Reema Joseph Samaha, an 18-year-old freshman of Lebanese descent, was tragically killed on April 16, 2007, in Blacksburg, Virginia. A graduate of Westfield High School, she was a vibrant and talented young woman with a passion for dance and theater. At Virginia Tech, she was a member of the Contemporary Dance Ensemble and was pursuing a major in urban planning with minors in French and international studies.
On that Monday morning, Reema was in her intermediate French class in Norris Hall when a gunman opened fire. She was among the 32 victims who lost their lives in the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. The perpetrator was identified as Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. Although they had attended the same high school, there was a five-year age difference and they were not acquainted.
The attack unfolded in two parts. Cho first killed two people in a dormitory before moving to Norris Hall, where he chained the doors and went on a shooting rampage through several classrooms. Reema, along with her professor and ten of her classmates, was killed in her French class. After carrying out the massacre, Cho died by suicide on the scene. Due to the perpetrator's death, there were no arrests, trials, or convictions in connection with the shooting. The incident prompted a national conversation on campus safety and gun violence.
