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Official: 1 Dead on Virginia Tech Campus

(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: kwflatbed

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A shooting at a Virginia Tech dorm Monday left one person dead and one wounded, a state government official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. The state university posted an advisory on its Web site advising students that a shooting had occurred at a residence hall and a "gunman is loose on the campus." The university also told students to stay in their homes away from windows.


Information From: AP Wire Services


Posted by: Danman1116

Here's an update from cnn

(CNN) -- One person was killed and several were wounded in two shootings on the Virginia Tech university campus in Blacksburg on Monday, The Associated Press and the university reported.
The AP reported that one person was killed and one wounded in a shooting at a dormitory. Another shooting at Norris Hall, an engineering building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported.
There were seven or eight total casualties in the two incidents, AP reported.
"Police have one shooter in custody, and as part of routine police procedure they continue to search for a second shooter," the university said in a written statement.
The first reported shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 895 students. The dormitory, one of the largest residence halls on campus, is located near the drill field and stadium.
Student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but he heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.
"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said.
Waldron described the scene on campus as "mayhem."
"It was kind of scary," he said. "These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."
The shootings come three days after a bomb threat Friday forced the cancellation of classes in three buildings, WDBJ in Roanoke reported. Also, the 100,000-square-foot Torgersen Hall was evacuated April 2 after police received a written bomb threat, The Roanoke Times reported.
After the Monday shootings, students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows, police at the university said.
"A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows," read a warning from the university.
"Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where they are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus," a statement on the university Web site said.

cnn is now reporting at least 20 fatalities, 20+ injured


Posted by: mpd622

Another reason you guys shouldn't work with out being armed!
Say a prayer for the kids and officers down there!

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 6 minutes ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Gunfire erupted in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least one person before police arrested a suspect, authorities said. A hospital spokesman said that 17 students had been injured.

The university told students to stay inside and away from windows as police swept the campus and worked to establish whether the gunman acted alone.

On the Web site, Tech reported the shootings at opposite ends of the 2,600-acre campus at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and said there were "multiple victims" at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

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All entrances to the campus were closed.

"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said student Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm where shooting took place.

Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.

"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again."

"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said.


Dr. Tiffany Anderson, school superintendent of Montgomery County schools, told MSNBC TV that all schools in the county had been locked down.

Sharon Honecker, an official at a nearby hospital, also told MSNBC TV that her facility had received four patients, one in critical condition, three in stable condition. Honecker said she had not been advised of any more patients coming to the hospital.

Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, “We are all in lockdown. Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible.”

In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff’s deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus.

The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.

This breaking story will be updated.


Posted by: kwflatbed

Update its up to 21 dead,shooter killled

At Least 21 Dead after Virginia Tech Shooting

A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people and wounding another 21 before he was killed, police said.

The state university told students to stay inside and away from windows as police swept the campus and worked to establish whether the gunman acted alone.
A hospital spokeswoman said 21 students were treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries.
On the Web site, Tech reported the shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre (1,052-hectare) campus at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and said there were "multiple victims" at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
All entrances to the campus were closed and classes canceled through Tuesday.
Aimee Kanode, a first year student, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.
"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again."
"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said.
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus.
The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.


Posted by: Danman1116

this is just crazy


Posted by: 209

CNN & MSNBC says 22 dead


Posted by: Nachtwächter

foxnew 22 dead, 21 wounded


Posted by: Irish Wampanoag

Columbine, College Style, @VA Tech!



This should'nt be of any surprise to any campus police officer!


Posted by: kwflatbed

Statement by Virginia Tech President on Shooting
Posted by TOM BEVAN | E-Mail This | Permalink | Email Author Here's an update from Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger just posted to the University web site:
The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions. There were two shootings on campus. In each case, there were fatalities. The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus. I want to extend my deepest, sincerest and most profound sympathies to the families of these victims which include students There are 22 confirmed deaths. We currently are in the process of notifying families of victims. The Virginia Tech Police are being assisted by numerous other jurisdictions. Crime scenes are being investigated by the FBI, University Police, and State Police. We continue to work to identify the victims impacted by this tragedy. I cannot begin to covey my own personal sense of loss over this senselessness of such an incomprehensible and heinous act The university will immediately set up counseling centers. So far centers have been identified in Ambler Johnson and the Cook Counseling Center to work with our campus community and families.
Here are some of the facts we know:
At about 7:15 a.m. this morning a 911 call came to the University Police Department concerning an event in West Amber Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded. Victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area in the region to receive emergency treatment.
We will proceed to contact the families of victims as identities are available.
All classes are cancelled and the university is closed for the remainder for the today. The university will open tomorrow at 8 a.m. but classes will be cancelled on Tuesday. The police are currently staging the release of people from campus buildings.
Families wishing to reunite with the students are suggested to meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech. We are making plans for a convocation tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon at Cassell Coliseum for the university community to come together to begin to deal with the tragedy.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_poli...ml?xid=rss-rcp



