In Memorium - Youth Killed By Gun Violence

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In Memorium - Youth Killed By Gun Violence
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Columbine — Virginia Tech — The Brady Center Tributes — Winnenden —?

Why? The Big Question In School Shootings via CTV.ca:

Peter Langman, director of psychology for KidsPeace, told CTV.ca there are three main types who commit school shootings:

Those who come from abusive, dysfunctional backgrounds;
Psychopaths;
Those who are mentally ill and suffering from delusions, hallucinations or paranoia, to name a few symptoms.

Unfortunately, what experts don't know is why someone in one of those groups will explode and harm others, he said.

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor from San Diego State University, told CTV.ca that in the majority of school shootings, social rejection was a factor.

The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting consisting of two separate attacks approximately two hours apart on April 16, 2007, that took place on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. The massacre is the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, on or off a school campus.

Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, had been diagnosed with and was treated for a severe anxiety disorder in middle school and continued receiving therapy and special education support until his junior year of high school. While in college in 2005, Cho had been accused of stalking two female students and was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice. At least one professor had asked him to seek counseling.

Victims Of the Virginia Polytechnical Institute (Virginia Tech) Shooting

Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., according to his mother, Lynnette Alameddine. Friends described the sophomore majoring in English, business information technology and French as "an intelligent, funny, easy-going guy."

Christopher James "Jamie" Bishop, 35, taught German at Virginia Tech and helped oversee an exchange program with a German university. According to his Web site, Bishop, a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, spent four years living in Germany, where he "spent most of his time learning the language, teaching English, drinking large quantities of wheat beer, and wooing a certain fraulein" — the "fraulein" being Bishop's wife, Stephanie Hofer, who also teaches in Virginia Tech's German program.

Brian Bluhm, 25, a master's student in water resources, received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering at Tech and was getting ready to defend his thesis. He already had accepted a job in Baltimore. Bluhm grew up in Detroit and was an avid Detroit Tigers fan; his death was announced before Tuesday's game against Kansas City, which Detroit went on to win 7-6. "He went to a game last weekend and saw them win, and I'm glad he did," said Bluhm's close friend, Michael Marshall of Richmond, Va. Marshall said it was his faith and work with the Baptist Collegiate Ministries that his friend would foremost want to be remembered by.

Ryan Clark, 22, a student from Martinez, Ga., was a fifth-year student working toward a triple-degree in psychology, biology and English and carried a 4.0 grade-point average. He was a member of the Marching Virginians band. He was a resident assistant at Ambler Johnson Hall, the dorm where the first shootings took place. "He was just one of the greatest people you could possibly know," friend Gregory Walton, 25, said. "He was always smiling, always laughing. I don't think I ever saw him mad in the five years I knew him."

Austin Cloyd, 18, a freshman, was an international studies major. She moved to Blacksburg for her senior year in high school; her father is C. Bryan Cloyd, a professor of accounting and information systems at Virginia Tech. She was so inspired by an Appalachian service project that helped rehab homes that she and her mother started a similar program in their Illinois town, her former pastor said. The Rev. Terry Harter of First United Methodist Church in Champaign, Ill., described Cloyd as a "very delightful, intelligent, warm young lady" and an athlete who played basketball and volleyball in high school. But it was the mission trips to Appalachia that showed just how caring and faithful she was, he said.

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French instructor at Virginia Tech, was instrumental in the push to create the first French school in Truro, Nova Scotia, where she lived in the 1990s with her husband, Jerzy Nowak. He is the head of the horticulture department at Virginia Tech.

Peruvian student Daniel Perez Cueva, a 21-year-old international relations major, was killed while in his French class, said his mother, Betty Cueva. He grew up playing soccer on a potholed street outside his family's apartment in the crime-ridden Bellavista neighborhood the port district of Lima, Peru. He came to the United States with his mother and his sister Vanesa, who is married to a soldier now fighting in Iraq. "He dreamed of coming to Virginia Tech because of its prestige and he did it," his mother Betty told Peruvian radio station RPP by phone from Virginia. "For my children, I've made it through the good times and the bad in this country ... and we've worked it out little by little, until this happened."

