The question, why the delay:

“Sometime after he killed two people in a Virginia university dormitory but before he slaughtered 30 more in a classroom building Monday morning, Cho Seung-Hui mailed NBC News a large package, including photographs and videos, lamenting that ‚Äúthis didn‚Äôt have to happen,‚Äù the network said Wednesday.

Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life.

NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package in Wednesday morning’s mail delivery and immediately turned the materials over to FBI agents in New York. “NBC Nightly News” planned to air some of the material Wednesday night.

The package included a long, ‚Äúrambling, manifesto-like statement embedded with a series of photographs,‚Äù Capus said. The material is ‚Äúhard-to-follow … disturbing, very disturbing ‚Äî very angry, profanity-laced,‚Äù he said.

It did not include any images of the shootings Monday, but it did contain “vague references,” including “things like ‘this didn’t have to happen,’ ” Capus said in an interview late Wednesday afternoon.

Capus said gloved NBC security personnel handled the package very carefully as soon as it arrived. The network immediately called the FBI and turned it over.”

Many other questions from this story. School officials knew in 2005 that this kid was unstable yet no one put a watch or even considered an expulsion?

More to come. NBC is airing the tape now on Nightly News, NOT a smooth move! NBC News along with the other media outlet’s coverage of this from a Critical Incident Stress standpoint has been nearly criminal.

I’m sure the family and friends of the slain appreciate having this picture shown during their dinner hour a little over 48 hours after the crime just for ratings - pathetic.

Capus should be fired.

UPDATE: Capt ED writes:

“News agencies including NBC now have a detention order for Cho in 2005 for his mental illness, saying that he was a danger to himself and others. I have some experience in this, at least indirect experience, and I can tell you that such an order and a buck will get you a lousy cup of coffee at McDonalds. Unless someone can convince a judge that a disturbed person like Cho is so completely deranged that they cannot function at all, anyone with that kind of order will be able to get out within 72 hours. That’s hardly the fault of Virginia Tech. They handled two stalking incidents, but neither student pressed charges, and they had no legal basis to remove him.”

I too have experience as a CISM qualified instruction, and the Cpt is right, so far it goes. It depends on state law, I’m not familiar with Virginia. For instance here in Florida a person can be committed “Baker Acted” for no more than 72 hours as well, but there are ways to extend the stay if in the opinion of the releasing psychiatrist it’s warranted. In any case the school should have suspended him, sent him home. Hell, they do that for cheating.

Point is that this was a major screw up by VA Tech and a failure of the MH system in Va. What should come out of this is reform for our mental health laws. There is no way this kid should have been unsupervised or not followed up on. We don’t have to wait for 33 deaths to make changes.

By the way, I would implore blogs NOT to give this murderer any more press than necessary and NOT post the pictures that are all over NBC news and the internet. Don’t contribute to the pain of these parents, friends and classmates.

Just my two cents, let your own conscious guide.