Posted by: 209

Thoughts and prayers to the all those involved and their families. God bless.


Posted by: Danman1116

up to 25 dead now from ABCNews


Posted by: honor12900

This is just unbelievable. Thoughts and prayers to all involved.


Posted by: crimsonwings

yes, god bless


Posted by: Danman1116

actually abcnews is now sayin 29, this is just horrible


Posted by: kwflatbed

According to a campus blogger it may end up with close to 40 dead
most of the wounded are critical.



VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING
Live: Coverage Of Virgina Tech Shootings
Video: News Conference
Video: Sounds Of Gunfire
Video: First Video Of Shootings
Slideshow: View Images From Scene
Podcast: Virginia Tech President's Statement
Statement: Virginia Tech's President
Story: President Bush 'Horrified'
Table: College Violence Trends
Fact Sheet: Deadliest Shootings
Fact Sheet: Virginia Tech


29 Dead In Virginia Tech Shootings

Shooter Deceased, School President Says


Posted by: CJmajor27

Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish Wampanoag
Columbine, College Style, @VA Tech!



This should'nt be of any surprise to any campus police officer!
I bet it is a big wake up call to college administrators. Especially thoses at campuses that forbid their campus police to be armed.


Posted by: OCKS

God bless all those involved and may the suspect rot in hell. I guess this is a reason for all campus police to be armed.


Posted by: mpd61

1. this is a LARGE scale shooting!!! Probably exceed Cahrles Whitman and the U-Texas Tower!

2. College Administrators will NOT read this incident correctly


Posted by: girlcop21

new numbers according to the major news networks are at LEAST 30 dead (including the gunman) and another 20-some being treated for injuries. Reportedly the gunman was looking for his girlfriend and lined up people to shoot them as he looked...

As stated before, life at colleges and universities are not what they used to be... this should serve as a wake up call to ALL schools, but as usual, admininstrators will sit back and say, "whew, glad that didn't happen to us!"


Posted by: fscpd910

[quote=mpd61]1. this is a LARGE scale shooting!!! Probably exceed Cahrles Whitman and the U-Texas Tower!


BREAKING NEWS

NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 2:48 p.m. ET April 16, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at a college in Virginia on Monday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The gunman also was killed, and more than a dozen other people were injured.


My prayers are with the families and friends of the victims.


Posted by: Wolfman

Virginia Tech, like so many other "institutes" has a policy of forbidding guns on campus. http://www.policies.vt.edu/5616.pdf
Quote:
2.1 Prohibited Conduct and Sanctions
Violence includes, but is not limited to, intimidation, threats, physical attack, domestic and dating violence, stalking, or property damage, and includes acts of violence committed by or against university employees, students, contractual workers, customers, relatives, acquaintances, or other third parties on university facilities.
Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, intentionally:
• Injuring another person physically;
• Engaging in verbal or physical behavior that creates a reasonable fear of injury to an identifiable person;
• Engaging in verbal or physical behavior that subjects an identifiable individual to extreme emotional
distress;
• Engaging in threatening or violent behavior based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected status;
• Defacing or damaging property;
• Threatening to injure an individual or to damage property;
• Committing injurious or threatening acts related to sexual assault, stalking, dating or domestic violence or sexual harassment;
• Brandishing a weapon or firearm; and
• Retaliating against any individual who, in good faith, reports a violation of this policy.
Verbal behavior also includes use of any method of communication such as email, comments posted on websites, or other paper or electronic media.
A violation of this policy shall be considered unacceptable conduct and subject to the disciplinary actions under the appropriate faculty, staff, and student policies, up to and including dismissal.