Prof. Kevin Granata, 46, researched muscle and reflex response and robotics. Ishwar K. Puri, head of the engineering science and mechanics department, called Granata one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy. A fellow professor Demetri Telionis, described Granata as a family man. "With so many research projects and graduate students, he still found time to spend with his family, and he coached his children in many sports and extracurricular activities," Telionis said. "We will all miss him dearly."

Mathew Gregory Gwaltney, 24, of Chesterfield, Va., was on the brink of finishing his master's degree in civil and environmental engineering, and planned on returning to his hometown of Chester, Va., to be near his parents. Gwaltney was completing his thesis on methods of predicting droughts and already had several job offers from engineering firms. An avid Hokies sports fan, Gwaltney was sports editor at his high school newspaper. Principal Robert Stansberry of Thomas Dale High School remembered him as being named "Best guy to take home to your parents."

Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., a sophomore majoring in international studies and French. "She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I've had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator," said John P. Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, from which she graduated in 2005. "Caitlin was a leader among our students."

Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, was a graduate student in civil engineering from Bellefonte, Pa. He did his undergraduate work in civil engineering, biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. "He loves to talk. He's a very talkative guy. You know, you can just hold a conversation with him any time of day," his friend Ken Stanton said on CBS News' The Early Show.

Rachael Elizabeth Hill 18, was a graduate of Grove Avenue Christian School in Henrico County and was a freshman at Virginia Tech. Her father, Guy Hill of Glen Allen, Va., said his daughter was studying biology at the university.

Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville and an animal and poultry sciences major, was known in rural Rappahannock County as an animal lover. County Administrator John McCarthy, a family friend, said she worked at a veterinarian's office "and cared about them her whole life."

Jarrett Lane, 22, of Narrows, Va., a senior majoring in civil engineering, liked Christian Alternative music, "The Simpsons" and "ESPN SportsCenter." The valedictorian of his high school class in Narrows, Va., Lane was described as fun-loving and "full of spirit" by his brother-in-law Daniel Farrell.

Matt La Porte, a sophomore, of Dumont, N.J., was a 2005 graduate of the Carson Long Military Institute in Perry County, Pa. He was majoring in political science and leadership, and aspired to an Air Force commission.

Henry J. Lee — also known as Henh Ly — was the ninth of 10 siblings whose family fled to the United States from Vietnam, arriving in Roanoke in 1994. Friends described the diminutive Lee — a first-year computer engineering and French major — as a serious student who wasn't necessarily a serious person, "an extremely bubbly guy, always ready to go." Lee enjoyed racquetball, engineering and Frisbee: "I'm just your typical short Asian (Chinese) guy," he wrote.

Prof. Liviu Librescu, 76, an Israeli born in Romania, survived the Holocaust and built an international reputation for his research in aeronautical engineering. He taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years. "With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety," said President Bush Wednesday. Librescu will be buried in Israel.

Prof. G.V. Loganathan, 51, an Indian-born civil and environmental engineering professor, had been a professor at Virginia Tech since 1982. "For us it was like an electric shock. We've totally collapsed today," his brother G.V. Palanivel said from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. "Our parents are elderly and have broken down completely."

Partahi Lumbantoruan of Indonesia, a 34-year-old graduate student, had been studying civil engineering at Virginia Tech for three years. His goal was to become a teacher in the U.S. His family sold off property and cars to pay his tuition, said his father, Tohom Lumbantoruan, a 66-year-old retired army officer. "We tried everything to completely finance his studies in the United States," he said. "We only wanted him to succeed in his studies, but ... he met a tragic fate." His stepmother, Sugiyarti, says he had called almost daily to talk to the family; in their last conversation, he had asked for the latest news on Indonesian politics. She wept as she asked why people can bring guns to campus.

Lauren McCain, 20, was originally from Oklahoma but most recently lived in the Hampton, Va., area. Home-schooled, she had worked at a department store for about a year to save money for college. The freshman, who was an avowed Christian, planned to major in international studies. Her uncle, Jeff Elliott, speaking to The Oklahoman newspaper, described her as an avid reader who was learning German and had almost mastered Latin.

