Leslie Geraldine Sherman, a 20-year-old female, was a bright and compassionate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, known to her friends and family as a history buff with a love for running and a dedication to helping others. A sophomore majoring in history and international studies, she had a passion for learning that extended beyond the classroom, with plans to study abroad in Russia.
Her warm and vibrant spirit was evident in her constant smile and her ability to bring out the best in those around her.
On the morning of April 16, 2007, Leslie was in her French class in Norris Hall when her life was tragically cut short. She was one of 32 victims in a mass shooting that unfolded on the Blacksburg, Virginia, campus. The gunman, 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho, a senior English major at the university, barricaded the doors of the academic building and opened fire in several classrooms.
The attack, which lasted for about eleven minutes in Norris Hall, was the second of two assaults Cho carried out that day. Earlier, he had shot and killed two students in a dormitory. By the time law enforcement was able to breach the building, Cho had taken his own life. The incident remains one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history. As the sole perpetrator, Cho's death concluded the immediate investigation, leaving a community and a nation to mourn the immense loss of life and grapple with the senselessness of the violence that took place.