2.2 Prohibition of Weapons
The university’s employees, students, and volunteers, or any visitor or other third party attending a sporting, entertainment, or educational event, or visiting an academic or administrative office building or residence hall, are
further prohibited from carrying, maintaining, or storing a firearm or weapon on any university facility, even if the owner has a valid permit, when it is not required by the individual’s job, or in accordance with the relevant
University Student Life Policies.
Any such individual who is reported or discovered to possess a firearm or weapon on university property will be asked to remove it immediately. Failure to comply may result in a student judicial referral and/or arrest, or an employee disciplinary action and/or arrest.
One can only imagine how the number of deaths may have been reduced if just one properly licensed student, employee or guest had a firearm and was able to fight back, instead of being penned up like sheep at a slaughter. Any rule or regulation that prevents a legal gun owner from possessing a firearm does nothing but make targets and victims of all.

I have nothing but sympathy for the dead and injured, and their families and friends. I have nothing but contempt for the touchy-feely lemmings who seriously thought that words on a piece of paper would protect against this kind of slaughter.


Posted by: USMCTrooper

CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21 people Monday during shootings in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech -- the deadliest school attack in U.S. history.Government officials told The Associated Press that the death toll had grown to 31, including the gunman. CNN is working to confirm the report.
"Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said during a news conference in Blacksburg.
Police believe there was only one gunman, Flinchum said. Spokespersons for hospitals in Roanoke, Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Salem told CNN that they were treating 29 people from the shootings.
Sharon Honaker with Carilion New River Medical Center in Christiansburg said one of the four gunshot victims being treated there was in critical condition.
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university President Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."
The killings mark the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, surpassing attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966.
One person was killed and others were wounded at multiple locations inside a dormitory about 7:15 a.m., Flinchum said. Two hours later, another shooting at Norris Hall, the engineering science and mechanics building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported.
The first reported shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a coed dormitory that houses 895 students. The dormitory, one of the largest residence halls on the 2,600-acre campus, is located near the drill field and stadium.
Amie Steele, editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, said one of her reporters at the dormitory reported "mass chaos."
The reporter said there were "lots of students running around, going crazy, and the police officers were trying to settle everyone down and keep everything under control," according to Steele. (Watch police, ambulances hustle to the scene )
Kristyn Heiser said she was in class about 9:30 a.m. when she and her classmates saw about six gun-wielding police officers run by a window.
"We were like, 'What's going on?' Because this definitely is a quaint town where stuff doesn't really happen. It's pretty boring here," said Heiser during a phone interview as she sat on her classroom floor.
Student reports 'mayhem'

Student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but he heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.
"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said.
Waldron described the scene on campus as "mayhem." (Watch a student's recording of police responding to loud bangs )
"It was kind of scary," he said. "These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top-story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."
Madison Van Duyne said she and her classmates in a media writing class were on "lockdown" in their classrooms. They were huddled in the middle of the classroom, writing stories about the shootings and posting them online.
The university is updating its more than 26,000 students through e-mails, and an Internet webcam is broadcasting live pictures of the campus.
The shootings came three days after a bomb threat Friday forced the cancellation of classes in three buildings, WDBJ in Roanoke reported. Also, the 100,000-square-foot Torgersen Hall was evacuated April 2 after police received a written bomb threat, The Roanoke Times reported.
Last August, the first day of classes was cut short by a manhunt after an escaped prisoner was accused of killing a security guard at a Blacksburg hospital and a sheriff's deputy.
After the Monday shootings, students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows, police at the university said.
"Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where they are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus," a statement on the university Web site said.
The university has scheduled a convocation for 2 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Before Monday, the deadliest school shootings came in 1966 and 1999.
In the former, Charles Joseph Whitman, a 25-year-old ex-Marine, killed 13 people on the University of Texas campus. He was killed by police.
In 1999, 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris -- armed with guns and pipe bombs -- killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.


Posted by: Cinderella

so tragic and sad.. god bless the families of the vicitims and the police officers involved.


Posted by: SOT

CNN putting people in harms way. Pus the officers at risk and the dumb asses with cameras.


(CNN) -- Virginia Tech graduate student Jamal Albarghouti captured dramatic video of the deadly shooting on his cell phone.

