Virginia on my mind

Even if you don't watch television news, or read the newspaper, some events are so monumental that it's almost impossible not to hear about them. The 2007 Virginia Tech shootings would probably fall under this "monumental" category. The story was national in scope. Thirty-three people were killed in what was the most deadly shooting in modern American history.

It was to my shock and horror, when I was checking the news outlets at work today, that I read of another campus shooting at Virginia Tech, mere hours after it happened. Immediately, I feared the worst. But as I read on, I realized it was nowhere close to the 2007 incident and thankfully not a shooting spree at all.

Two people died in the shooting. Sadly, one of them was a police officer and father of five who was shot while making a routine traffic stop. According to reports, the assailant was strangely not involved in the traffic stop, and simply walked up to the officer on foot and ambushed him. The second death is believed to be the shooter, who most likely turned the gun on himself not far from the first shooting.

I don't understand murdering another person, least of all in a situation like this when a shooter has no apparent motive. I hate reading about stories like this one. They're just too sad. I don't know if I could ever cover a story of this nature. For some reason, I feel as though the details of a person's death should be a private thing, as should the grief of any family or friends.

Seeing enough stories like this could definitely have an effect on a reporter, which makes me glad that I'm trying to be a sports reporter.