Panel Probe On Massacre Is Winding Up

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Aug 24. -- The panel investigating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre completed its four-month investigation into the shootings Friday, capping off one of the most ambitious state-funded probes in decades and setting the stage for an intense debate over its findings.

The panel spent eight hours in a closed-door meeting at the University of Virginia, putting the finishing touches on its 300-page report, which it plans to deliver to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) early next week. Kaine plans to release the report to the public Thursday.

Since May, the panel has held four public hearings, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and conducted dozens of interviews with first responders, Virginia Tech administrators and counselors, and people who knew the shooter, Sueng Hui Cho.

The panel, which includes former U.S. homeland security secretary Tom Ridge, was backed by a team of investigators who fanned out across the country to gather information relating to the massacre -- the deadliest shooting rampage by an individual in U.S. history -- in which Cho killed 32 people and himself.

"In four months, we have investigated the worst mass tragedy dealing with firearms in this country, and I think the detail to which we have done it is amazing," said W. Gerald Massengill, the panel's chairman.

Massengill declined to discuss specifics of the report. The report, panel members said, includes a timeline of Cho's life, including his infancy in Korea, his childhood and teen years in Centreville and his final moments in Norris Hall, where he killed 30 people and himself. More than two hours before the Norris Hall shootings, Cho killed two students in a dormitory.

The report, which has 11 chapters, offers more than 70 recommendations on topics that include improving mental health services and updating state and federal privacy laws. The report also scrutinizes Virginia Tech's response to the shootings and whether the university could have done more to prevent them.

The report probably will become a major factor next year when Virginia lawmakers review whether the state's mental health system is adequately funded. Colleges, universities and governments across the country are expected to use it to evaluate security procedures.

"It will have a national impact," said Philip Schaenman, the panel's staff director.