Study examines trauma-related stress in students after Virginia Tech shooting

According to a survey of more than 4,600 Virginia Tech students – about 20% of the school’s student population – approximately 15% of respondents reported experiencing high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms several months following the 2007 campus shooting. Nearly two-thirds reported having high levels of stress after not being able to confirm their friends’ safety after the shooting, and 14% said they should have been or might have been at Norris Hall, where the gunman killed 30 people. 9% of respondents reported having a close friend killed, while 64% said they had a friend or acquaintance killed and 79% said they knew of the death of “someone distant.” Virginia Tech was locked down for several hours last week after a report of someone with a gun. A gunman was never found. Associated Press