The panel investigating the Virginia Tech massacre will meet in secret Monday to put the finishing touches on its investigation into the deadliest shooting rampage on an American college campus.

Gerald Massengill, the group’s chairman, said he hopes to have a finished report to Gov. Tim Kaine within days of the gathering in Charlottesville.

Kaine commissioned the study shortly after the April 16 incident in which Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty before committing suicide. The governor charged Massengill’s panel with examining all aspects of the tragedy, including the university police’s response, the commonwealth’s gun control laws and the mental health treatment Cho received in December 2005.

“I am hopeful the report will be released in the next eight to 10 days, but I don’t know,” said Massengill, a former Virginia State Police superintendent. “The release has to be coordinated with the governor’s office and a lot depends on the governor’s schedule, which few people have any control over. I am hopeful we will have the report ready and released before colleges and universities start their fall semesters.”

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The panel has held several open meetings across the state but has met behind closed doors to formulate its recommendations and review confidential documents, such as Cho’s medical records.

“This will give the full panel an opportunity to sit down and look at our recommendations and comments,” Massengill said of Monday’s meeting. “Any questions about what needs to be said and how it should hopefully will be resolved.”

The massacre at the Blacksburg campus is expected to cause a wave of legislative proposals when the General Assembly convenes in January.

The panel’s report is expected to provide a list of suggested measures, and two House of Delegates’ committees have been meeting over the summer to prepare for the expected rush of measures.

“I have a feeling we will be seeing plenty of bills,” said Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News, the chairman of the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com