is dead, but hoping that it isn't true.
Posted by: Patrick Rothwell at Apr 16, 2007 2:47:00 PM
I work in Tyson's Corner VA where there are countless people who have either attended Va Tech or have children or friends who attend Va Tech. They are in absolute shock.
Posted by: Legion of Mary at Apr 16, 2007 3:19:19 PM
My niece Erika is in her freshman year. She is unhurt, but locked down in her dorm room and terrified. Please pray for her and her parents and all of those who are lost.
Posted by: lourdes at Apr 16, 2007 4:54:06 PM
Glad to hear your son is ok! Our prayers to all the families who have lost a loved one today.
Posted by: Dismas at Apr 16, 2007 5:00:44 PM
May the victims rest in peace, and their families offer up their brokenness and suffering.
Posted by: Athos at Apr 16, 2007 5:04:49 PM
Shocking and evil! I pray for the victims, their families, and the frightend students on campus. One wants to ask "WHY!"..of course there's no rational answer.
I'm so glad your son is safe, Amy.
I understand that the shooter was a student?
Posted by: Lynn at Apr 16, 2007 5:28:56 PM
Pray for the victims.
One wonders how many slasher films, death-metal CDs, blood-soaked video games, Tarantino films, and cop killer rap songs this monster had been exposed to before he decided to act.
God help this culture of death and violence.
Posted by: tony at Apr 16, 2007 5:47:44 PM
Tony, we know almost nothing about the shooter(s) or his motive. Please do not rush to use this as fodder for culture-war arguments until the facts are in. If it later turns out the killer shouted "Allah Akbar" at his victims, it won't have had anything to do with Tarantino or Tupac, no matter how decadent and loathsome their oeuvre.
Posted by: craig at Apr 16, 2007 6:03:44 PM
It is hard to fathom the suffering of the family members of those killed.
Posted by: Dan at Apr 16, 2007 6:32:08 PM
God forgive them all and take them to His bosom.
33 dead last I saw. There will be politics aplenty over this but it's for another day.
Posted by: TM Lutas at Apr 16, 2007 7:10:01 PM
This just so unbelievable. My siter-in-law lived on that floor in AJ 20 years ago. I walked by Norris hundreds of times in when I was a student there. I was on vacation last week visiting my parents in Roanoke and went up to Tech to visit the bookstore and walked around campus. May they rest in peace.
Posted by: Mike at Apr 16, 2007 7:12:32 PM
May the victims receive God's mercy to the full; may their murderer receive God's justice to the full.
Posted by: Donald R. McClarey at Apr 16, 2007 9:41:36 PM
Good to hear David is OK, Amy. I was watching CNN a good part of the afternoon, switching back & forth to CBC. Our power went out around 2:30 because of the storm here --lasted about 2 hrs. I can't imagine what all those parents and students are going through -- it's horrific. Prayers going up for those who were killed, the gunman, and the survivors. It's going to take a long time to heal from this. Quite a few years ago we travelled through the Shenandoah Valley en route to N. Carolina -- I loved it, such a beautiful place with such friendly people. Too lovely a place for such a horrible thing to happen. Thoughts are with all involved.
Posted by: Patricia Gonzalez at Apr 16, 2007 9:44:08 PM
A terrible tragedy for all concerned. And mystifying, too. Has there ever been such a shooting before, in which so little information was released to the public, or (apparently) available to the authorities?
Posted by: alias clio at Apr 16, 2007 11:16:35 PM
I may get flamed for this one--but the frightening and heartbreaking thing about this is that the gunman was NOT a monster. He was a human being, God's creation, created for good, who chose, for some unknown reason to rebel against the light and embrace the darkness. I am so glad your son is safe, Amy. I am so sorry for any of you who lost a loved one in this horrible tragedy.
May God have mercy on all their souls. Donald McClarey, I can't remember where I first read this, but I cannot pray that God have justice on others, for fear that he will treat me with the justice that I deserve. I pray for His mercy--in the hope that mercy will also be meted unto me.
God comfort those that have lost their beloved ones.
Posted by: marymargaret at Apr 16, 2007 11:21:47 PM
Amy,
I am so very glad your son is safe! My heart and prayers go out to the families of the victims.
Posted by: S at Apr 17, 2007 12:51:31 AM
"I pray for His mercy--in the hope that mercy will also be meted unto me."
Most of us hope for God's mercy but there is a reason why God is all-just as well as all-merciful, just as there is a reason why there is a Hell as well as a Heaven. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us", are mere idle words if God were not all-just as well as all-merciful.
Posted by: Donald R. McClarey at Apr 17, 2007 6:46:44 AM
I have asked the woman who read it from the Diary of St. Faustina during our Divine Mercy services on Sunday afternoon, because I want to re-read it again as it struck me so. Something about if we don't believe in Jesus' divine mercy, we will all be lost, or something to that effect.
I definitely feel tension between God's merciful love and justice. Guess that's what life is all about for us Catholic Christians.
Posted by: Peg at Apr 17, 2007 9:15:00 AM
Gestures of human goodness: fans of other schools are posting prayers and condolences on the Virginia Tech sports messageboard. It is like a roll call of American colleges, uniting in love and support.
http://virginiatech.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=1020&fid=750&style=2
Posted by: Larry at Apr 17, 2007 9:15:14 AM
I kept wondering what the gunman's excuse was for killing so many people. As a kid, I used to hear about the "Mad Bomber" of Bath, Michigan, because he blew up a grade school because he was angry about paying taxes for a new building. (He killed over 40 people, including 39 children who were in the school.) And that's always been the saddest thing about these damned shootings: People die for nothing at all.
Posted by: MissJean at Apr 17, 2007 11:48:58 AM
