The Night After
People don’t sleep in the aftermath of a national tragedy.
Cover Story
11 p.m. Monday, April 16, 2007
“Just keep it together. It all goes on.”
“At least when they go to Iraq, they give you a gun.…At least you have a fighting chance, not sitting behind a desk….That’s not a level playing field.”
“[The gunman] sucks. That’s what it comes down to. He sucks.”
“I need a smoke break.”
“That’s about as real as it gets, right there.”
—Heard on 105.3 FM driving from D.C. into Blacksburg, Va.
You can pick out the mourners—even at a bar that cranks Lynyrd Skynyrd. A blond woman stomps through London Underground on North Main Street and orders a beer. In her wake are four friends. They form a protective ring around her and/or give one another holy-shit looks. At the center of the ring, you can still see that the woman’s eyes are bloodshot and wet.
Soon, she sees me and my notebook. She hears me interviewing a townie a barstool away.
She wants the notebook to go back in my coat. Now.
I oblige.
On the bar’s TV, CNN has given today a name: “Virginia Tech Massacre.”
Her rage quickly turns to Virginia Tech’s not-quite-ready-for-prime-time president. She leans forward and wags her finger at me. “Ask President [Charles] Steger why they didn’t shut down classes.”
She wants to know why the president didn’t cancel classes until 10 a.m., some three hours after the gunman killed two students on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall. As everyone by now knows, the assailant then took his weapons—9-millimeter and .22-caliber handguns—to Norris Hall and killed 31, including himself.... Continued 
Issue of Apr. 20 - 26, 2007
News and Features
- The Night After
Cover Story - War of Words
The City - Suit Yourself
The City - The City
Comics - Dirt Farm
Comics - Ernie Pook's Comeek
Comics - Lulu Eightball
Comics - Red Meat
Comics - thingpart
Comics - Found Art
Distractions - Post Secret
Distractions
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- Colby King's Farewell Memo
Dept. of Media - Fenty Shows Ballot Initiative
Loose Lips - Stretch Comedy
Cheap Seats - Packing Some Punch
Savage Love - A Dim Outlook
The Straight Dope
Eats
- Sense of Plates
Young & Hungry
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- French Toast
Film - Law-and-Order Gripes
Film Review - Inhumane Societies
Film Review
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- One Track Mind
Music - Boss of Bossas
Music Review - Spot the Drummer
InDC
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- In & Out: Theater
Theater - Over the Whine
Theater Review - The War at Home
Theater Review - The More, the Marryer
Theater Review
Arts and Events
- No-Show Showdown
Show & Tell - Guile for the Camera
Artifacts - Adapted for Rage
Artifacts - Ask Bob
Ask Bob - In & Out: Museums & Galleries
Arts
City Lights
This week's best in Arts and Entertainment.
- Kristin Hersh
Arts & Events - Ben Greenman
Arts & Events - Macro/Micro
Arts & Events - Wristcutters: A Love Story
Arts & Events - Tatyana Tolstaya
Arts & Events - Tim Gunn
Arts & Events - "Manga to Anime: From Astro Boy to Spirited Away"
Arts & Events - Loren Schoenberg
Arts & Events - Los Zafiros: Music From the Edge of Time
Arts & Events - Cynthia Rowley
Arts & Events - The USAisamonster
Arts & Events - The Pervert's Guide to Cinema
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