Friday, August 24, 2007
Breaking News: Tech panel's report will offer more than 70 recommendations to lawmakers
The report of a state panel investigating the Virginia Tech shootings will include a detailed timeline of the April 16 tragedy and more than 70 recommendations for Gov. Tim Kaine and other policymakers to consider, a panel consultant said this morning.
The panel is meeting behind closed doors at the University of Virginia to put the finishing touches on a report summarizing its exhaustive investigation of the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The 300-page document is scheduled to be released on Thursday in Richmond.
The report will contain 11 chapters covering every aspect of the shootings, said Philip Schaenman, the staff director for the eight-member panel and president of Arlington-based TriData Corp.
The document will provide a detailed timeline of the shootings and the responses of Tech administrators and police. It also will probe the mental health history of troubled student gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and himself on the Blacksburg campus.
The panel initially struggled to obtain records of Cho’s encounters with the mental health system, particularly those stemming from a December 2005 complaint that resulted in Cho’s temporary detainment at Carilion St. Albans Behavioral Health near Radford. But Kaine issued an executive order in June that gave the group greater ability to access Cho’s health and academic records that are protected by privacy laws.
Schaenman said privacy laws won’t keep the panel from providing a detailed account of Cho’s mental health history in the report. He said the report will go “as deep as you can get” into the topic.
The panel originally was scheduled to release its report this week but asked Kaine for more time. The governor’s office has scheduled a Thursday press conference in Richmond to release the report to the public.
The panel is meeting behind closed doors at the University of Virginia to put the finishing touches on a report summarizing its exhaustive investigation of the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The 300-page document is scheduled to be released on Thursday in Richmond.
The report will contain 11 chapters covering every aspect of the shootings, said Philip Schaenman, the staff director for the eight-member panel and president of Arlington-based TriData Corp.
The document will provide a detailed timeline of the shootings and the responses of Tech administrators and police. It also will probe the mental health history of troubled student gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and himself on the Blacksburg campus.
The panel initially struggled to obtain records of Cho’s encounters with the mental health system, particularly those stemming from a December 2005 complaint that resulted in Cho’s temporary detainment at Carilion St. Albans Behavioral Health near Radford. But Kaine issued an executive order in June that gave the group greater ability to access Cho’s health and academic records that are protected by privacy laws.
Schaenman said privacy laws won’t keep the panel from providing a detailed account of Cho’s mental health history in the report. He said the report will go “as deep as you can get” into the topic.
The panel originally was scheduled to release its report this week but asked Kaine for more time. The governor’s office has scheduled a Thursday press conference in Richmond to release the report to the public.
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