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I don't think I've seen this anywhere else yet. Earlier, Allah had a round-up about Cho's mental state, including speculation that he was schizophrenic. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has gotten ahold of court records from a run-in with Va. Tech administrators and the law enforcement from 2005. The records are from shortly after a pair of Fall 2005 incidents in which Cho harassed two women on campus. Both women complained to campus police, but didn't press charges. I confess I'm confused as to whether the stalking is why Va. Tech officials brought him to the judge, or if the timing is just coincidental. The article doesn't make that clear. I'm also confused as to whether this is the same mental-hospital/counseling center stint Cho's roommates told Paula Zahn about last night. I'll see if I can work it out.
The Times-Dispatch has obtained court records that Cho Seung-Hui posed"an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness" inDecember 2005 but was released to receive outpatient treatment. A Montgomery County magistrate issued a temporary detention orderDec. 13, 2005. Cho was "mentally ill and in need of hospitalization andpresent an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mentalillness, or is so seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unableto care for self and is incapable of volunteering or unwilling tovolunteer for treatment," the order states.
But a licensed clinical psychologist came away with a different assessment: Cho, who was listed as 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, was brought in byVirginia Tech authorities and was examined the next day by a licensedclinical psychologist. The doctor, who works for a private practice in Blacksburg, reportedthat Cho's "affect is flat and is depressed," but "he denies suicidalideations. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder. Hisinsight and judgment are normal."
He went into outpatient treatment.
After the December 2005 psychological examination of Cho, a specialjustice in Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courtfound that Cho presented "an imminent danger to himself as a result ofmental illness," but that he "the alternatives to involuntaryhospitalization and treatment were investigated and were deemedsuitable." Cho was ordered by Paul M. Barnett, a special justice in Christiansburg, to receive outpatient treatment.
Update: Holy schnykies.
Sometime after he killed two people in a dormitory but before heslaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, ChoSeung-Hui sent NBC News a rambling communication and videos about hisgrievances, the network said Wednesday. Network officialsturned the material over to the FBI and said they would not immediatelydisclose its contents pending the agency’s review beyond characterizingthe material as “disturbing.” It included a written communication,photographs and video. The network said it would release a statement shortly.
Update: A timestamp of 9:01 a.m. is what told NBC the package was sent in between the shootings, about an hour and 45 minutes after the West A.J. dorm shooting and the Norris Hall massacre. It contains pictures, video, rambling writings, including more ranting about the "rich." Cho talks to the camera in some of the video, which was sent to the NBC president, and NBC says it will air some of it tonight. There's a picture up on the MSNBC website that features Cho pointing both weapons menacingly and wearing the khaki vest he was said to be wearing during the massacre, according to several eye witnesses.
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