Daniel O'Neil, 22, a graduate student in engineering from Lincoln, R.I., was a teaching assistant. O'Neil played guitar and wrote his own songs, which he posted on a Web site, www.residenthippy.com

. A high school friend, Steve Craveiro, said O'Neil wrote was in the folk and acoustic vein. "He would never talk himself up as a musician," Craveiro said. "He had a personal relationship with his music." Katlyn Duquenoy, 22, who lives across the street from the O'Neil family and graduated in the same high school class, described him as extremely intelligent. "He probably would have gone really far in life and been successful," she said.

Juan Ortiz, a 26-year-old graduate student in civil engineering from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He also taught, said his wife, Liselle Vega Cortes. The family's neighbors remembered Ortiz as a quiet, dedicated son who decorated his parents' one-story concrete house each Christmas and played in a salsa band with his father on weekends. Ortiz's father said he was "an extraordinary son, what any father would have wanted." Marilys Alvarez heard Ortiz's mother scream from the house next door when she learned of her son's death. The 22-year-old said she had wanted to study in the United States, but was now reconsidering.

Minal Panchal, a 26-year-old graduate student in building sciences, was a native of India, who wanted to be an architect like her late father. "She was a brilliant student and very hardworking," said Chetna Parekh, a friend who lives in the bustling middle-class Mumbai neighborhood of Borivali, India, where Panchal lived before coming to Virginia Tech last year; "She was focused on getting her degree and doing well." Another neighbor, Jayshree Ajmane, called Panchal a bright, polite girl who would help the neighborhood children with their schoolwork.

Erin Peterson, 18, from Centreville, Va., was a member of Phi Sigma Pi — Alpha Rho chapter. She was planning to major in international relations. She attended the same high school as the gunman. Athletic (the 6-foot-1 Peterson played center for her high school girls' basketball team, helping lead it to a district championship in her sophomore year), she was described as inseparable from her father, except when it came to their pro-football allegiances: "She was a Redskin," her godfather, Williams Lloyd, said. "He was a Cowboy."

Michael Pohle, 23, of Flemington, N.J., was a senior in a five-year program, majoring in biological sciences. A football and lacrosse player in high school, one of his former coaches described him to the Newark Star-Ledger as "a good kid who did everything that good kids do."

Julia Pryde, 23, a biological systems engineering graduate student from Middletown, N.J., was known for being an exceptional student as well as for her sweet demeanor. A professor says Pryde had traveled to Ecuador last summer to research water quality issues. She had planned to return for follow-up work.

Mary Karen Read was born in South Korea into an Air Force family and lived in Texas and California before settling in Annandale, Va. Her aunt, Karen Kuppinger in Rochester, N.Y., said her 19-year-old niece had struggled adjusting to Tech's sprawling campus, but had recently begun making friends and looking into a sorority. "I think she wanted to try to spread her wings," she said. Read was an interdisciplinary studies major.

Reema Samaha, 18, a freshman, of Centreville, Va., liked dancing and was a fan of ballet and belly dancing (a nod to her family's roots in Lebanon), as well as a member of the school's Contemporary Dance Ensemble. "She just danced, and laughed and smiled," said Linda D'Orazio, a neighbor. Friends said she was captivating to watch on stage: "She was just beautiful and when you watched her, I thought she was one of the most gorgeous girls in the world inside and out," said Lauren Walters, a Westfield graduate who is now enrolled at Clemson University.

Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt, was a doctoral student in civil engineering. Shaalan came to Virginia Tech to work with G.V. Loganathan, an engineering professor who was also killed in Monday's shooting. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Egyptian embassy in Washington was taking necessary measures to fly his body home. Shaalan was married and the father of a 1-year-old son.

Leslie Sherman, a sophomore from Springfield, Va., was a history and international studies major. An avid traveler, she was headed to Russia this summer to study. Her grandmother, Gerry Adams, said Sherman loved reading and socializing with her "gaggle" of more than 15 cousins spread out at colleges across the country. She text-messaged one of them the evening before she died.

