UPDATED JAN. 6: Virginia Tech releases statement on the revised panel report

A third version of the Virginia Tech Review Panel report was released Tuesday to The Roanoke Times by family members of those killed and wounded in the April 16, 2007, campus shootings.

Families and shooting survivors received copies from Gov. Tim Kaine's office Tuesday, and the document is expected to be officially released today.

Tech officials and families had asked for various corrections, additions and clarifications to the original report. An addendum compiled by consultant TriData was released in December. It contained some errors and conclusions that caused more consternation.

In response, Kaine apparently directed TriData to revise it again. That version was released Tuesday and included more corrections and clarifications.

"We're pleased that the errors in the corrected report are corrected," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said.

TriData is a subsidiary of System Planning Corp. of Arlington that specializes in public safety consulting and research. Production of the report and subsequent revisions have cost the state $626,000.

Hincker said he had not had a chance to review the latest version in full, but officials had been notified of some changes that would appear in it.

Tech took issue with two major parts of the amended report released in December. One item alleged that President Charles Steger's office was locked down after the shootings in West Ambler Johnston Hall. Officials have repeatedly denied that allegation.

The university also disputed assertions that emergency policy group members assembled to respond to the shootings had notified their families about possible dangers, while the campus at large was kept in the dark.

Officials said two support staff had mentioned the shootings to family members in the course of normal conversations. According to Tech, one staff member was calling to wake her son, mentioned a shooting and then told him to go to class at Tech. Another staff member was with her mother when she was called into work because of the shootings.

Among the errors were descriptions of the experience and training of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg police. The addendum erroneously asserted that neither agency had experience in homicide investigation.

Tech police had investigated a homicide in 1984. Blacksburg police had investigated five homicides between 2005 and 2007. Those items were corrected.

It also came to light that slain student Emily Hilscher survived for three hours after she was shot, but neither Tech, law enforcement nor hospital representatives notified Hilscher's family during that time.

But not everyone was happy with the latest revision.

"It's a joke. It's an absolute joke. They obviously did not tell anybody they were going to do it," said Mike Pohle, father of slain student Michael Pohle.

Mike Pohle criticized Kaine for not publicly announcing that more changes would be made. He also expressed displeasure that other suggestions and corrections submitted by family members were not included in the latest revision.

The families released an unofficial "supplement" to the panel report, titled "Forever in Our Hearts," also on Tuesday. Authored primarily by Pohle, it focuses on Tech officials' response to the shootings and the delayed notification of the campus community. It was submitted to Kaine's office on Jan. 1, Pohle said.

Tech was criticized by both the original panel report and families for failing to quickly notify the campus community of the first two shootings.

"If they had issued a warning ... there is no question that the dynamics of that day would have changed," Pohle said.

Asked about the supplement Tuesday afternoon, Kaine said: "We are certainly providing it to TriData. I am not expecting that TriData will necessarily change [the addendum]. ... TriData analyzed what corrections to the report should be made, and they made the ones they thought were justified.

"I do not see any additional steps for TriData to take at this point," Kaine added.

The final private meeting between Kaine -- who leaves office Jan. 16 -- and the families, required by an $11 million settlement agreement, is scheduled for Saturday.

Tonia Moxley tonia.moxley@roanoke.com 381-1675

Michael Sluss mike.sluss@roanoke.com (804) 239-8337

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Below is Virginia Tech's statement on the (second) revised panel report:

Statement from Mark Owczarski, director of news and information, Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 6, 2010 (11:30 a.m.) --While the university has not yet been provided a formal copy of the revised-revised panel report, we have been given a copy leaked to The Roanoke Times.

While we have not yet been able to read it again in its entirety to see where all corrections have been made, we have seen that corrections we had submitted earlier to correct the revised edition now more accurately reflect the actual events.

We thank Tri Data and the governor’s office for their continued efforts to ensure the revised-revised panel report is an accurate record of events.

It is important to remember that the review panel was created to make recommendations for changes in campus safety and security. The many changes and improvements to campus safety and security in Virginia and throughout the nation stem, in part, from the recommendations in the report. In this regard, the panel successfully responded to Gov. Kaine’s charge to offer recommendations for improvement in educational law, policies and institutions, public safety and health care procedures, and the mental health delivery system.

As the addendums note, "The new and additional information has tended to reinforce the Review Panel’s original findings and recommendations. ….While some of the findings have been modified slightly and one added, none of the new information merited changes to any of the recommendations in the original Report."