Editing Seung-Hui Cho (section)

=== Early life ===
Cho was born in Asan, a city in the South Korean province of South Chungcheong, and lived in a basement apartment with his family. His father ran his own bookstore but didn't make much money from it. In September 1992, when Cho was eight years old, the family moved to the United States, eventually settling in Centreville, Virginia, a town in Northern Virginia, which had a large Korean community. There, the family became avid Christians. A quiet boy, he never socialized much with his family, causing relatives to believe he was selectively mute or had some sort of mental illness.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/us/22vatech.html Before Deadly Rage, a Life Consumed by a Troubling Silence], ''The New York Times''</ref>

In high school, Cho was teased and sometimes bullied for his usually-silent nature. When he did speak, he was mocked because of it, with one student saying "Go back to China", though he was from South Korea. On April 20, 1999, while Cho was in the eighth grade, two bullied students attending Columbine High School, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, committed a deadly massacre at the school, killing 12 students and one teacher before committing suicide, an incident that made national news. Cho became "transfixed" by the news, and when he voiced a need to "repeat Columbine",<ref name = Columbine>[https://www.denverpost.com/2007/04/18/cho-idolized-columbine-killers/ Cho idolized Columbine killers], ''The Denver Post''</ref> he was immediately sent to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him as having selective mutism.<ref>[https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30325267.html Virginia Tech gunman 'had selective mutism'], ''Irish Examiner''</ref>

Graduating from high school in 2003, Cho was enrolled at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a.k.a. "Virginia Tech", as an undergraduate major in business information technology, but later changed his major to English for reasons never specified. During his entire stay, Cho began referring to himself as "Question Mark" and even putting a question mark for his name on a sign-in sheet.<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/world/killer-known-as-question-mark-kid-20070419-gdpxv4.html Killer known as Question Mark kid], ''The Sydney Morning Herald''</ref> A few weeks after the semester began, Cho's poetry professor made a request for him to be removed from her class when he began photographing female students' legs and writing violent poetry. However, the school officials turned down the request, believing these actions to not be threatening enough. Cho also began stalking two female students, to which he received verbal commands from campus police to stop.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9645423 Cho Was Accused of Stalking in 2005], ''NPR Morning Edition''</ref> When Cho told a roommate that he "might as well kill himself", he was sent to a mental health facility. However, treatment was recommended for him as an outpatient. But because he wasn't involuntarily committed as an inpatient, it was still legal for Cho to purchase firearms. Two months prior to the shootings, Cho successfully purchased his weapons; he also took pictures, made videos, and wrote documents voicing his emotions and opinions and put them into a package.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/question-mark-killer-quietly-seethed-with-rage 'Question Mark' Killer Quietly Seethed With Rage], ''Fox News''</ref>