Local family breathing easier

Coudersport native Tom Sevinsky and his wife, Lynne, experienced some anxious hours last Monday morning, knowing that their son, Matt (inset), was unaccounted for in the Virginia Tech dormitory where a gunman had killed two people and was still on the loose.

Anxiety grew to panic as they were unable to reach their son while television reports confirmed the extent of the killer's rampage.

Eventually, through the help of one of Matt's friends, they were able to locate him and confirm that he was okay.

T o m Sevinsky, an o u t s t a n d i n g scholar-athlete from the Coudersport High School Class of 1974, was anxious to spread word back home -- to his father, retiree Tom "Slim" Sevinsky; his brother, Coudersport Postmaster Steve Sevinsky, and others -- that Matt was accounted for.

Matt awoke that morning at 7:15 to the sound of what he thought was knocking on a door at West Ambler Johnston Dormitory. Little did he know it was actually gunfire.

Then, uncharacteristically, he drifted off to sleep rather than rising to make his way down the hallway to the bathroom.

Sevinsky was still sleeping two hours later, rather than walking through Norris Hall, as he should have been at the same time the gunman was terrorizing students and faculty in that building.

"For some reason, I had fallen back asleep, which is weird," Sevinsky said. "I never miss class on M o n d a y morning."

L y n n e S e v i n s k y heard the news reports of the initial killings a n d immediately tried to reach her son on his cellphone, to no avail.

The more particulars she heard from Virginia Tech, the more her concern deepened.

Eventually, she called one of Matt's friends, a student named Luke, who also was unable to locate him. Through the intervention of a resident advisor, Luke obtained a pass key and discovered Matt asleep in his bed, unaware of the tragedy that had unfolded down the hall and across campus.

Sevinsky knew both victims of the West Ambler Johnson shooting and was anxious to return home to Bealeton, Va., to spend a few days with his parents before classes resumed this week.

"You see all of the support out there and it really touches you," Matt said.