Northern Illinois Gunman and Virginia Tech Shooter Unalike

There have been several reports released through various media outlets making much of the strange coincidence that the Northern Illinois gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, and the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung Hui Cho, used the same internet gun accessory dealer. There have been considerably more reports and stories trying to draw comparisons between the two young men. But how truly alike were the two?

That they both suffered from mental disorders we know. Cho's antisocial behavior was such that he was ordered by a judge to undergo some form of treatment (which he never sought). Kazmierczak's records only indicate a young man who seemed only a danger to himself. That both men suffered from some form of mental incapacitance is clear, but to what degree and how similar or dissimilar is unknown.

That the two men developed a fascination with firearms is also known. Cho would make videos and photograph himself in various antagonistic poses, the videos often filled with rambling manifestos and grievances. Kazmierczak began buying firearms last August (six by one report). To date, there are no recordings or photographs of Kazmierczak that suggest animosity, indicating perhaps an inner antipathy (but this is not known for certain).

Both men were students, well educated. Cho was an English major. Kazmierczak was graduate student with a degree in sociology.

On the surface, these young men had a few things in common, including the fact that they bought gun accessories from the same website. Otherwise, their stories are quite different.

Seung Hui Cho, the 23-year-old student who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech, was a sullen, laconic, and cold individual that unnerved and distanced people. Cho wrote graphic stories and plays that were excessively violent. Cho was a loner. Quietly antisocial, except when he made his videos, Cho was often bullied and shunned by others as well.