Va. Tech Could Lose Millions Over Shooting Response

Feds say school failed to issue 'timely' warning
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2010 11:00 AM CST
Va. Tech Could Lose Millions Over Shooting Response
In this April 16, 2007, file photo, injured students are carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech.   (AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Alan Kim)

The feds delivered a harsh rebuke to Virginia Tech yesterday, saying the school failed to issue a "timely" warning about a campus gunman in 2007 who eventually killed 32 people and himself, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. As a result, the school could lose nearly $100 million in student financial aid and face separate fines.

The main criticism is that Tech waited two hours after Sueng-Hui Cho killed two students in a dorm before sending out an email, and then only a vague one about a "shooting incident." About the time the email went out, Cho killed another 30 people in a classroom building, notes AP. The school says it will appeal any financial penalties—they'll be determined in a separate process—and insists its warnings "were well within the standards and practices in effect at that time." (More Virginia Tech stories.)

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