In this time of national tragedy it’s discombobulating to have so many questions yet so few answers. Perhaps the lack of answers as to why these senseless shootings occurred on Virginia Tech’s campus has led to some unnecessary finger-pointing. The Virginia Tech Police Department personnel have been easy targets for outraged parents. Fox News and other media outlets have reported several cases of parents calling for Virginia Tech campus police chief W.R. Flinchum’s firing.

Although some police procedures probably should have been done differently to protect students and capture the shooter, hindsight is 20-20. Everything can always be improved upon. There’s no doubt that these police were doing the best they could under the unexpected circumstances to do their jobs.

While better emergency lock-downs and drills should be imposed, how can a large campus like Virginia Tech really be prepared to face something like it did last Monday? That’s not to say that these types of emergency plans shouldn’t be thought out and on hand just in case. However, if police and administrators could successfully plan for and prevent every possibly harmful event, they would. Nothing bad would ever happen if everyone knew the way to prevent it.

The gunman shot himself, which is a cowardly way to avoid the responsibility for his evil actions. If he were alive, we could all easily, and deservedly, point our finger at him. However, because there’s no living guilty party, some have chosen to point it at people, like the police, who were trying to help. Perspective is difficult to maintain on a regular day, the ability to examine the larger picture in the midst of this tragedy is even more difficult. However, the Virginia Tech campus police should not be treated like they consciously did a wrong.

Tasha Riggins for the editorial board