Inside Court TV Court TV Informer Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors Best Defense

Court TV Host: We're just getting set up ... we're being joined by the staff of Planet Blacksburg, a student-run website that reports on the community where Virginia Tech is located.

angeleyes: I am so sorry this happened.

Andrew Mager: Thanks, angeleyes.

Andrew Mager: We are coping alright.

angeleyes: You are so welcome.

sabdha: Our hearts go out to you all.

angeleyes: You are in my prayers.

Andrew Mager: Thank you.

JOJO: Did you know the suspect?

Andrew Mager: Nope, no one here knew him, JOJO.

JOJO: Yet he was a student correct?

Andrew Mager: He was a student.

Court TV Host: We're being joined by the editors and staffers of Planet Blacksburg, a student-run website that covers the community where Virginia Tech is located. In addition to living through the shooting tragedy themselves, our guests are also working on covering the events and aftermath for the website. We're very pleased that they're taking the time to join us today.

Court TV Host: Our guests are: Courtney Thomas, Planet Blacksburg's news editor, and a senior majoring in management/communication; Andrew Majer, development director of Planet Blacksburg - a recent graduate, who majored in electronic and print journalism.

Andrew Mager: Mager* :)

Court TV Host: And Suzanne Higgs, a staff writer for Planet Blacksburg, and a sophomore majoring in communications. Suzanne was in class yesterday during the shooting.

Court TV Host: SORRY, Andrew!!!

Andrew Mager: No sweat.

Court TV Host: The first obligation of journalism is to spell names correctly!

Andrew Mager: Agreed.

Court TV Host: And you can look at their website at http://planetblacksburg.com

Court TV Host: Again, thanks to all our guests for joining us today...

Suzanne Higgs: Hello, everyone. On campus there are opportunities, such as vigils, and I know that in Squire's there is a board where you can write a message. If you are not around the area, we have a wall of grief on our website where you can offer those there. Our web address is www.planetblacksburg.com , and it is on the right hand side.

Court TV Host:  Suzanne, you were actually in class during the shooting, weren't you? What was it like?

Suzanne Higgs: I was in class during the shooting. I was actually in Shanks, the room where have our PB team at right now. What happened was once everything began to escalate we heard emergency announcements from the PA system to get inside. The building was locked down, and we all moved to the side of the room without windows. We heard seven gunshots, but that's as much action as I heard, and I didn't see anything

Question from keliz: Did you know any of the victims?

Courtney Thomas: I know of one person in one of my classes who was shot twice in the leg, but fortunately my close friends are all ok.

Andrew Mager: I knew a friend in the marching band, Ryan Stack Clark. He played baritone, and he was loved. Very outgoing. He was a resident advisor in West AJ, and I heard that he was attending to a victim after he was shot. Today, many members of the Marching Virginians dressed up in their full uniforms, and marched over to the convocation. I wish I could have attended, but I was busy working on the website.

Courtney Thomas: Yeah, it was hard to get into the convocation, so many people lined up early. We watched here in a classroom online.

Question from tara: Looking at how many students there are and the size of the campus, do you think the warning given was to the best of the college's ability?

Courtney Thomas: I don't think we really have enough information to judge that right now. Many people are angry that the response wasn't quick enough, that classes weren't canceled. We are waiting for more information about what time the police entered the building and what the circumstances were surrounding the first shooting. Most students I have spoken to that are very angry with Tech's response are not a part of the Virginia Tech community -- they are people from other schools and areas.

Question from alx: I am a VT student, and while I wouldn't describe myself as 'upset', I'm definitely concerned about the seemingly late response from Tech.

Courtney Thomas: I think that the number of students traveling to and from campus at the time made communication difficult.

Suzanne Higgs: Well, as far as I understand the University felt that it was an isolated incident, so it was treated as one. Yes, in the timeline there was lapse in time, but I think police and the school did what they could.

Andrew Mager: It was a late response, and no one really knows what happened during that two hours.

Question from tara: What, if anything, does the student body think would help in ensuring safety at the school?

Andrew Mager: This is a very safe campus, believe it or not. There are two really good police organizations here, and they make all the students feel safe.

Courtney Thomas: I have never feared for my safety while at Virginia Tech.

Andrew Mager: There is a safe-ride program here where students can call a number and get a free ride anywhere on campus.

Courtney Thomas: I think that any effort to change campus security may disrupt the campus atmosphere. Perhaps changes should be made in our crisis response procedures.

