22 Dec 2022

100

VA Tech Shooting: What Happened, Who Was Involved, and What Came Next

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Academic level: College

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One of the shooting were predictable. The predictable shooting is that of Norris hall, where 32 students and staff were killed. The shooting is predictable due to many reasons. The first reason is that a shooting took place on the campus at Johnson hall early that morning. The entrance is not far away from Norris hall. That means that when the shooting took place in the morning, the killer was still within the university's premises. There is a high chance that he would have committed another shooting, especially if he was spotted in the initial killing act. Another reason for the predictability is the writings and video recordings that Cho mailed to the NBC news. The message indicates that Cho was on a rampage and would kill anyone coming his way while linking himself to Jesus Christ. The fact that the police issued a warning to the staff and the students indicates that the Norris hall shooting was predictable. The notice shows that the police were aware there was a killer on the loose, and it's only that they did not have a lead on where the next shooting will take place. 

The Locard's exchange principle suggests that when different objects come into contact with each other, there will be a transfer of material that will take place. For instance, when a killer enters and leaves a crime scene simultaneously, there is a high chance they would go blood samples, hair, and even fingerprints (Mistek et al., 2019). Through the Locard's exchange principle, forensic scientists can connect the killer to the two crime scenes. They would go to the first crime scene and collect any material that would reveal the killer's DNA composition. That includes collecting hair strands, fibers from the cloth, or even fingerprints from anything that the killer would have touched (Roux et al., 2015). The forensic scientist would then move to the second crime scene and collect the same materials. They would take the materials to the lab for analysis and compare the outcomes of the DNA in the first and the second crime scene. The application of Locard's exchange principle is in the digital world. Forensic scientists can use registry keys and log files equivalent to the hair and fiber evidence they would otherwise collect from the two crime scenes. 

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In this case, the transfer of material would have taken place between the killer and any object that he would have touched. That includes the exterior doors that Cho chained and started shooting the students and the staff. The forensic scientist can collect DNA samples from the doors and chains that he touched. The gun that the killer was using also contains fingerprints that would provide enough evidence. In the first shooting, forensic scientists should analyze female students' clothes as they might contact the killer. In Locard's exchange principle, using the infrared spectroscopy that will easily detect any fingerprints in the two crime scenes and create a connection is there is a match. The principle extends even to the analysis of the handwriting of the killer. The killer did send writings and video recordings to the NBC News. The forensics should consider analyzing the voice in the tapes and the handwritings to identify the killer in both crime scenes. There is enough evidence in both crime scenes that can link the killer to both killing incidents. 

References 

Mistek, E., Fikiet, M., Khandasammy, S., & Lednev, I. (2019). Towards Locard’s Exchange Principle: Recent developments on forensic trace evidence analysis. Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 91 (1), 637-654. 

Roux, C. Talbot-Wright, B., Robertson, J., Crispino, F., Ribaux, O. (2015). The end of the (forensic science) world as we know it? The example of trace evidence. Philosophical Transactions B, 370 (1674), 1-8. 

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 15). VA Tech Shooting: What Happened, Who Was Involved, and What Came Next.
https://studybounty.com/va-tech-shooting-what-happened-who-was-involved-and-what-came-next-essay

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