Cho's Family Feeling Hopeless, Lost

CBNNews.com

April 21, 2007

CBNNews.com - BLACKSBURG, Va. - The family of Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho is speaking out.

Cho's sister Sun-Kyung Cho released a statement to the Associated Press saying they feel "hopeless, helpless and lost," and "never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence."

While many called the 23-year old as a loner, Sun-Kyung knew him as a quiet and reserved young man. Now she questions whether or not she ever knew him at all.

"He has made the world weep," she said. "We are living a nightmare."

Raleigh, N.C., lawyer Wade Smith gave the comments to AP.

"Our family is so very sorry for my brother's unspeakable actions. It is a terrible tragedy for all of us," said Sun-Kyung Cho.

She graduated from Princeton University in 2004 and works as a contractor for a State Department office that oversees American aid for Iraq.

"We pray for their families and loved ones who are experiencing so much excruciating grief. And we pray for those who were injured and for those whose lives are changed forever because of what they witnessed and experienced," she said. "Each of these people had so much love, talent and gifts to offer, and their lives were cut short by a horrible and senseless act."

The family is in an undisclosed location under police protection.

"I actually feel sympathy towards their family," said Andrea Hacker, a 19-year-old Virginia Tech freshman. "A lot of people are probably looking down on them now, but they have no reason to."

"It's gotta be tragic for them as well," she continued. "They're going through just as much grief as we are, plus the added pressure of having a brother do this."

A number of memorial services are expected be held on Saturday, including those of Cho's first couple of victims - Emily Hilscher and resident advisor Ryan Clark.

"We are humbled by this darkness. We feel hopeless, helpless and lost. This is someone that I grew up with and loved. Now I feel like I didn't know this person," Cho's sister said. "We have always been a close, peaceful and loving family. My brother was quiet and reserved, yet struggled to fit in. We never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence."

She said her family will "do whatever we can to help authorities understand why these senseless acts happened. We have many unanswered questions as well."

Source: AP

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