The mass slayings at Virginia Tech University are just the latest in a long history of such killing sprees in the US.
The Pennsylvanian Amish school last year and the 12 victims at Columbine being just the most obvious in a long list.
Of course, this sort of incident is not confined to the US. The Dunblane massacre is sadly hard to erase from the memory. But they do seem more frequent in the US. Could US gun control (or lack of) be somehow related? How long before we hear Charlton Heston talking about his "cold, dead hands"?
There are those who prefer to blame pop videos. Or movies. Or video games. Anyone who has seen Channel 5's Shock Docs: Soldiers Trophy Pictures will realise how desensitised some American soldiers have become to killing. And how death in real life has become a mirror of death via a gaming console.
The university issued a podcast by its president about the shooting. Student newspaper, The Collegiate Times, has been providing updates throughout the day.
Does America need Michael Moore to make another film to stop this sort of madness? Or is this sort of lunacy impossible to legislate against?
