After Monday's Tragedy, VaTech Bookstore 'Ready to Begin the Healing Process'

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting -- where student Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 people when he opened fire in a dormitory and in a classroom building on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia -- Eugene "Mac" Whatley, the general books manager for Virginia Tech University Bookstore, Volume II, told BTW that he and his staff are still trying to come to grips with Monday's tragedy.

"We are feeling numb," Whatley said. "We feel like we are ready to begin the healing process and get back to some semblance of normal.... It's been very sad, the mood is somber."

At around 7:15 a.m., on Monday, April 16, 23-year-old student Cho Seung-Hui began his rampage by killing two students in West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. About two hours later, Seung-Hui continued his murder spree at Norris Hall, where he killed another 30 people in four different classrooms before killing himself.

"We opened the bookstore at 10:00 a.m. and, at that point, we didn't know anything," Whatley reported. He explained that Virginia Tech University Bookstore has a number of smaller branches around campus, as well as two large bookstores -- the University Bookstore and Volume II, where Whatley works. While University Bookstore is located on the VaTech campus, Volume II is located just outside the campus. Both stores are about a half-mile from Norris Hall, Whatley noted. One of the smaller bookstore branches, GBJ Student Services Store, is very close to Norris Hall, he explained.

Soon after opening, Whatley found out what was going on. "We have TVs in the store, and we heard about the dormitory shootings on CNN," he said. Then, Whatley received a call from the University Bookstore manager who told him what had occurred in Norris Hall. "He said there were shootings, but that no one knows what's going on. He told us to lock the doors and move people away from the doors. We made an announcement that this was an emergency situation." The store was locked down with about 10 employees and five customers.

Whatley turned off the store lights "to make it look like we were closed" and drafted a sign for the door that stated: "Closed Until Further Notice Due to the Emergency."

And, then, Whatley and the others waited and scoured the University website to find out what was going on. "We learned thing quite quickly, pulling text messages off the campus website. There are also webcams around campus." He noted attempts by staff to inform family that they were safe were frustrated by poor cell phone reception. And, "if you tried the landlines, you'd get a message stating that all circuits are busy."

Eventually, at around 1:00 p.m., Whatley was told he could reopen the doors and let people go. He closed up the store at around 1:30 p.m. It did not reopen until Wednesday.

Though Whatley did not know any of the victims personally, "one of the booksellers here, one of his best friends was a victim."

Whatley noted that the close-knit Blacksburg community has been overwhelmed with media, and he's ready for the reporters and news cameras to leave. "It's a sea of reporters. I was walking to work and was stopped by a BBC reporter," he said. He noted that, since the store reopened on Wednesday, it's been inundated by scores of customers, a fact that took him by surprise. "I think they want to show support," he said, and pointed out that he's seen "a lot of parents with their children."

In general, Whatley said, in the wake of Monday's tragedy, he gets the sense that "people want to be around others -- no one wants to be alone." --David Grogan