This book examines the ten years after the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech that killed twenty-seven students and five faculty from the perspective of people who have tried to effect meaningful changes that could preclude or ameliorate such tragedies in the future. It focuses on grief, trauma, physical and emotional healing, (affecting not just victims, but police and chaplains), gun safety, campus security, and mental health. “Kapsidelis tells the story of mass shootings unwaveringly from the perspective of survivors. His voice is quiet, empathetic, sensitive, trustworthy, accurate, and never overwrought, conveying empathy without pathos. Kapsidelis’s account of the actual day of the shooting, and the shooting itself, is brilliant. At a time when guns are posited as the only way to preserve life and safety, the events at Virginia Tech suggest that there are other means of survival and heroism.” - -Pamela Haag. Well-researched and clearly written, [the] book's major accomplishment is the author's exploration of the healing process.... Too many accounts of murderous rampages fail to offer long-term insights into the trauma faced by survivors, but Kapsidelis provides useful information on the topic, including discussions of 'gun violence as a health issue.'... An important book for policymakers and those interested in the continuing, depressingly widespread instances of gun violence. -- Kirkus Reviews. The author, Thomas P. Kapsidelis, is a professor of Journalism at the University of Richmond who worked at the Richmond Tiomes-Dispatch for twenty-eight years.
Charlottesville: The University of Virginia Press, a 2020 paperback reprint of a 2019 release. 272 pages with an Index, Bibliography, Notes, and photos. Trade paperback.