The recent tragedy on the campus of Virginia Tech University hit close to home for Radford, Virginia’s Matt Hagan. The sophomore Pro Modified driver’s shop is located only ten minutes from the site of the massacre.

“It’s unbelievable that something like that can happen in such a small community like that,” Hagan said. “When something like that happens, you immediately think that it only happens in the big cities. It just goes to show you that evil can happen anywhere. When you think of all the lives that one incident touched … it hits your heart. It’s a bad situation for everyone involved. You never know when people set their minds to do bad stuff like that. You just can’t stop them. You can take all the guns away but the truth is that that people kill people.”

The recent tragedy on the campus of Virginia Tech University hit close to home for Radford, Virginia’s Matt Hagan. The sophomore Pro Modified driver’s shop is located only ten minutes from the site of the massacre.

“It’s unbelievable that something like that can happen in such a small community like that,” Hagan said. “When something like that happens, you immediately think that it only happens in the big cities. It just goes to show you that evil can happen anywhere. When you think of all the lives that one incident touched … it hits your heart. It’s a bad situation for everyone involved. You never know when people set their minds to do bad stuff like that. You just can’t stop them. You can take all the guns away but the truth is that that people kill people.”

Monday, April 16, was just another workday for Hagan, the 2006 NHRA AMS Pro Modified Rookie of the Year. Then he heard a siren’s wail as an ambulance rushed by the race shop. Then another went by. Then a convoy of emergency vehicles and Virginia State Troopers paraded by, all en route to the campus where 32 victims lost their lives.

“It was non-stop all day long like that,” Hagan said. “You wouldn’t believe it. It was just one after another. We remained glued to the television and the initial reports only suggested two victims and after seeing that many emergency vehicles … we had a feeling that it was worse than being reported. And it was.”

Hagan’s only tie to Virginia Tech was friendships from days gone by.

“I used to party with some friends over there,” Hagan said. “I actually went to the college one exit down from there in Radford. Fortunately, I didn’t know any of the victims. It was a terrible situation any way you look at it.”