He was heading across campus to meet with an adviser, not knowing anything of the 7.15 a.m. dormitory attack that killed at least one person.

He was nearing Patton Hall when a man started shouting at everyone to get out of the way, Albarghouti told CNN. (Watch Albarghouti's video of police officers swarming amid the sound of gunfire Video)

He said he was only about 200 feet from Norris Hall, where the second round of shooting happened.

"I just turned around and left," he said, and that was when he ran into police officers rushing to the scene.

"When I saw the policemen taking their guns out, then I knew that this was serious."

Albarghouti took cover on the ground as ordered by the officers and then pulled out his cell phone to shoot video.

He captured scenes of police officers with guns drawn, moving toward a building. The sound of multiple shots being fired can also be heard on the video.

Albarghouti, like many other students on the campus, was aware there had been bomb threats recently.

But he said seeing the officers draw their guns made him realize this was different.

"I knew it was something way more serious than that, so I started taking the video," he said, adding that he often visited CNN.com and knew he could send his video to I-Report.

WTF did they capture the guy?




Posted by: SOT

Did they catch the guy or is this just a precaution?


Posted by: kwflatbed

One shooter is dead but there may have been a different shooter in the first shooting.


Posted by: lofu

First off let me say that my thoughts are with all those affected by this heinous act.

Secondly, has anyone else noticed how the media is already looking to blame the cops and the school? By this afternoon, they were already second guessing the schools decision not to close down after what they thought was an insolated, domestic incident. Just another example of looking to blame someone other than the perp. How bout instead of blaming the school, the police, or gun owners they put the blame squarely where it belongs...on the crazy piece of shit that lined 30 plus people up and executed them.

Wolfman, good comment, I was thinking the same thing. If even one law abiding student or faculty member had been carrying, this maggot would have met his maker a lot sooner than he did.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfman
I have nothing but sympathy for the dead and injured, and their families and friends. I have nothing but contempt for the touchy-feely lemmings who seriously thought that words on a piece of paper would protect against this kind of slaughter.


Hopefully, something good can come of this, such as the administrators at Framingham State College taking the right message from it.


Posted by: tommym27

Thoughts and prayers to all victims in the largest mass shooting in US history. There is a special place in hell for a waste of skin like this gunman.


Posted by: rg1283

As far as I know the Virgina Tech police are armed. This furthers the argument for better notification systems. How many colleges of this size have a PA System that could announce OH SHIT gunman, lock your doors, lock down mode. Also possibly M-4s and or Similar Rifles for all cruisers assigned to the campus police, may have helped. However major point being the campus of Virgina Tech is = to the size of UMass Amherst. Another major point is that the Police Chief of the campus should have full emergency powers in this situation to lock-down and secure the campus. A local town cop doesn't have to call selectmen to close a road during an emergency. We're not talking a stabbing domestic style incident, this is a shooting. The Police Chief should have full power in a situation like this to hit the RED Button and lock down the whole place.

As far as controlled access, the shooter is a student so by hitting any residence hall as an example (which houses hundreds) that he lives in, this makes acess control systems useless to students. The Patches all look similar, however some videos show what looks to be a VT tech Police Officer running with an M-16.

Students should be able to carry any fire arms allowed legally by Virginia Law on Campus as long as they comply with all Virgina State Firearm laws.

However, VT Tech had a low crime rate before this incident, How many students would have actively been carrying firearms?

Not in my Backyard syndrome is totally out the window with this one. However, we all know non-campus police administrators will play against this. Hire Securitas to walk around, install more locks and cameras. or maybe a State Trooper who is armed for a few weeks to walk around. One thing is for sure, an armed campus police department has a much better chance of stopping a shooting then an unarmed campus police department.

I am horrified that 33 people died. Orginally I was listeing to Jay on 96.9 and the news came on, I didn't believe the number so I checked multiple news websites and they confirmed such. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families.


Posted by: kwflatbed



A man wounded in a shooting rampage yesterday is carried out of Norris Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. where a gunman killed more than 30 before taking his own life. (AP photo)

Gunman kills 32 in campus massacre

By Dave Wedge, Laurel J. Sweet & Jessica Heslam


As Virginia Tech authorities sort out the worst mass shooting in the nation’s history, the college is coming under fire from students outraged that it took two hours to alert the campus of a possible killer on the loose.

