EPICANTHUS

One month ago today, Seung Hui Cho, the 23-year-old 1.5 generation Korean American Virginia Tech undergrad who went on a murderous campus rampage killing 32, blasted out Asian America’s top headline for the foreseeable future in hollow-point 9mm lead.

Backtracking at this late date, I only know what you know. Clearly, Cho was the first mass killer to send out his own EPK—electronic press kit—and, since the videos included in his press packet were in the QuickTime format, it’s a safe bet he created the videos, stills and documents on a Mac. The VT massacre was played out in real time on the Internet.

At first, Cho, like most other mass murderers, was described in news stories as fitting the mold of the archetypical enigmatic loner, but as time has passed, others have stepped forward with somewhat conflicting impressions of the puzzling young man.

Thirty days after the April 16 shootings, we still know little or nothing about the clearly troubled Cho or his motive(s). Initial reports that a broken romance had triggered the violence and that his initial victim was a former girlfriend have been edited out of later coverage. So far, no witnesses have been able to place Cho at the dormitory where the initial shootings took place and police haven’t been able to find a connection between Cho and the two people he killed there.

Four days after the murders, Sun Kyung Cho, the killer’s older sister, prepared and released an agonizingly apologetic statement from the Cho family through an attorney which read in part:

“No words can express our sadness that 32 innocent people lost their lives this week in such a terrible, senseless tragedy. We are heartbroken. Our family is so very sorry for my brother’s unspeakable actions. It is a terrible tragedy for all of us. He has made the world weep. We are humbled by this darkness. We feel hopeless, helpless and lost.”

The gunman’s parents were initially reported to have committed or attempted suicide after learning of the killings. These widespread reports were later termed untrue. They are said to be “in shock” but cooperating with authorities.

News recaps attempt to focus on Virginia’s gun control laws, Cho’s reported history of maladjustment, bizarre behavior and the failure of Virginia mental health system to respond to the clearly troubled Asian American youth who used the pseudonyms “A. Ishmael,” “Blazers5505″ and simply “?”

A MySpace profile which may have been available in the immediate aftermath of the shootings for “Ax Ishmael” has reportedly been locked or deleted as has an eBay account for “Blazers5505,” which Cho used to purchase ammunition clips for the smaller of two pistols Cho carried that day—the Walther P22—along with a set of yellow rubber ducks.

As days passed into weeks, mainstream media coverage waned from around the clock to barely a mention. Most new information has surfaced via Internet links. Did Cho’s parents recognize their son might have problems? Did they seek help? If Cho hardly ever spoke, as it has been reported by several sources, how was he able to progress through middle and high school and then onto one of his home state’s premier universities? Was he autistic?

Earlier this week, Virginia Tech held its bittersweet 2007 commencement exercises. Those killed April 16, including Cho, had been memorialized during special campus memorials in the weeks since the shootings. In their coverage of the graduation ceremonies, TV news cameramen seemed to go out of their way to show Asian members of the student body.

For now, MSM has stopped reporting on VT and Cho. Unlike the spontaneaity of the media’s initial coverage, all information now seems filtered. The public has been left with more questions than answers.

Who were A. Ishmael, blazers5505, Spanky, “Richard McBeef,” “Mr. Brownstone”?