Cho family prays for son’s victims

The family of Cho Seung-hui, the Virginia Tech student who killed 32 persons in a shooting spree, yesterday spoke for the first time since the massacre, saying they are “heartbroken” and “never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence.”

The statement came from his sister, Sun-kyung Cho, a contractor for a State Department office that oversees billions of dollars in American aid for Iraq. She issued the statement through North Carolina lawyer Wade Smith.

“We pray for their families and loved ones who are experiencing so much excruciating grief,” she said in a statement that listed the names of all 32 killed. “And we pray for those who were injured and for those whose lives are changed forever because of what they witnessed and experienced.”

On Monday morning, Cho, 23, an English major, killed two students inside a dormitory, then about 21/2 hours later killed 25 more students and five teachers inside Norris Hall. It was the worst shooting spree in U.S. history.

FBI officials said press reports that U.S. authorities were protecting the Cho family were not true.

Miss Cho’s statement came on the eighth anniversary of the Columbine (Colo.) High School shooting. Two students there fatally shot 12 classmates and a teacher.

Yesterday, church bells tolled at noon on the Blacksburg, Va., campus and across the country.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared yesterday a statewide day of mourning. The District and Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts and Maine were among the states that also declared a day of mourning.

Mourners yesterday donned orange and maroon — the university’s colors — to commemorate those wounded or killed in the attacks.

“Sometimes in the midst of tragedies, it’s easy to forget the things that matter most and become distracted by other things,” Mr. Kaine said at an interfaith prayer service at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park in Richmond. “But we won’t allow that to happen. The thing that matters most today is to remember the family and friends who lost loved ones.”

State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said investigators are making “very promising and encouraging progress” in the search to resolve unanswered questions about the attack.

“They seem to be really pushing,” said Miss Geller, who declined to elaborate on the details of the investigation.

Miss Geller’s statement comes a day after police filed a search warrant for the laptop and cell phone of Emily Jane Hilscher, 19, one of the two students Cho fatally shot in the first attack, at West Ambler Johnston Hall.

“The computer would be one way the suspect could have communicated with the victim,” the warrant stated. However, the document did not outline why police think Cho may have contacted her.

Also yesterday, the state medical examiner’s office said all 33 bodies have been released. Cho killed himself in the second attack.

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