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Kaine Orders Independent Investigation
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), with Col. W. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said the review would answer some of the "natural questions" that have been raised about the response to the shootings.
(By Amy Sancetta -- Associated Press)
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Kaine, who said he would appoint the panel members within a few days, said he had several people in mind. He vowed they would find answers to some of the "natural questions" that have been raised on television programs and in headlines.
"That is the purpose for immediately commencing this review," the governor said.
Many parents of Virginia Tech students continued to question the decisions made by university administrators and police -- notably, the decision not to send out an e-mail about the first shooting until 9:26 a.m., more than two hours after the attack was reported, and not to cancel classes or shut down the campus until after the classroom shootings.
"These students had the right to know there was an incident in the morning, that there was a murder and a gunman on the loose, and for them to make a decision based on that about whether to go to class or not," said Carl Ruggiero of Stafford, whose daughter Sarah is a freshman. "That opportunity was not given to them. . . . They had absolutely no help whatsoever. These kids were sitting ducks."
Ruggiero contrasted the university's reaction to the dorm shooting with its decision in August to shut down the campus and order students to stay indoors while police searched for a man who escaped from a local jail and shot a sheriff's deputy near campus early on the first day of classes.
State and law enforcement sources said the investigation has not allowed them to fully explain some of their actions Monday, and they said they think an independent review will show their actions were proper. One official said, for example, that the decision to treat the first shooting as a domestic dispute was a common-sense policing decision that was logical at the time.
But some campus security specialists questioned whether the university might have had other reasons to delay notification during the shooting crisis.
"We can't know what was going on in their heads," said Katherine Andriole, assistant program director for Security on Campus, a national advocacy organization, "but they may have been reluctant because of their image. We urge that, as hard as it is, that they disregard their concern for image in a situation like this."
In 2005, the Virginia Crime Commission conducted an evaluation of college and university police departments. Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the commission, said Virginia Tech had one of the most professional and highly trained college police departments in the state. Staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this report.
