PRESS RELEASE

VIRGINIA TECH: MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T GET OUT

By David Cariens, Jr. 

David Cariens is a retired CIA officer who currently teaches intelligence analysis and writing in the U.S. and abroad. He is the author of A Question of Accountability: The Murder of Angela Dales -- an examination of the shooting at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia and a textbook, Critical Thinking Through Writing: Intelligence and Crime Analysis. He contributed to the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Agency’s Criminal Intelligence for the 21^st Century.

PUBLISHER:  AMAZON CREATESPACE

PUBLISHING DATE: February 14, 2014

Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn’t Get Out details the multiplicity of causes that led to one of this nation’s worst school shootings — pointing out the incompetence on the part of people in positions of power: broken communications, failure to follow pre-approved emergency procedures, and how misunderstandings of the privacy laws allowed people in positions of authority to ignore the killer’s warning signs. The book illustrates how the age-old argument “no one can be responsible for when or how others will act,” is tantamount to cowardice and, in some cases, a shameful willingness to exploit and manipulate a tragedy for personal or ideological reasons.

For the first time eleven Tech families tell their stories in one place. A first-hand account of the shooting is given from a survivor of the massacre. In addition, several families’ speak candidly about their experiences in dealing with the Virginia Tech shooting and its aftermath.

The book explains that the road to recovery starts with the recognition that the shooter’s rampage could have been prevented. Indeed, the first step in moving on from the loss of life on April 16, 2007 is to understand that we will never fully recover because the Virginia Tech massacre was preventable.

SYNOPSIS: 

           

Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn’t Get Out exposes the abdication of leadership and authority by law enforcement personnel, school officials, and politicians in connection with all aspects of the deaths of 32 people and wounding of 17 others at the Virginia Tech tragedy. It explains, in detail, what happened at Virginia Tech before, during, and after the shooting, and in so doing gives credence to the victims families’ efforts to bring changes in state and federal laws to tighten school security.  The book also helps all families across the nation understand how to keep their children safe and to make sure that schools have security measures in place and that those measures are completely understood by faculty, staff, and students.

The book analyzes the Governor’s Review Panel Report, exposing that document’s serious shortcomings, its failure to address critical questions, and its failure to name individuals and hold them accountable for their actions and inactions.  It also examines society’s shortcomings that have made our school campuses shooting galleries for disturbed individuals. The book exposes the lengths that those in leadership will go to hide the truth, including their failure to abide by their own written policies.