Karen Wilson

Alleghanians connected to Virginia Tech tragedy

With national media outlets reporting nearly non-stop about a Virginia Tech senior who shot and killed 32 classmates and instructors before turning a weapon on himself, the tragedy is foremost in many people's minds. A senior English major at the school, a 23-year-old South Korean immigrant named Cho Seung-Hui of Centreville, Va., was identified in national media outlets as the shooter.

National media outlets also reported that nine others were hospitalized from the shooting on Tuesday.

However, many local families are counting their blessings as they have found out that their sons and daughters were not injured in what is being described by many as a massacre.

The event marked the most people killed in a single shooting event in recent history.

Among local students at Tech during the incident were Sarah Garbade of Mouth of Wilson, Va. (and formerly of Alleghany County); Karen Wilson of Glade Valley; Perry Isner of Sparta; and Gabriel Moss of Glade Valley.

Garbade is the daughter of Kate Irwin, who could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. However, Ms. Wilson said she had spoken to Garbade and that she was not involved in the event.

Wilson, a 2003 Alleghany High School graduate who is a senior at Tech, will graduate this year with a bachelor's degree in animal and poultry science. She plans to pursue a veterinary degree and has worked part-time at the Twin Oaks Vet Clinic in Twin Oaks for about seven years now. She was there working on Tuesday. "I wanted to be in a familiar place today. I felt more comfortable being home," she said.

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