Are you serious?

I am shocked and completely dismayed at the news coming from Virginia Tech today. It is almost unreal. The news keeps showing shots of about 30 ambulances lined up on a road on the campus and sobering shots of students in fright.

As an educator, this is a nightmare beyond nightmares. Before today, school shootings had sort of died off from the popularity in previous years (I can remember 5 shooting/bomb threat drills during my first month of student teaching 5 years ago). But now, I fear the carry-over into our high schools...or spread to other college campuses.

I don't want to know about this story, but at the same time, I'm strangely drawn to it in confusion of motive. What could drive someone to do this? It appears to be carefully calculated, the classroom carefully chosen since it was an enclosed environment. Previous campus shootings were done outdoors, randomly, and by madmen atop clock towers. Augh. I can only hope that there aren't any ties to our families in Calvert. We have many students who have attended this school, and were there today...

Note to self: Loan my bullet proof bracelets and lasso of truth to the Virginia Tech police. Perhaps a ride in the invisible jet will help.