Report estimates cost of 2007 Virginia Tech massacre: at least $48.2 million

A study by the Center for American Progress estimates that the cost to the public and the taxpayers of the 2007 killings on the Virginia Tech campus is at least $48.2 million. The center says the costs have been borne by parents, students, university donors, and state, local, and federal taxpayers. Among the costs incurred by the university: $3.3 million in settlements with victims’ families and injured survivors; $2.9 million for adding 11 full-time employees to the Virginia Tech Police Department, including seven sworn officers; $2 million for adding locks to classroom doors and replacing door hardware in 150 buildings; $1.8 million in cleanup, staff and classroom relocation, and renovations to Norris Hall, where the majority of killings took place; $1.5 million for adding four full-time mental health professionals; $531,000 for the response and investigation by Virginia state police; $465,000 for a research firm’s assistance to the Virginia Tech Review Panel; and $69,650 for 33 autopsies.