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Horror at Virginia Tech : A Sorrow Beyond Words

Originally posted Thursday April 19, 2007 12:00 PM EDT

As police officers arrived at the scene, the campus was finally locked down – but too late. Photo by: MATT GENTRY / THE ROANOKE TIMES / AP

With the wrenching sadness that followed came tough questions: Could university officials have done more to prevent the bloodshed – especially the second wave?

Why, despite a terrifying, minutes-long pop-pop-pop of audible gunshots, did police appear to take so long to enter Norris Hall? "The officers found the front doors barricaded," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger later said, defending the actions of police. "Within a minute the officers breached the doors."

Sadly, they were still too late. The investigation into Cho's motives and mental state will continue, and survivors will begin to recover. The sense of loss, though, will last a very long time. "We're standing looking at Norris Hall, and there are people in it, and all the lights are on, but I'm like, 'Two of my friends died in there,' " says freshman Margaret Morris, 18. "None of it has sunk in yet and I don't want it to."