PETERSBURG, Va. --
A panel reviewing the Virginia Tech shootings likely will issue broad recommendations for agencies involved in the tragedy, from police to the university to the mental health community, the panel's chairman said.
The panel, which is expecting to deliver a report in mid-August, has one more scheduled meeting, set for Wednesday. On Thursday, it will meet in closed session with its lawyers to summarize the voluminous data it has collected on gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and himself.
"I expect that we will identify a number of best practices, a number of things that were done right," Gerald Massengill said in a recent interview near his home. "But I think there will be some constructive - call it whatever you want to call it - criticism, guidance, in most of the fields if not all."
The eight-member panel, created by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine shortly after the April 16 shootings, has had to contend with complex privacy laws, accusations that its review won't be impartial, and the delicate issue of whether to grant the victims' families representation on the panel. Kaine asked a panel member to serve as a liaison to the families.
The panel has worked hard to ensure the investigation's credibility, said Massengill, a former Virginia State Police superintendent. Family members of many of the victims questioned whether a "government-chartered panel" could objectively investigate a "government-sponsored university."
In May, Massengill praised police for their response to the shootings in Norris Hall, the classroom and laboratory building where Cho killed 30 of his victims before committing suicide.
Despite that praise, Massengill said the panel had not jumped to any conclusions. He said he was complimentary of the fact that police took just five minutes to reach the building's second floor because he believes that response helped save lives.
"But that does not halo other issues within law enforcement," Massengill said. "We're still looking at all the other decisions."
The panel is also investigating Virginia's mental health system. In 2005, Cho was ordered to undergo outpatient mental health treatment, though Massengill said records the panel obtained from the university's counseling center have failed to clarify whether Cho ever received the counseling.
Massengill said the panel has questioned counselors who helped Cho during his youth to determine if he showed any signs he could be become violent. He said it would be unfair to blame the mental health community if there were no such signs.
The panel's investigation has been complicated by privacy laws, but Massengill said it has been granted access to almost any record connected with Cho.
Massengill said he hopes the final report will make recommendations on how privacy laws can be changed to allow vital information to be shared with people investigating such tragedies.
Attorney Thomas Fadoul, who says he is advising 22 of the victims' families, said they remain dissatisfied with their level of participation on the panel and hope to gain more access.
Massengill said he can understand the families' frustration, but said the panel's recommendations must be free of any perception they were driven by emotions.
He said he has never meant to suggest that a family member could not be objective, but he said relatives of the victims should not serve on the panel just as crime victims cannot serve on juries.
Massengill said he hopes the panel's work can help save lives.
"Life is full of experiences that you must learn from," he said. "And this is one of them."
__
On the Net:
Review Panel: http://www.vtreviewpanel.org/
