The news stunned a student population still reeling from the mass shootings that happened in 2007, perhaps the most famous modern geek tragedy.

Xin Yang, a Beijing native, had met her accused attacker, 25-year-old Haiyang Zhu, through the 500-strong Chinese community at VTech. The two attended several functions together, and he was listed on her emergency contacts. But on Wednesday, seemingly apropos of nothing, he pulled out a kitchen knife in a cafe at the Graduate Life Center.

Witnesses said the two had not been arguing before the attack, and that there hadn't been previous signs of trouble between them.

Zhu has been charged with first-degree murder. After the arrest, the campus alert system put in place after Seung-Hui Cho's shootings sent out a notice to about 30,000 subscribers. [AP]

As you know, I similalry [sic] went on NBC's Today Show with the DC Beltway Sniper still unidentified and at-large a few years ago and told Matt Lauer and the nation that the triggerman would most likely be a teen video gamer trained on a sniper video game. The tarot card was a clue, but there were other clues. I was right, as Malvo trained on your Microsoft game, Halo. NBC reported that three months later, and it was part of the criminal trial of Malvo.

Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill. You knew five years ago that your on-line game, Counterstrike, so clearly figured in the massacre by a student in Erfurt that the event and the game impacted the race for Chancellor in Germany at the time!

More after the jump.

Yet, here you are, five years after "Erfurt," still marketing Counterstrike. having done nothing to disable the server(s) for this mass murder simulator, and it looks like "Virginia Tech" is a consequence. There's more going on in the world than Vista. Just ask the bereaved Virginia Tech families.

Mr. Gates, pull the plug on Counterstrike today, or do we need more dead to convince you? "Virginia Tech" was the 9-11 of school shootings, and it appears Microsoft is in the middle of it, in more ways than one.

Jack's still spouting his anti-game rhetoric even though the warrant for the killer's dorm room documented that he had no games in his possession. Not to mention that Microsoft doesn't even have anything to do with Counterstrike other than making Windows. Unless you're going to hold Bill Gates responsible for the killer-trainer that is Minesweeper, we're pretty safe in saying that Bill Gates had nothing to do with anything.

Game Almighty [via l2pnoob]

UPDATE: Warrant Reveals No Games In Cho Seung Hui's Posession [Gay Gamer]

Today anti-videogame activist Jack Thompson reportedly blamed the killer's motivation on videogames. We stand by our friends at Kotaku, and say that there is no place in this senseless tragedy for these kinds of frivolous, baseless accusations, let alone such shameless self-aggrandizement.

It is tough to cover such an awful episode, but the outpouring of emotion that we witnessed on the first post proves that we must, if only to provide the opportunity for people who are touched by this, near or far, to share their sympathies and concerns or find some sort of consolation. –Wilson Rothman

(Above image via Boing Boing via CollegiateTimes.com)

VA Tech massacre [Boing Boing]

Gunman killed after deadly Virginia Tech rampage [CNN.com]

University Advisory [Virginia Tech]