Collegiate Times

He notified other officials, including vice president of student affairs Zenobia Hikes. He did not reach university President Charles Steger.

One policy group member, unnamed by the report, e-mailed a “Richmond colleague” informing them that one student was dead and another critically injured.

“Gunman on the loose,” he said. “This is not releasable yet.”

It continues to say the Policy Group began composing a notice to the campus about the shootings at 8:50 a.m. but was unable to send it initially because of technical difficulties with the alert system.

Blacksburg public schools and Steger’s office were locked down at 8:52 a.m. Classes for the second period in Norris Hall began at 9:05 a.m. The report said Tech canceled trash pick up at the same time.

The shootings began around 9:40 a.m. and ended when Cho committed suicide at 9:51 a.m.

At 10:17 a.m. the university canceled all classes.

Hilscher’s boyfriend, Karl Thornhill, who had been initially labeled a person of interest in the shootings, was stopped at 9:24 a.m. Six minutes later, police informed the Policy Group he was likely not the shooter.

A correction to the report said Steger spoke with Virginia Tech Chief of Police Wendell Flinchum at 8:11 a.m.

At that time, the report said Flinchum told Steger “that two students were critically wounded, that no weapon was found, that there were bloody footprints, and that the incident seemed to be domestic in nature. Chief Flinchum did not offer a recommendation about an alert or closing the campus at that time nor was he asked his opinion about doing so.”

Police on scene had not yet interviewed Hilscher’s roommate, from identified Thornhill as a person of interest.

From this information, the report adds that the Policy Group did not delay issuing an alert because of the person of interest, as they did not have that information.

However, another correction states that after being informed Thornhill was a person of interest, the Policy Group was never told he was cleared. A test for gunfire residue on Thornhill had to be taken to a lab for analysis, and did not produce results on scene.

Thornhill was told Hilscher was shot, but not that she was severely wounded. He was given no further information about his girlfriend.

An addition to the revised report detailed the university’s failure to issue a timely notice to Hilscher’s family.

The report said the university knew her identity around 8:15 a.m. from interviewing her roommate. Hilscher lived about three hours following the 7:15 a.m. shooting.

Her family was informed Hilscher was a victim from Thornhill’s mother. They were unable to receive any update of her condition from hospitals because hospital personnel did not want to disclose information.

DISCOVERY OF CHO’S RECORDS

Miller’s discovery of Cho’s records is also corrected. The original report said “ultimately all records that were requested (from Virginia Tech) and still existed were provided.”

“At the time, Cho’s file at the Cook Counseling Center was missing,” the revised report said. “An extensive search by Virginia Tech, including contact with the previous CCC director, Dr. Miller, did not turn up the file, and no one knew if it still existed. The file was found two years later by Dr. Miller in his home in response to a discovery request by attorneys involved in a lawsuit.”

Miller was not included on the original report’s list of interviewees.

A correction in the revised report said further information was brought to light by the discovered documents, showing a lack of attention to red flags in Cho’s mental health history.

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