The Atlanta office of Paul Hastings suffered a tragedy last week. Jermaine Acevedo, a temp worker in Paul Hastings' record department, shot and killed Raven Buckley, a Paul Hastings secretary, and then killed himself. The murder-suicide happened Friday afternoon outside of Paul Hastings' building. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Buckley had worked as a legal secretary there for about a year. Both were working Friday, said police.

They dated at one point, but it wasn't clear to police if they were still dating when the confrontation took place Friday afternoon about 3:30 p.m.

According to police, Buckley was in the courtyard in front of the Bank of America Plaza with a friend on break when they believe Acevedo encountered her, though police don't know the exact circumstances.

At some point, according to police, Buckley and Acevedo were talking while sitting at a picnic table in the courtyard when their conversation escalated into an argument.

Buckley jumped up to leave, according to police. Acevedo grabbed her and held her down. He pulled out a handgun and shot her three times, at least once in the head. He then shot himself in the head.

On Friday night, law firm spokesperson Lapiano released a brief statement that the firm was "deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' family and friends. Please be assured that we are cooperating fully with local authorities on this ongoing investigation."

Lapiano said Saturday the firm planned to bring grief counselors in Monday to help the staff deal with the killings.

Acevedo was 30 and Buckley was just 25.

'Awful' tragedy: Law firm rocked by murder-suicide [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Paul Hastings Secretary Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide Outside Atlanta Office [Law.com]

We've learned more about the tragic killings at Virginia Tech since our brief post from yesterday. We're guessing you're following the case as closely as we are. But in case you're not, here are some new facts:

1. The final death toll -- at the time of our last post, it was over 20 -- is now 33 (including the shooter, who killed himself).

2. We now know the identity of the killer. "He is Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old resident alien of the United States, as first reported by ABC News."

Feel free to discuss further in the comments.

Virginia Tech Killer Identified [ABC News]
Virginia Gunman Identified as a Student [New York Times]
D.C. Area Man Was Va. Tech Shooter [Washington Post]

Earlier: Breaking: Gunman Kills At Least 20 at Virginia Tech

This is tragic rather than funny. But it's the subject of much gossip right now, and several of you have written to us about it. So here's a quick post.

On Friday, Moshe Kanovsky, a 31-year-old lawyer from Brooklyn, jumped to his death, from the 69th floor of the Empire State Building. From the New York Daily News:

It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Kanovsky's suicide.

"He was interviewing a client," said a man who works in the suite. "He just got up, opened the window and jumped."

A police source said that Kanovsky met with the client in one room and jumped from another.

Jokes about the misery of Biglaw driving people to suicide would be misplaced:

Investigators questioned employees at Levine & Blit, a personal injury practice, and at Ashok Karmaker. Both law firms share a suite on the 69th floor where Kanovsky "did odds-and-ends work" for Karmaker.

Our condolences go out to the Kanovsky family.

Empire State Building Suicide Shocks Neighborhood [Gothamist]
Lawyer dies in Empire suicide horror [New York Daily News]
EMPIRE STATE DEATH LEAP [New York Post]