Families Want Choice of Panelist

But Massengill said he could support naming a panel member as a liaison to the relatives and giving that person "some sort of special access."

"If the governor wants to put someone on that committee to be there to take care of the parents, that is one thing, but no one is going to take control of this committee," said Massengill, a retired Virginia State Police superintendent.

Fadoul said the meeting Monday night became so tense that it got "very close to going beyond politeness." Fadoul said the parents are angry because several of them have requested to be named to the panel, but he said they were rebuffed by Kaine and Roberts.

"We don't want to fight, but they forced us into the posture," Fadoul said.

The tension is the latest in a series of distractions and setbacks for the panel, which Kaine created in the days after the shooting.

Massengill has vowed the panel will investigate the circumstances that led to the shooting as well as shooter Seung Hui Cho's mental condition, Virginia Tech's response and the state's gun laws.

But panel members have been frustrated because Cho's medical and academic records are protected under state and federal privacy laws. Many of the laws say only Cho's parents can authorize the release of those records.

The panel, which has one more scheduled meeting, is also trying to produce a preliminary report by the end of August.

Massengill, however, remains upbeat.

In an interview yesterday, he said he's confident the panel won't have to resort to a court order to get access to Cho's medical and academic records. He said he has opened a "line of communication" with Cho's parents, who left their Centreville home after the shooting.

"It's pretty clear, based on communications I have had, Cho's family wants to cooperate," Massengill said.

Dr. Aradhana A. "Bela" Sood, a panel member who is the lead child psychiatrist at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, said she wants the panel to examine Cho's interaction with family members, peers and classmates to try to determine "points at which red flags were raised."

"We need to know, was there bullying, were there learning disabilities, and how did that come up and what did the system do or not do to respond to that?" Sood said.

The panel plans to interview, for instance, Cho's guidance counselor at Westfield High School.

Sood said she agrees with Massengill's qualms about adding a family member or a family representative to the panel.

"I think when you bring in a family member, issues of objectivity versus subjectivity need to be grappled with," said Sood.

But Fadoul said the victims' relatives are determined that things "are not whitewashed or covered up."