CHRISTIANSBURG, Va., March 14 (UPI) -- Defense witnesses testified in a civil lawsuit that Virginia Tech officials acted properly when a lone gunman killed 32 people at the school in 2007.
The testimony came before the state rested its case in a wrongful-death suit filed by the parents of students Julia K. Pryde and Erin Nicole Peterson, The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported Wednesday.
The two families say they believe their daughters could have survived the attacks by Seung-hui Cho if information about the shooting of his first two victims at a dorm had been relayed across campus.
They are seeking $100,000 each.
Virginia Tech officials, police and experts on campus security testified for the state police and administrators did the right thing when they concluded the first two shootings were domestic and isolated.
As a result, they delayed alerting students and faculty on campus because they believed the shootings didn't pose a threat to the wider campus.
Attorneys for the parents contend Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger and other school officials have attempted to cover their missteps in the incident.
Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday followed by the start of jury deliberations.
