Former Va. Tech Counselor Apologizes for Misplaced Cho Records
RICHMOND, Va.
The former director of the Cook Counseling Center at Virginia Tech said he accidentally took the mental health records of Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter responsible for the April 16, 2007 massacre at the university, when he changed jobs more than a year before the incident occurred, according to the Washington Post.
Dr. Robert Miller claims that he inadvertently packed Cho’s file in a box that also contained personal documents when he left his position at the counseling center in February 2006, 14 months prior to the shooting. In a statement issued to the Associated Press, Miller also apologized for his misplacement of the files and the distress it may have caused the victims’ families.
Investigators had been looking for the file since the 2007 mass shooting occurred. At the time, Miller said he did not know the whereabouts of the files when he was questioned shortly after Cho killed 32 students and teachers and himself.
According to his attorney, Miller immediately reported his possession of the mental health records after he located them in his home a week ago.
However, an attorney representing the families of two slain students, whose lawsuit prompted the file’s discovery, said he was skeptical that Miller accidentally took that files. The lawyer further claimed Miller had made mistakes when it came to Cho’s mental health condition on campus. Additionally, many family members were outraged when they heard about the discovery.
Virginia Tech officials are seeking to make Cho’s mental health records public; however, they must wait for clearance from Cho’s family. Once the university receives clearance, it will post the records on its Web site.
The found records have prompted relatives of the Va. Tech victims to ask state officials to reopen the investigation of the school shooting. The group includes parents of the victims as well as students who were injured during the attack.
Gov. Tim Kaine said a Virginia State Police criminal investigation into how the records disappeared from the center where Cho was ordered to undergo counseling is under way, reported Fox News.
Click here to read the Washington Post story, or click here for the Fox News version.
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