Two Versions of Events at Virginia Tech
Over the past seven months, new records and briefings by Tech officials and police show a different sequence of events than that reported by the official state investigation. Here’s a summary:
Official version What the records and briefings show

Aug. 2003 — Seung-Hui Cho enters Virginia Tech

Jan. 2005 — Cho changes major to English
Aug. 2005 — At a party, Cho uses knife to stab at a carpet
Sept. 2005 — Complains of bug bites, no bugs found.
Oct. 10, 2005 — Professor Nikki Giovanni asks Cho to leave her class Oct. 10, 2005: Giovanni also forwards request and copy of violent writing to Tech’s student affairs vice president, who sends it to top discipline official

Oct. 19 — Student affairs dean asks English department chair Lucinda Roy to warn Cho he could face disciplinary action. She offers to tutor him if he leaves Giovanni’s class
Nov. 2 — Roommates and dorm residents say they think Cho set fires in dorm lounge
Nov. 27 — Woman student complains to police of "annoying" contact Nov. 27 — Harassed woman student wants to testify at disciplinary hearing, but none held.
Nov. 30 — Cho calls Tech counseling center and is screened over the phone
Dec. 6 — Resident assistant reports Cho has knives in room, mentions harassment victim is scared and expresses concern no one has talked to Cho
Dec. 12 — Another woman student complains of harassment
Dec. 13 — Police tell Cho to leave her alone; Cho instant-messages roommate with apparent suicide threat; he is detained for psychiatric evaluation
Dec. 14 — Cho found mentally ill, ordered to get outpatient treatment Dec. 14 —Tech mental health, dorm officials advised of mental-health treatment order. Only follow-up is e-mail saying Cho came to counseling center; records since have been lost.
April 17, 2006 — Cho angrily confronts a professor; incident not reported; undated spring semester story about a young man planning classroom killing; not reported, Cho gets D-plus in class
August 2006 — Playwriting professor alerts administration about Cho August 2006 — Playwriting professor asks what to do when Cho walks out of class; Cho continues in class, his violent writing includes a play about a 13-year-old who kills his father
Sept. 6-12 — English Professor Lisa Norris seeks advice about Cho’s silence in class; Associate Dean Mary Lewis replies there are no mental health or police reports Sept 26-Nov. 4, 2006 — Cho writes three violent stories for English class and gets a B; professor cites his “interesting” approach to violence.
Feb. 2, 2007 — Cho buys .22-caliber handgun online
March 13 — Cho buys 9 mm in Roanoke; background check finds no record of his court-ordered mental health treatment
April 16, 2007
6:47 a.m. — Cho spotted outside West Ambler Johnston
7:02 — Emily Hilscher enters dorm
7:15 — Cho fatally shoots Hilscher and resident assistant Ryan Clark 7:15 — Clark is shot first, had apparently come to investigate disturbance
7:20 — Tech police receive report of a loud noise at dorm; officer and rescue squad dispatched
7:22 — Tech 911 log lists this as time of police dispatch to West Ambler Johnston
7:24 — Police find two shooting victims; backup requested
7:27 — Police dispatcher advised of two bodies
7:28 — Officer requests supervisor
7:30-8:00 — Police on scene; interview with victim's friend starts search for "person of interest" 7:30 — Assistant vice president is informed students were slain in dorm
7:35 — Police on scene say they need detective
7:40 — Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum is informed of shooting 7:40-7:57 — Flinchum tries repeatedly to contact executive vice president
7:58 — Supervisor on scene asks Blacksburg to send officers
About 8:00 — Center for professional and continuing education locks down
8:01 — Government-affairs director e-mails colleague about unspecified emergency
8:10-9:25 — Flinchum continuously updates top Tech officials on shooting 8:10 — President Steger contacts Flinchum; told one student dead, one critical. No weapon was found and bloody footprints lead from scene
8:16-9:24 — Police search for and find victim's boyfriend 8:16 — Actual time interview of victim roommate begins, 46 minutes later than official account
8:25 — Policy Group of top Tech officials convenes, discusses advising campus of shootings
8:25 — Police cancel bank deposit pickups
8:40-8:45 — Police be-on-lookout alert issued for Hilscher’s boyfriend; Radford University police unable to get to his 8 a.m. class before it ends
8:45 — Tech official e-mails Richmond colleague, says one student is dead and another is wounded. "Gunman on loose," he says, adding: "this not releasable yet"
8:49 — Official reminds Richmond colleague, "just try to make sure it doesn't get out"
8:52 — Blacksburg-area public schools lock down after learning of shooting on police radio 8:52 — Blacksburg-area schools had been locked down for some time, after a 7:58 request for more police leads school resource officers to leave for dorm
8:52 — Government-affairs director orders university president office's locked
9:00-9:15 — Veterinary college locks down
9:01 — Cho at post office to mail video, writings to NBC
9:05 — Second-period classes begin in Norris Hall 9:05 — Trash pickup canceled
9:15-9:30 — Cho chains shut doors to Norris Hall
9:24 — Victim's boyfriend detained just outside campus
9:25 — Tech police captain briefs top officials known as Policy Group 9:25 — Police captain tells Policy Group no lockdown needed. One member's notes have him saying gunman at large, possibly on foot — that is, on campus
9:26 — Policy group sends campuswide e-mail advising of shooting but makes no mention of fatality or gunman
9:40-9:51 — Cho enters Professor G.V. Loganathan's class, starts shooting; moves from there to four other classrooms; is blocked from one
9:41 — Blacksburg police get 911 call about shooting in Norris Hall
9:45 — Police officers arrive at Norris Hall; Policy Group learns of another shooting
9:50 — Police shoot lock to enter Norris. Gunshots heard
9:50 — Policy group issues e-mail reporting shooting, saying gunman at large
9:51 — Cho shoots himself after killing 32