VT Massacre: The Copycat Effect
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
FEEDING THE BEASTS Media swarm on Virginia Tech
Right now, police and officials in Northern California have locked down 36 schools after a man allegedly carrying an AK-47 threatened to go on a rampage that would "make Virginia Tech look mild." Police are looking for a transient, Jeffery Thomas Carney, 28.
And while he might be the most extreme case of potential copycats inspired by the graphic details and multimedia manifesto of Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui, he's not alone. (With his references to Dylan and Eric, the Columbine killers, VT murder Cho was himself a copycat of sorts). RadarOnline.com contacted colleges around the country and found incidents ranging from bomb threats to increased drinking in the wake of Monday's massacre that left 32 people and the killer himself dead on Monday.
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After the jump, the fallout on various campuses.