The Mass-Shooting Survivor Network

As Patrick Korellis remembers it, he arrived at the college support group in 2008 and introduced himself to the person standing closest to him, a young woman named Emily Haas. She was a junior at Virginia Tech, majoring in business. Mr. Korellis was a senior at Northern Illinois University, studying meteorology and geography.

They would later swap stories of the stereotypical college variety — about cafeteria food, campus life and their post-graduation plans — but first, Mr. Korellis and Ms. Haas connected over a horrific shared experience.