Dispelling a rumor: “wanusmaximus” isn’t the VTech shooter (I think); Update: ABC News interviews wanus!
posted at 10:30 pm on April 16, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Rusty Shackleford IM’d me 20 minutes ago to ask if I’d heard the rumor about the “wanusmaximus” LiveJournal page. I had. We got a hot tip about it this afternoon at 4 p.m. and spent the next two and a half hours poring over it and debating amongst ourselves whether to write it up. Follow the link, start scrolling, and you’ll see why. Then, at around 6:30, wanus himself turned up in this thread at the Something Awful forums (which had already linked to his LJ site), posted a screencap of his SiteMeter, and joked that he sure did wish he’d had AdSense installed today. Shortly thereafter a similar post appeared at the top of the “wanuxmaximus” LJ page: again, a shot of his SiteMeter, a joke about AdSense, a message of peace to the VTech victims, and a few brief details about himself. The post was removed for unknown reasons after half an hour or so, but Michelle, Bryan, Ian, and I all saw it. This was around 7 p.m. ET, so unless someone’s hacked into wanus’s account and is messing around on his site, he’s obviously not the VTech shooter.
Nice try, though. Dude is armed to the teeth.
Update: wanus has a new post up as of 10:29 p.m. stating again that he’s not the shooter. Told you so.
Update: Apparently Geraldo Rivera is showing wanus’s Facebook page on Fox News right now. Good god.
Update: Cops have now told Geraldo that wanus has nothing to do with it.
Update: wanus gets his 15 minutes.
“It was five for five. I was Asian, I lived in (the dorm), I go to V Tech, I recently broke up with my girlfriend and I collect guns,” Chiang, who initially contacted ABC affiliate KNXV.
Three separate federal sources have told ABC News that Chiang is not a suspect or a person of interest in their investigation.
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Yeah, I’d still steer clear of ol’ wanusmaximus, myself.
aero on April 16, 2007 at 10:32 PM
Looks to me like he wishes he was the shooter.
stonemeister on April 16, 2007 at 10:34 PM
His girlfriend is smoking hot.
PeteRR on April 16, 2007 at 10:34 PM
Nice collection of weapons he has.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 10:38 PM
I hope not but there was enough stuff there to give a lot of doubt.
But again this isnt over yet
William Amos on April 16, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Is this disclaimer on there
William Amos on April 16, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Hey, his “Not It!” post is back up. Good deal.
Tanya on April 16, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Should we go to Chow Yun Fat’s Myspace next? WTF?
Jim Treacher on April 16, 2007 at 10:45 PM
This guy is getting death threats?…What a bunch of dicks these people are…yeah and lest they forget the actual gunman is DEAD!
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 10:46 PM
Crap, I fell for it. He was asian, a self-identified “arms dealer” and broke up with his girl last month. I refrained from posting his picture, because I wasn’t sure, but still…
I should have known something was fishy when you didn’t post it.
John on April 16, 2007 at 10:47 PM
Yeah, that’s logical, isn’t it! Some people are just morons.
nukemhill on April 16, 2007 at 10:51 PM
good thing for Ann this isn’t him.
jp on April 16, 2007 at 10:57 PM
Plus, this guy is ready to defend himself against said death threats.
I vote for Jackie Chan, as he has always been a little hinky. No one is that cheerful and bouncy all the time. Have we checked on his where abouts?
Stormy70 on April 16, 2007 at 11:01 PM
I could be wrong but Geraldo is now talking about this guy…
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Stupid FNC keeps talking about this guy, but not naming him and being “cautious”… but you’d think they’d have the ability to confirm that he’s NOT the guy. Shep just rambled about it a few minutes ago, now Geraldo.
RightWinged on April 16, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Thought it’s probably not the time (of course he could have been responding to a specific question), McCain of all people is the only one with the balls to speak against the anti-gun hysteria.. not that forcefully, but surprised he said this at all:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OI1GEO0&show_article=1&catnum=3
RightWinged on April 16, 2007 at 11:13 PM
Shep and Geraldo together opining? Good grief! I am glad I am only getting my info from the net and not the idiotic media.
Stormy70 on April 16, 2007 at 11:13 PM
Greta is eating this stuff up…almost like she wants more to die…sickening.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:15 PM
“This student with his arsenal”….what an idiot!!
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:16 PM
Wow, now according to Geraldo he has AUTOMATIC weapons….those crazy gun people…forget about AQ he says..
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:16 PM
Geraldo keeps saying it’s a FaceBook page, not a LiveJournal page, so perhaps he’s talking about something else?
