USC Student Charged With Assault in Handgun Case:

Due to the Lack of Fatalities, Media Saturation is Low

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Los Angeles - On Tuesday, 19 year old Zao Xing Yangwas charged with making criminal threats and committing an assault with a handgun. He was arrested on Sunday after making threats at a party with the firearm. Students at the party wrestled him to the ground and subdued Zao Xing.

This incident comes a week after the Virginia Tech tragedy that claimed 32 lives, and the original article makes this clear. Obviously, for the next few months, every incident involving a handgun, especially those involving individuals of Asian decent, will be linked to the shootings at VT.

Before Monday, April 16th, this story would have made very little press, if any. The LaTimes article also makes mention of a 17-year-old student at Bishop Mora Salesian High School in Los Angeles that was arrested for allegedly making criminal threats. The arrest came after a student at the Catholic school found a letter on Thursday threatening "violent acts against students and teachers."

With the ridiculous amount of media saturation over the Virginia Tech tragedy, it isn't surprising that stories of this nature are getting better coverage. It is also no surprise that the country is seeing copycat cases, much like the time following the Columbine High school shootings.

On April 20th, every building on the Kutztown University campus was evacuated at 10 a.m. when a "threat" was found in a note at Reading Area Community College.

In an email that was sent out soon after the evacuation, president F. Javier Cevallos explained that "the nature of the threat was vague and imprecise, but it did specifically mention 10 a.m."

Cevallos goes on to explain that "given the events of this week and the anniversary, this day, of events in 1999, we felt it prudent to hold a fire drill leading up to 10 a.m., and to remain clear of all buildings until 10 minutes past 10."

Rumors circulated as to whether or not bomb sniffing dogs or any outside personnel were brought in to search any of the buildings. Information regarding these rumors has not been released confirming or denying them.

Campus police were seen driving about and announcing that the evacuation was a "drill."

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Original article posted at latimes.com here.