The massacre at Virginia Tech which is located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, happened in the morning of April 16, 2007. A gunman killed 32 people before committing suicide, making it the worst shooting in US history.
Viravanh Ditthavong, one of Lao-American students at Virginia Tech who is a junior in Business Administration major said she was safe because that morning she did not have any classes, so she decided to stay at her apartment which is located around 3 miles off campus and she learned about the shooting around 9:00 AM when her roommate called her.
Vina Phonsaya, another Lao-American student at Virginia Tech who lives on campus across the field from where the shooting incident happened was also safe from the shooting. Vina is a sophomore in Physical Therapy major.
Both, Mr. Ouane Phonsaya, Vina’s father and Mr. Voradeth Ditthavong, Viravanh’s father said that at first they were worried, but felt relieve when learned that their daughters are safe.
The gunman was identified as 23 year-old Cho Sueng-Hui, a South Korean national living in the US as a permanent resident. He was a senior English major at Virginia Tech.
Whether this shooting incident will have a backlash on Asian Student at Virginia Tech or not; Viravanh said it might, but not going to be a strong one, after people learned more about the gunman. Mr. Phonsaya even went further by saying that gunman is mentally ill and act alone and people understand that.
For Mr. Dithavong, he said he worried about the shooting but not enough for him to advice his daughter to change school and for a fact that his daughter will graduate next year.
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