Mibrilane on April 16, 2007 at 11:17 PM
sparkling wiggles?
Somebody needs a timeout.
csdeven on April 16, 2007 at 11:17 PM
Countdown until Geraldo and Shep pop up on a split screen holding black babies and crying that Bush won’t let them leave.
Geraldo said a few minutse ago that his team is going to use all of their “energy” to find out if this facebook guys is in deed the guy.
I just realized something though, is the facebook guy they’re talking about the same as the LiveJournal thing AP links to in this post, or are these two different things we’re talking about?
RightWinged on April 16, 2007 at 11:19 PM
I blame Rosie’s “ching chong” comments.
RightWinged on April 16, 2007 at 11:20 PM
I like this guy.. I think I’m gonna invite to my myspace.. seriously..
RobertCSampson on April 16, 2007 at 11:22 PM
I believe this guy has a facebook account also.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:22 PM
http://vt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029220&id=6202368&page=2&l=d1b29
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:24 PM
WTF? This guy is some kind of weird narcissist, and armed like a small communist nation. “I think I’ll just Stand Back, and try to move away slowly…oh, yeah.”
Jaibones on April 16, 2007 at 11:27 PM
I do like his quote on one page.
If guns kill people then
pen mospell wrds
Spoons make Rosie O’Donnell fat
William Amos on April 16, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Seems like a pretty cool guy to me.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Pics?
Jaibones on April 16, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Check my link.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:29 PM
I am not sure of this kid. He has some racist remarks on his site and he talks about Heroin being his “Blanket”
He does have some problems.
William Amos on April 16, 2007 at 11:30 PM
He made Drudge it seems and if that is his screenshot he is checking out Hot Air.
EnochCain on April 16, 2007 at 11:34 PM
If you read his comment, he says he’s enjoying his newfound celebrity. That’s strange. I think I’d be cursing it.
thedecider on April 16, 2007 at 11:34 PM
Oh lovely he took a screenshot of his web browsing and apparently he was here at Hot air at one time
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/wchiang/drudgereport.JPG
William Amos on April 16, 2007 at 11:38 PM
If you read through his stuff, he has some strong conservative leanings. Many quotes from Ann Coulter, and he obviously supports the right to bear arms. I think he’s just a young guy who enjoys guns. He even mentions the family photos behind one a couple of the gun pics. I don’t know where he’s from, but – from what I see of him – he could be “any normal kid” where I live.
thedecider on April 16, 2007 at 11:42 PM
The dude does seem to like guns a lot, but that’s not a crime… it seems like he’s probably studying some related field, given all the high-tech guns he appears to be checking out and shooting in the thousands of photos in his 38 albums.
Obviously this isn’t “the guy”, but it is interesting that the vast majority of his photos are of his admittedly extremely hot girlfriend… but it is an odd coincidence that he comes off girlfriend obsessed. Again, it seems we know it’s not him, that’s just kind of weird.
That said, the media can potentially have a field day… He uses Coulter’s dreaded “F” word as part of an album title here:
http://vt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091998&id=6202368&l=d1b29
And uses the “N” word as part of the album title here:
http://vt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95891&id=6202368&op=36&l=d1b29
Take away guns and take away speech! VT students who have an interest in guns and ridiculously hot girlfriends can only be stopped if we all shut up and give up our rights! I’m sure Bush is responsible somehow too, but I haven’t worked out the details yet.
RightWinged on April 16, 2007 at 11:57 PM
It’s getting tougher by the day to view Fox ! !
Sheps getting sickening or maybe I just started to
notice . Hemmer is the one that drive me to turn on talk radio.
Texyank on April 17, 2007 at 12:02 AM
OMG…Geraldo is still pushing this sh*t!
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:11 AM
Ok, so Geraldo, Greta and Shep are on the scene. Does anyone know if Anderson has showed up yet? He’s the only one missing.
btw heh @ the screenshot with HotAir in it.
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:13 AM
He has weapons so he must be a killer….
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:15 AM
I just posted this in the newer thread (too lazy to retype):
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:16 AM
Look what MsUnderestimated found
http://msunderestimated.com/2007/04/16/fred-phelps-gang-to-picket-virginia-techs-funerals/
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:17 AM
Ok, so is this the guy they are talking about right now on Fox? How could they be saying that they don’t know anything about him if he’s posted that it’s not him?
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:17 AM
I just saw that and it makes me sick..
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:18 AM
Because it’s F-ing Geraldo… that’s how he rolls.
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:18 AM
Geraldo’s actually talking about wanus?? Good God.
