By Carolyn Cole/Staff Writer

David Meyerhoeffer considers himself a Virginia Tech Hokie, born and bred.

Some of his favorite memories happened on that campus, first as an undergraduate agriculture student and later as an instructor while earning a master’s degree in animal science.

Although it’s been four decades since Meyerhoeffer and his wife, Barbara lived in Blacksburg, Va., tears welled in their eyes when talking about the carnage that struck the community. Cho Seung-Hui, 23, shot and killed 32 students and professors Monday at the campus before committing suicide.

“It hit me right there,” David Meyerhoeffer said, touching his chest. “It’s hard to believe.”

The couple’s first thoughts turned to their great-niece, Maggie Crosby, a sophomore studying business at the school. Barbara Meyerhoeffer said she talked with Maggie’s family the night before the shooting — the student had returned home to Stranton, Va., for the weekend to celebrate her mother’s birthday.

“We knew she was going back to school, but we still worried,” she said.

Maggie made it back to campus at 9:15 a.m. Monday, about a half hour before Seung-Hui turned his guns on students at Norris Hall. Barbara Meyerhoeffer said Maggie has classes in the building on Tuesday and Thursday, and if Seung-Hui had chosen a different day, she could have been in danger.

Meyerhoeffer said Maggie lost a friend in the massacre, a girl she trained with for a 10-kilometer race. Maggie’s family sent an e-mail after visiting the campus about the numerous candle and flower memorials scattered around the sprawling campus, and large black, orange and burgundy ribbons tied to trees. They wrote about the pain in the students’ faces, and the mass media outlets taking photos of mourning teens.

David Meyerhoeffer said the community needs time to grieve out of the public eye and with recent threats at schools nationwide, he worries a copycat incident could occur. The couple said they believe Virginia Tech’s administration made the right decisions on Monday, despite criticism that officials should have taken action after police said Seung-Hui fatally shot two people in a dormitory. Officials have said they thought the first incident was a domestic disturbance, and that the shooter left campus and was no longer a threat.

“The student body seems to be standing behind the president of the college,” Barbara Meyerhoeffer said.

While both said they believe the tragedy will forever remain in the memories of Hokies and Blacksburg, Va., residents, the community will pull together and emerge stronger than before.

“Hokie Hokie High. Tech, Tech, V-P-I,” David Meyerhoeffer chanted.