Maxine Turner, a senior from Vienna, Va., was a chemical engineering major. Her father, Paul Turner, says she had finished her required credits and was preparing for her May graduation, but wanted to take German as an elective. Turner recently helped found a chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a sorority for women in engineering. Her interests included Tae Kwon Do, Shakespeare and Red Hot Chili Peppers. She had accepted a chemical engineering job with W.L. Gore and Associates, in Elkton, Md. Her father wept today as he described the loss of his child. He asked why legislators don't put in more laws to protect people.

Nicole White, 20, a international studies major from Hampton Roads, Va., was a junior. She had also worked at a YMCA as a lifeguard.

The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and a teacher, injured 21 others, while 3 were injured while attempting to escape, before committing suicide. It is the fourth-deadliest school massacre in United States history, after the 1927 Bath School disaster, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1966 University of Texas massacre, and the deadliest for an American high school. (Wikipedia)

Victims of The Columbine High School Shooting

Injuries and deaths in initial incident

Rachel Scott, age 17, killed by shots to the head, torso, and leg on a grassy area next to the West Entrance of the school.
Richard Castaldo, age 17, shot in the arm, chest, back and abdomen on the same grassy area.
Daniel Rohrbough, age 15, killed by a shot to the chest on the West Staircase.
Sean Graves, age 15, shot in the back, foot and abdomen on the West Staircase.5. Lance Kirklin, age 16, shot with wounds to the leg, neck and jaw on the West Staircase.
Michael Johnson, age 15, escaped from the grassy knoll with wounds to his face, arm and leg.
Mark Taylor, age 16, shot in the chest, arms and leg on the grassy knoll.
Anne-Marie Hochhalter, age 17, shot in the chest, arm, abdomen, back, and left leg near the cafeteria's entrance.
Brian Anderson, age 16, injured near the West Entrance by flying glass.
Patti Nielson, age 35, hit in the shoulder by shrapnel near the West Entrance.
Stephanie Munson, age 16, shot in the ankle inside the North Hallway.
Dave Sanders, age 47, died of blood loss after being shot in the neck and back inside the South Hallway.

Injuries and deaths in the library

Evan Todd, age 15, sustained minor injuries from the splintering of a desk he was hiding under
Kyle Velasquez, age 16, killed by gunshot wounds to the head and back.
Patrick Ireland, age 17, shot in the arm, leg, head, and foot.
Daniel Steepleton, age, 17, shot in the thigh.
Makai Hall, 18, shot in the knee.
Steven Curnow, age 14, killed by a shot to the neck.
Kacey Ruegsegger, age 17, shot in the hand, arm and shoulder.
Cassie Bernall, age 17, killed by a shot to the head.
Isaiah Shoels, age 18, killed by a shot to the chest.
Matthew Kechter, age 16, killed by a shot to the chest.
Lisa Kreutz, age 18, shot in the shoulder, hand and arms and thigh.
Valeen Schnurr, age 18, injured with wounds to the chest, arms and abdomen.
Mark Kintgen, age 17, shot in the head and shoulder.
Lauren Townsend, age 18, killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest and lower body.
Nicole Nowlen, age 16, shot in the abdomen.
John Tomlin, age 16, killed by multiple shots to the head and neck.
Kelly Fleming, age 16, killed by a shot to the back.
Jeanna Park, age 18, shot in the knee, shoulder and foot.
Daniel Mauser, age 15, killed by a shot to the face.
Jennifer Doyle, age 17, shot in the hand, leg and shoulder.
Austin Eubanks, age 17, shot in the head and knee.
Corey DePooter, age 17, killed by shots to the chest and neck.

The Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence - Tribute Pages

Anthony Glenn Johnson Jr. (AG): He was gun down on March 10,2008. A horrible event in which this young man was set up by some suppose to be friends that help in conspired in this tragedy.

Benny Doran: "On the night of March 31, 2003, my Ben, almost sixteen and full of life, was brutally beaten to death by two complete strangers that were adult gang members."

BLAIR DELANE HOLT WAS THE ONLY CHILD AND 16-YEAR-OLD SON OF ANNETTE AND RONALD HOLT. BLAIR'S LIFE WAS CUT SHORT ON MAY 10, 2007 WHEN HE SHIELDED A FRIEND AND CLASSMATE FROM BEING FATALLY WOUNDED. BLAIR DIED A HERO. HIS HEROIC DEED GAINED NATIONWIDE ATTENTION VIA MEDIA OUTLETS SUCH AS CNN, BET, ARTE-TV/GERMAN TV VERSION OF PBS, THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, CBS EVENING NEWS, EBONY MAGAZINE ANDERSON COOPER 360, AS WELL AS LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS.

