On what began as an ordinary spring day in Blacksburg, Virginia, the life of 23-year-old Michael Steven Pohle, Jr. was tragically cut short. It was Monday, April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Tech University, where Michael was a senior just weeks away from graduating with a degree in biological sciences. He was among the 32 victims of a horrific shooting rampage that unfolded that day.
Michael, originally from Flemington, New Jersey, was in his German class when the gunman, fellow
student Seung-Hui Cho, entered the room and opened fire. Michael, along with his instructor and three other students in the classroom, did not survive the attack. The shooting spree, which took place in two separate locations on the university's campus, stands as one of the deadliest in U.S. history.
The perpetrator of this senseless act of violence was 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho, an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. After carrying out the attacks, Cho took his own life, bringing the total death toll to 33. As the sole person responsible for the massacre, there were no other suspects and no arrests were made in connection to the deaths of Michael Pohle and the other victims. The incident prompted a national conversation about gun violence and mental health.
