Lonely figure was a menacing class presence

Cho, a son of immigrants, was described by those who encountered him over the years as at times angry, menacing, disturbed and so depressed that he seemed near tears.

He often spoke in a whisper, if at all, refused to open up to teachers and classmates, and kept himself locked behind a facade of a hat, sunglasses and silence.

Authorities have found two three-page notes in his dorm room after the shootings. They weren8217;t suicide notes and provided no clue about why he did what he did. Instead, they were expletive-filled riffs against the rich and privileged.

On Wednesday, police said Cho was previously accused of stalking two female students at Virginia Tech and had been taken to a mental health facility in 2005 after an acquaintance worried he might be suicidal, police said on Wednesday.

Police also are uncertain why Cho stopped, shooting himself to death in Norris Hall, where most of his victims lay around him. He appears first to have alarmed the noted Virginia Tech poet Nikki Giovanni in a creative writing class in fall 2005, Giovanni said.

He took pictures of fellow students during class and wrote about death, she said in an interview. 8220;Kids write about murder and suicide all the time. But there was something that made all of us pay attention closely,8221; she said.

The students once recited their poems in class. 8220;It was like, 8216;What are you trying to say here?8217; It was more sinister,8221; she said. Days later, seven of Giovanni8217;s 70 or so students, showed up for a class. She asked students why the others didn8217;t show up and was told they were afraid of Cho.

She approached Cho and told him that he needed to change the type of poems he was writing or drop her class. Giovanni said Cho declined to leave and said, 8220;You can8217;t make me.8221;

Giovanni said she appealed to Roy, who then taught Cho one-on-one. Roy said in a telephone interview that she also urged Cho to seek counselling. 8220;He said he would think about it.8221; Roy said she warned school officials. 8220;I was determined that people were going to take notice,8221; Roy said.

Paul Kim, a senior English major, said, 8220;Cho was so withdrawn on campus that we did not know we had a Korean person who was in the English department until we met him in class.8221;

Charlotte Peterson, a former Virginia Tech student, said she shared a British literature class with Cho in 2005. On the first day, when the instructor asked students to write their names on a sheet of paper and hand it up, Cho wrote a question mark. 8220;Even the teacher laughed at him,8221; Peterson said. 8220;Nobody understood him.8221;

One of Cho8217;s suite mates in Harper Hall said the killer began the day looking like he had every other day since moving in. Karan Grewal said Cho8217;s face was blank and expressionless. 8220;He didn8217;t have a look of disgust or anger,8221; Grewal said. 8220;He never did. There was always just one look on his face.8221;

8211;Ian Shapira 038; Michael E Ruane