Jurors for the wrongful death case filed by the parents of slain Virginia Tech students Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde ruled yesterday the university had not done enough to inform the school community about the two shootings which occurred the morning of April 16, 2007.
Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman who committed the morning shootings, killed another 30 people later that afternoon, but Virginia Tech maintains its officials did not act improperly.
“The heinous crimes committed by Seung-Hui Cho were an unprecedented act of violence that no one could have foreseen,” Virginia Tech spokesperson Mark Owczarski said in a statement yesterday. “The extended Virginia Tech family, particularly those on campus that horrible day, will always remember and honor those we lost.”
Peterson and Prydes’ families alleged Virginia Tech did not properly warn the university community about the initial shootings at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a campus dormitory. The suit claimed such an alert could have saved the lives of their children and others.
The jury awarded $4 million to each of the families, but damages paid to the families must be capped at $100,000 according to the Virginia Tort Claims Act.
The U.S. Department of Education fined Virginia Tech $55,000 in 2010 for failing to respond appropriately to the shootings and provide adequate warnings to students.
“Under the Clery Act, institutions must issue timely warning to the campus community to inform affected persons of crimes considered to be a threat to students and employees,” according to a Dec. 2010 report issued by the Department of Education. “Virginia Tech failed to comply with the requirements relating to a timely warning.”
Virginia Tech has maintained university officials responded correctly when they waited to issue a warning to the entire campus community after the morning shootings. Those shootings were followed by the more deadly shootings at Norris Hall hours later.
The Department of Education report said Virginia Tech had not issued its warnings quickly enough or followed its own policies when issuing the warnings.
“First, the warnings that were issued by the university were not prepared or disseminated in a manner to give clear and timely notice of the threat to the health and safety of campus community members,” the report said. “Second, Virginia Tech did not follow its own policy for the issuance of timely warnings as published in its annual campus security reports.”
Virginia Tech’s Continuing Education School, Government Relations Office and Veterinary School were locked down by 9:15 a.m., according to the Department of Education report.
“If the university had provided an appropriate timely warning after the first shootings at [West Ambler Johnson dorm], the other members of the campus community may have had enough time to take similar actions to protect themselves,” the report said.
Despite the decision yesterday, Virginia Tech officials maintain they acted promptly and efficiently to minimize the damage done on a day on which 33 people died and 17 were wounded.
“We are disappointed with today’s decision and stand by our long-held position that the administration and law enforcement at Virginia Tech did their absolute best with the information available on April 16, 2007,” Owczarski said. “We do not believe that evidence presented at trial relative to the murders in West Ambler Johnston created an increased danger to the campus that day.”