After a jury declared the verdict one of death, Virginia's Supreme Court reversed this verdict. The case is about the Virginia Tech Massacre, from 2007. Two of the victims' families stated that they could've survived had the campus earlier notified them of the earlier initial shootings at a dormitory, by student Seung-Hui Cho. On the day of the shooting, the entire campus was warned 2 1/2 hours after the intial shootings, through an email advising students to stay inside. Cho at this point had already killed others and chained the doors to the main hall.
However, the justices agreed with the state on this one: there was no way to anticipate Cho's actions. "Based on the limited information available to the commonwealth at the time prior to the shootings in Norris Hall, it cannot be said that it was known or reasonably foreseeable that students in Norris Hall would fall victim to criminal harm. Thus, as a matter of law, the commonwealth did not have a duty to protect students against third party criminal acts." The court reasoned.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/justices-reverse-wrongful-death-va-tech-verdict-20739501
I have mixed feelings about this. I can understand the court's decisions and I can understand the families' pain. Personally, given the choice, I'd go with the families. I would protest the lack of warning that was originally sent out. Over 30,000 students were there that day, and although it was only one student doing these shootings, they were all in equal danger and therefore deserve equal safety.
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