Allahpundit on April 17, 2007 at 12:20 AM
Yeah and after this I hear Geraldo heard about the shooter having a safe….stay tuned…
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:20 AM
Yeah and he showed the kids site and was talking about his “Arsenal” and his “hate messages”.
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:21 AM
“Girlfriend obsessed”? In your early 20s with a girlfriend that attractive, if you’re not obsessed then you’re in the same small, dark room with Tom Cruise, Anderson Cooper, and John Travolta. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
libertarianuberalles on April 17, 2007 at 12:21 AM
He’s out of control AP, you wouldn’t believe it… No new information is coming out so they’re obsessing over that kid’s page(s)… despite the fact that we can see he’s completely unrelated.
At this point I’d rather see Geraldo given the boot by Fox over Marsden. The crying in NOLA was bad enough, but he’s really out of control.
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:23 AM
Ooh… mention of goth students shooting up Columbine, is he going to blame this on Marilyn Manson?
But about the facebook, could it be that they found it without finding the lj and so haven’t seen the message from him? But I mean, how could that be….
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:25 AM
Geraldo needs to leave the guy alone. As far as anyone knows, wanusmaximus is just a guy who lost a beautiful girlfriend and has been working that out through a diary that used to get all of 10 hits a day. And most of those hits were probably wanus checking on the page himself. Now, the whole world is looking in on him and passing judgement on him with Geraldo leading the way. Lord knows, I was judging the guy myself earlier today when I was just sure he was our shooter.
But he’s not the shooter. He’s just some guy who coincidentally resembles the shooter in enough ways to arouse suspicion. Geraldo, who was once allegedly a journalist, ought to know better than to parade that site on TV and judge the guy.
Bryan on April 17, 2007 at 12:26 AM
The crying in NOLA, writing troop movements in the sands of Iraq on television, defending illegal aliens, (we could go on and on). Why is this tool on television at all? I don’t get it.
thedecider on April 17, 2007 at 12:27 AM
We cant rule out that wanus is unrelated. The police did talk to “Someone of interest” that knew the girl was shot.
All we know is that this kid is not the shooter. Doesnt mean he couldnt have known the shooter. But cant say that either.
William Amos on April 17, 2007 at 12:27 AM
“I am sorry for your loss…um…life goes on….um…anyway”….what an ass!
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:28 AM
He does have quite a collection of weapons though. As for the album titles… song quotes, movie lines, some random riffing on pop-culture and inside jokes. This is a normal guy who looks dodgy when some other random asian dude shoots people, but otherwise is just a gun nut who apparently has been to rifle competitions at Quantico, and is thus both American and presumably stable.
I hate him, but just because of the girlfriend. Cute and looks to be cool.
libertarianuberalles on April 17, 2007 at 12:28 AM
Is that person really his girlfriend?
She is cute, to say the least.
To my knowledge, I have never heard of this person before today.
Now that Geraldo, Greta, Shep, and possibly Anderson are or will be on the scene, the students are now safe and all is well with the world, I’m certain.
William
William2006 on April 17, 2007 at 12:29 AM
The power of the blogosphere. Makes you think. Makes me think about what my response should be before I type it. Just talking about myself here.
thedecider on April 17, 2007 at 12:29 AM
There are some racist comments on his site and some very quesionable comments about drugs and sex. The kid does have some problems but apparently being homicidal isnt one of them.
William Amos on April 17, 2007 at 12:30 AM
What racist comments?
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:31 AM
We can’t definitively rule him out, but I know for a fact that he was on his site today alot. He deleted one post, deleted comments on two others, deleted two photos on another post, added a post, deleted that one, and then added another post tonight. And those are the changes I happened to catch while watching the site and doing five or six other things. If he was doing all of that, he probably wasn’t talking to the police, which is what the “person of interest” was supposedly doing. So circumstantially, he’s probably not involved.
And yes, I have screen caps of the stuff he changed and deleted. If it becomes relevant, we’ll have it here. I doubt it ever becomes relevant though.
Bryan on April 17, 2007 at 12:31 AM
Good points all, especially about the ridiculously hot girlfriend.
But I agree, he’s just using lines from movies and songs. It’s normal inside jokes type stuff with friends..
Geraldo’s “researchers” just happen to be focusing on the title of this album… the problem is, this is an album that has nothing to do with guns, AND THEY’RE FREAKING EMINEM LYRICS!
http://vt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008720&id=6202368&op=30&l=d1b29
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:33 AM
He had a video of a little fgirl on his site that he said he had “watched over a hundred times” in the last 24 hours.
