After Virginia Tech : guns, safety, and healing in the era of mass shootings

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Title:

Author:

Kapsidelis, Thomas P., 1956- author.

ISBN:

9780813942223

Personal Author:

Kapsidelis, Thomas P., 1956- author.

Physical Description:

viii, 261 pages ; 24 cm

General Note:

Source of cataloging data: WCP

Contents:

Prologue -- April 16, 2007 -- "Tragedy of monumental proportions" -- First steps -- "A deeper sense" -- When police call for help -- Accountability -- From a lifetime of silence -- "Back to day one" -- "Fire hose of suffering" -- Tower shadows -- "I will work this fight" -- The governor -- Texas half century -- Quiet carry -- Generations of advocacy -- The roads ahead -- April 16, 2017 -- Epilogue.

Subject Term:

Virginia Tech Shootings, Blacksburg, Va., 2007.

Mass shootings -- United States.

School shootings -- United States.

Gun control -- United States.

Victims of violent crimes -- United States.

Mental health services -- United States.

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Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	HV6534 .B53 K37 2019	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

In what has become the era of the mass shooting, we are routinely taken to scenes of terrible violence. Often neglected, however, is the long aftermath, including the efforts to effect change in the wake of such tragedies. On April 16, 2007, thirty-two Virginia Tech students and professors were murdered. Then the nation?s deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman, the tragedy sparked an international debate on gun culture in the United States and safety on college campuses. Experiencing profound grief and trauma, and struggling to heal both physically and emotionally, many of the survivors from Virginia Tech and their supporters put themselves on the front lines to advocate for change. Yet since that April, large-scale gun violence has continued at a horrifying pace.

In After Virginia Tech, award-winning journalist Thomas Kapsidelis examines the decade after the Virginia Tech massacre through the experiences of survivors and community members who have advocated for reforms in gun safety, campus security, trauma recovery, and mental health. Undaunted by the expansion of gun rights, they have continued their national leadership despite an often-hostile political environment and repeated mass violence. Kapsidelis also focuses on the trauma suffered by police who responded to the shootings, and the work by chaplains and a longtime police officer to create an organization dedicated to recovery. The stories Kapsidelis tells here show how people and communities affected by profound loss ultimately persevere long after the initial glare and attention inevitably fade. Reaching beyond policy implications, After Virginia Tech illuminates personal accounts of recovery and resilience that can offer a ray of hope to millions of Americans concerned about the consequences of gun violence.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A freelance journalist who worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch for 28 years seeks the answer to an important question: "Could the [2007 Virginia] Tech killings change how people think about gun violence in Virginia and, by extension, the rest of the nation?"On April 16, 2007, Kapsidelis was dispatched to the Virginia Tech campus, responding to reports of a shooting. In his first book, the author discloses what he saw that day, which included 32 students and faculty members dead, many others physically wounded, and countless emotionally traumatized. As he learned more about the perpetrator, senior Seung-Hui Cho, Kapsidelis cataloged the warning signs that he should have been in counseling and certainly should have been barred from procuring weapons. One of the most puzzling aspects of the killing spree was how the gunman was able to murder two students at a dormitory in the early morning hours, escape undetected, and then enter another campus building hours later to murder 30 more. Furthermore, why did university officials fail to alert students, faculty, and staff about possible danger after learning about the dormitory murders? Although Kapsidelis' account of the violence is well-researched and clearly written, his book's major accomplishment is the author's exploration of the healing process, which he indicates in the subtitle. Too many accounts of murderous rampages fail to offer long-term insights into the trauma faced by survivors, but Kapsidelis provides useful information on the topic, including discussions of "gun violence as a health issue." The author's cast of characters is large, which may make the account difficult to follow for some readers; ultimately, though, the broad cast makes the narrative deeper and more profound. An unexpected strength is the focus on Virginia's governor at the time, Tim Kaine.An important book for policymakers and those interested in the continuing, depressingly widespread instances of gun violence. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.