Hero of VT shooting

I saw this on the news and thought to myself, "This is an AMAZING person and story." The man's name is Professor Liviu Librescu. He survived the Holocaust and the Soviet labor camps, and he died on Monday, which just happened to be Holocaust Remembrance Day. WOW! And the way he died is what made him heroic. Here is a news post of what happened:

It was 9 a.m. on Monday morning. Prof. Librescu was in his second-floor classroom in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall, launching into a lecture on solid mathematics.

A series of shots rang out from an adjoining classroom, followed by screams. Prof. Librescu rushed to the door and held it shut. His engineering students dived for cover behind their desks.

As the sound of gunfire drew closer, his students searched for a way out. Some climbed on desks, pulling down the window screens to kick out the glass, jumping three metres to the bushes below.

In a letter addressed to Prof. Librescu's wife Marlena, one student described how he climbed out the window, but paused on the ledge to look back.

"I saw your husband still standing there. He was holding the door closed and looking over his shoulder to make sure everybody else was safe. It was the bravest thing I have ever seen and I will always remember his courage," the student wrote.

Another simply wrote: "I think he saved my life."

Prof. Librescu was fatally shot, and died on his classroom floor. But by the time the gunman managed to get inside, most of his students had escaped to safety.


I know this sensless act of killing has effected everyone, and everyone is upset. I was thinking of why it is so tragic. I feel it's b/c these people who were killed had no idea what was coming. They probably all just got up like any other normal morning having no idea that they would be dying today, and in such a sad and brutal way.

It also felt a little bit like 9/11 in the sense that I was glued to the TV and just sat in shock and awe at what I was seeing and the story that was unfolding.

I guess it really hit home with me, b/c none of us really know when the end is, and it's important to make the most of every single moment of every single day. My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and anyone who was effected by the VT shooting, b/c it has effected me.