The little girl kept saying “I hate those F/n N****** over and over again.
here is it on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfilLgPB5Sk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwanusmaximus%2Elivejournal%2Ecom%2F%3FREFER%3Dxanga%5Fredirect
Was also his talk with a freind about how he was being “Taugh to be White”
William Amos on April 17, 2007 at 12:36 AM
Geraldo is saying now that the police told him the facebook is not related.
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:36 AM
By the way, I only determined that those were Eminem lyrics by doing a simple Yahoo search…. Is Geraldo and his team that effing incompetent that they can’t do the same?
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:37 AM
Submitted too soon: I meant to add “Glad to see Geraldo and FNC are on top of things tonight” :)
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:37 AM
Yeah I see it now…the kid may have issues but I do not think he is psychotic.
EnochCain on April 17, 2007 at 12:40 AM
The dramatic musical cues Fox is using are making me queasy.
Allahpundit on April 17, 2007 at 12:41 AM
hah! I was waiting for someone to get him! I like this quote from the story:
How does a website hit contain a death threat?
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:42 AM
Aww, come on! It’s not a national tragedy until all the news channels have their own graphics, intros and theme music!
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 12:43 AM
OK The feds cleared him I apologize
William Amos on April 17, 2007 at 12:44 AM
yeah, time to check out some King of Queens reruns on DVR… this Geraldo crap has really pissed me off
RightWinged on April 17, 2007 at 12:45 AM
The girlfriend is too
goodhot for him.(With his “niggaz” stuff he’ll be in rebab with Imus shortly.)
profitsbeard on April 17, 2007 at 12:48 AM
Um that’s how people talk, listening to rap, etc. White kids know they need to be PC, other kids, not so much. So he isn’t being racist. And “being taught how to be white”: he’s an asian kid (very likely a twinkie/banana anyways) going to school in rural Virginia 4 hours southwest of DC. He’s also a gun nut, hanging out at ranges with other gun nuts, most of whom would likely fit “red neck good ol’ boy” stereotype to a ‘T’. Context people.
As for “is that his girlfriend?” Given the # of photos of one girl and the various settings (a few photos of 2 couples together dressed up for some celebration, amongst other obvious date photos) it’s fairly guaranteed tht at least at one point they were together.
You’ll notice that he’s also a VT 06 grad who works at IBM. That’s why he could change his web page and do TV interviews: he’s not in Blacksburg.
libertarianuberalles on April 17, 2007 at 2:20 AM
Firefox’s right wing nutjob plugin. What, you don’t have that installed?
Pablo on April 17, 2007 at 2:55 AM
I’m so out of the loop…. I should change my name to lame duck :(
:)
dead-duck on April 17, 2007 at 3:09 AM
I’m sitting here half asleep and them BAM FOX NEWS ALERT!!!
JayHaw Phrenzie on April 17, 2007 at 3:49 AM
Fox News Alert! Geraldo has waxed his mustache.
Stormy70 on April 17, 2007 at 8:26 AM
What is racist about saying “sparkling wiggles”?
csdeven on April 17, 2007 at 9:31 AM
So…if I go to your link and check out his dolly girlfriend, he’ll find me through Hot Air somehow…and shoot me?!
Jaibones on April 17, 2007 at 10:11 AM
Eh. She’s no MM, that’s for sure. So…this guy spends $6 Large on guns and then picks a dandelion for his girlfriend? No wonder she dumped him…
Jaibones on April 17, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Why? Because he has guns. You should see my XXXXXXXX’s (insert relative) house. Two entire rooms of ammo and guns. No plans for him to go one a shooting spree. Heck, my XXXXXXXX helps pastor the chuch.
Tim Burton on April 17, 2007 at 10:57 AM
Do you mean $600?
Tim Burton on April 17, 2007 at 10:58 AM
Yeah, $6 large = $6,000. I was being Chicago Edgy.
Jaibones on April 17, 2007 at 11:37 AM
Which reminds me: this Saturday is the Spring Shoot for the Weapons and Liquor Committee at church. Some brotherhood, some guns, some gunfire, and some alcohol (weapons first, liquor second).
Jaibones on April 17, 2007 at 11:39 AM
Can’t we show up and beat them with bats?
PRCalDude on April 17, 2007 at 12:13 PM
That United Methodist Church sounds like a hopping place; vote, drink, shoot, then a little male bonding…
Bradky on April 17, 2007 at 1:12 PM
The Phelps crowd is easy to get rid of.
If the police refuse to guard them, they will suddenly decide to no show.
It worked that way at funeral in Redmond, OR … the local cops told them to dial 911 if they offend the people attending … so they decided it wasn’t worth it.
Kristopher on April 17, 2007 at 1:18 PM
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