Brian Edward Clark: My 17 year old son was shot in the face by his brother and died instantly. The dying father of these two boys had manipulative lawyer manipulate a supreme court judge into throwing out the only person that could have held this family together in whatever way was possible. This idiot judge decided to order the mother (me) out of the house and let the chemotherapy ridden body of the father be in charge of two teens who were troubled.

Brooke Suzanne McDonald: On October 4,2008,17 year old Brooke Suzanne McDonald,my darling daughter was shot and killed by a 20 year old man. He said he thought he had taken all the bullets out of his .44 magnum handgun,before he pointed it at her head and pulled the trigger hitting her in the temple and killing her instantly. She was at a small gathering of about 8 other people.

Chance Allen Caffery: Dec 21 1982 God loaned a baby and on Fed 18 2006 he needed an angel my boy

My son was getting ready for his son Gavin's first Birthday party.

He had been home less than a few moments when Glenford Hull his neighbor of upstate NY, called him out in the hall because of noise and point blank shot him in the head and killed him instantly in front of his own daughter.

Our lives for ever changed because of a gun shot.

We feel if a gun had not been in his home this confrontation would have been avoided, and our son Chance would still be here today.

Dustin Wayne Johnson: My 16 year old son was killed May 21,2006 by gun violence.
He was the most loving,caring & giving person to be alive!

He saved 3 lives through his own,when I decided to do organ donation.
He will always be missed & never forgotten!

Gilbert M Vidana Jr.(GIBBY): On a Friday afternoon several cold hearted people entered our home and invaded it without a cause. They held my son who was only 20 and my daughter who was only 12 at gunpoint. They proceeded to rob our home and began to tie my son up with a cord and placed him as well as my daughter on their stomachs side by side.

When they were done,they all began to leave but one stood behind and shot my son cowardly in the back,. After the shooter ran out my brave and courageous son untied him self and tried to stand on his feet but sadly he fell right back down to the floor. Then he turned to his sister and said go get help I think I'm going to die. She then responded to him by saying please Gibby don't die! As she went to go get help my son was quickly losing his life all alone,when his sister returned he was all ready gone!

Laura Wilcox, daughter of Alice and Nick Wilcox, Legislative Chairs of the California Chapter of The Brady Campaign

It is said that a child in the US is far more likely to catch a bullet than to catch the measles. Every year in our country, about 30,000 people die from gun violence and over 70,000 people are injured by gunfire. Drive-by shootings and firearm homicides are becoming common occurrences in the Sacramento area. Have you had enough? Join the Campaign to keep illegal guns off our streets and help curb gun violence.

My family has been personally touched by gun violence. In 2001, my only daughter, Laura, was murdered while home on winter break from college. Laura was filling in as a receptionist at a Behavioral Health clinic in Nevada County, when, without warning, a patient suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun and shot Laura four times at point blank range. Laura was killed instantly. When the shooting rampage at the clinic and at a nearby restaurant ended, three people lay dead, three were severely injured, a community was shaken, and the world was diminished by the loss of an incredible young woman.

Gur Sharon, son of Ariel Sharon

On the eve of Rosh Hashana, October 1967, tragedy strikes Sharon again. Gur, Sharon's eleven years old son, and his friend, Yaakov Keren, play with an old shot gun which belongs to Ariel Sharon. The children put gun powder in the shot gun and during play Yaakov aims the gun at Gur's head and pulls the trigger. Sharon then hears the shot, hurries to the front door of his house, where he finds his son Gur lying unconscious, bleeding from his head. Sharon takes Gur in his arms and rushes to the nearest hospital, but when he arrives there it's already too late.

Gur is buried next to his mother, Margalit, who was killed in a car accident six years earlier. At the funeral Sharon sobs.

Albertville Technical School, Winnenden, Germany Shooting

The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at a secondary school in Winnenden, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school one year earlier.^[1] Several people were also injured during the incident.