Suzanne Higgs: I have always felt safe walking across campus at night by myself, and never had a problem. I think that locking the dorms and granting card access only is a good idea, though

Andrew Mager: Tragedies like this are not common, so I think the university is doing all it can to provide the ultimate level of safety.

Courtney Thomas: Right now, dorms are only locked overnight, not during the day. So that may help. But it's a friendly environment, people let others in when they forget cards. I wouldn't want students to live in fear of something like this -- we shouldn't let one crazy person change our way of life.

Andrew Mager: Yea, we will move on stronger than ever. Hokies are pretty tough :)

Question from Wednesday: During the shooting in the beginning of the school year, was the campus shut down or how was that situation handled?

Courtney Thomas: They did lockdown campus, but the shooter in that situation was never actually on campus, and students weren't involved. It was a very different situation. During the recent bomb threats, campus was not shut down. They shut down buildings involved and areas around them.

Suzanne Higgs: I thought the Morva incident was very well handled by the University, we knew about the events as they happened.

Andrew Mager: I agree with Suzanne.

Suzanne Higgs: They told us as soon as they thought there was a risk and sent us back to our dorms. I was there for the remainder of the day until after he was captured. And that's why I feel safe on campus.

Courtney Thomas: University Relations commented that they had trouble with people gaining access to communications during the Morva incident, and they changed the system so that was not a problem this time.

Alex Rickabaugh: Yeah, the warnings for Morva came early ... we got an email notification that someone had escaped custody.

Suzanne Higgs: I think that they did a decent job this time with email and announcements, at least in our building.

Alex Rickabaugh: Suzanne, which building is that?

Suzanne Higgs: Our department heads warned us of what was happening, and the emergency announcements and emails were frequent.

Suzanne Higgs: I was in Shanks 160 when the shootings in Norris occurred. I'm a couple buildings over

Court TV Host: We're being joined by Alex Rickacaugh, a developer of Planet Blacksburg, and a senior

Alex Rickabaugh: Rickabaugh*

Andrew Mager: Alex will take over for me.. I have to tend to the website :)

Andrew Mager: Accuracy, Host!

Court TV Host: Thanks!

Court TV Host: Let me ask you all a question - you're not just living through this event - you're covering it - what is that like?

Courtney Thomas: I can't complain, because keeping busy helps me. We have been looking a lot today at online student activity: facebook, blog and forum posts. We have focused on student reactions.

Suzanne Higgs: Yesterday, I was more into a reporter mode, being as objective as I could be to cover the events that were happening. Today I was able to slow down and spend time with my family. It's slowly starting to hit me, and today I'm really only doing interviews with you guys and a couple radio stations, so I try and take all this in.

Alex Rickabaugh: It's a good feeling to be helping, I think. People are searching for answers, they want to know what happened and why. It's good to be able to help them out.

Suzanne Higgs: But I am glad yesterday I was a part of the team that was able to keep the site updated.

Courtney Thomas: It is starting to get exhausting, we have really spent more time talking to other reporters than anything else. News media around the world have found our email addresses and phone numbers online.

Court TV Host: Any closing thoughts?

Courtney Thomas: It's just completely unreal.

Alex Rickabaugh: Definitely not the kind of thing I thought I'd be doing when I first started working with Planet Blacksburg.

Suzanne Higgs: I'm just proud to be a part of this team, but I am deeply saddened that we have to be together covering something like this.

Courtney Thomas: The media circus, grasping what has actually happened here and just recently learning the names of those killed. I think for a lot of students this just hasn't hit yet. When the official lists are released and the media leave, I think this will begin to sink in.

Suzanne Higgs: It's finally hitting me, and I just hope that we can continue to be there for our community, and that we can continue to bring the information they need and want.

Courtney Thomas: The aftermath will also probably involve a lot of debates and hard questions. People are already asking about gun control. We aren't ready to hear it yet, but there are real questions to be asked about how and why things like this can happen.

Suzanne Higgs: We're trying to deal with friends and family lost, and I would like to focus on that, and not gun control.

Court TV Host: Thank you very much, all of the staff at Planet Blacksburg, for taking the time to speak with us today. I know that I am speaking for everyone online in sending you our condolences and prayers.

Suzanne Higgs: Thank you for having us

Courtney Thomas: Yes, thank you.

Court TV Host: We hope that you'll come back again.

Suzanne Higgs: Thanks.

Courtney Thomas: Anytime.

Alex Rickabaugh: Thank you, your thoughts and prayers are definitely appreciated by all of us at Tech.

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