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October 10, 2008 2:56:01 PM CDT

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6 Months After Virginia Tech, Lawsuits Loom

Posted Oct 13, 07 3:36 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – The Virginia Tech shootings six months ago Tuesday left 32 people dead and 20 threatening to sue. A lawyer yesterday notified state and town officials that he represents the families of 12 people killed and eight wounded; the group is weighing legal action on the grounds that town employees “failed to conduct a reasonably thorough and professionally appropriate investigation,” the AP reports.

Notice of intent had to be served by Tuesday in order to meet a 6-month deadline on reserving the right to sue local governments. At issue is the 2-hour window between the initial shootings at the dorm and the later massacre at the classroom building, during which the lawyer argues university and town officials failed to adequately notify and protect the campus, calling the college’s e-mail warning “inaccurate and incomplete.”

Source Associated Press

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This video frame grab image taken from a video aired by NBC News on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 shows Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui. The video was part of a package allegedly mailed to the network...   (Associated Press)
Virginia Tech president Charles W. Steger, left, Larry Hinker, center, associate vice president of University Relations and Virginia Tech Provost, Mark McNamee, right, answer questions from the media...   (Associated Press)
Flowers, beads, and other items adorn one of the stones arranged in a semi-circle at a makeshift memorial for the Virginia Tech shooting victims on the Drill field of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg,...   (Associated Press)
Virginia Tech president Charles W. Steger pauses during a news conference in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday Aug. 30, 2007. Steger, facing calls to resign, defended his university's response to the nation's...   (Associated Press)
In this undated photo released by the Virginia State Police, Cho Seung-Hui is shown. Seung-Hui, 23, is identified by police as the gunman suspected in the massacre that left 33 people dead at Virginia...   (Associated Press)
This video frame grab image taken from a video aired by NBC News on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 shows Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui. The video was part of a package allegedly mailed to the network...   (Associated Press)
This video frame grab image taken from a video aired by NBC News on Thursday, April 19, 2007 shows Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui pointing a gun to his head. The video was part of a package mailed...   (Associated Press)
Mary Grace Giles, left, a junior from Charlottesville, Va.; Kevin Hughes, center, a junior from Harrisonburg, Va.; and Ryan Bettwy, a senior from Springfield, Va., from left, attend an afternoon prayer...   (Associated Press)
This video frame grab image taken from a video aired by NBC News on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 shows Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui. The video was part of a package allegedly mailed to the network...   (Associated Press)
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