» AP video: Comprehensive coverage

» Gallery: School Shooting Warning: Graphic Material

» Dwinell: The depth of sorrow

» Saugus mother mourns son, 20


Va. Tech president: Gunman was student

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech's president said Tuesday that a university student was the gunman in at least the second of the two campus attacks that claimed 33 lives to become the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.
Though he did not explicitly say the student was also the gunman in the first shooting, he said he did not believe there was another shooter. The gunman struck down two people at a dormitory Monday before killing 30 more people at a campus building and finally killing himself with a shot to his head.
"We do know that he was an Asian male - this is the second incident - an Asian man who was a resident in one of our dormitories," university president Charles Steger said in an interview with CNN, confirming for the first time that the killer was a student.
Steger also defended the delay in warning students about the gunman. Some students said their first warning came more than two hours after the first shooting, in an e-mail at 9:26 a.m. By then the second shooting had begun.
Steger said the university was trying to notify students who were already on-campus, not those who were commuting in.
"We warned the students that we thought were immediately impacted," he told CNN. "We felt that confining them to the classroom was how to keep them safest."
The slayings left people of this once-peaceful mountain town and the university at its heart praying for the victims of the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, struggling to find order in a tragedy of such unspeakable horror it defies reason.
"For Ryan and Emily and for those whose names we do not know," one woman pleaded in a church service Monday night.
Another mourner added: "For parents near and far who wonder at a time like this, 'Is my child safe?'"
That question promises to haunt Blacksburg long after Monday's attacks. Investigators offered no motive, and the gunman's name was not immediately released.
The shooting began about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coed dormitory where two people died.
Police were still investigating around 9:15 a.m., when a gunman wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus.
At least 15 people were hurt in the second attack, some seriously. Many found themselves trapped after someone, apparently the shooter, chained and locked Norris Hall doors from the inside.
Students jumped from windows, and students and faculty carried away some of the wounded without waiting for ambulances to arrive.
SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. A student used his cell-phone camera to record the sound of bullets echoing through a stone building.
Inside Norris, the attack began with a thunderous sound from Room 206 - "what sounded like an enormous hammer," said Alec Calhoun, a 20-year-old junior who was in a solid mechanics lecture in a classroom next door.
Screams followed an instant later, and the banging continued. When students realized the sounds were gunshots, Calhoun said, he started flipping over desks to make hiding places. Others dashed to the windows of the second-floor classroom, kicking out the screens and jumping from the ledge of Room 204, he said.
"I must've been the eighth or ninth person who jumped, and I think I was the last," said Calhoun, of Waynesboro, Va. He landed in a bush and ran.
Calhoun said that the two students behind him were shot, but that he believed they survived. Just before he climbed out the window, Calhoun said, he turned to look at his professor, who had stayed behind, apparently to prevent the gunman from opening the door.
The instructor was killed, Calhoun said.
Erin Sheehan, who was in the German class next door to Calhoun's class, told the student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, that she was one of only four of about two dozen people in the class to walk out of the room. The rest were dead or wounded, she said.
She said the gunman "was just a normal-looking kid, Asian, but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest, and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something."
The gunman first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the class, another student, Trey Perkins, told The Washington Post. The gunman was about 19 years old and had a "very serious but very calm look on his face," he said.
"Everyone hit the floor at that moment," said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. "And the shots seemed like it lasted forever."
At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility that a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a male who was a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting and who knew one of the victims, but he declined to give details.
"I'm not saying there's a gunman on the loose," Flinchum said. Ballistics tests will help explain what happened, he said.
Some students bitterly complained they got no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots.
"I think the university has blood on their hands because of their lack of action after the first incident," said Billy Bason, 18, who lives on the seventh floor of the dorm.
Steger said authorities believed the shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.
"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," he said.
Steger emphasized that the university closed off the dorm after the first attack and decided to rely on e-mail and other electronic means to spread the word, but said that with 11,000 people driving onto campus first thing in the morning, it was difficult to get the word out.
He said that before the e-mail was sent, the university began telephoning resident advisers in the dorms and sent people to knock on doors. Students were warned to stay inside and away from the windows.
"We can only make decisions based on the information you had at the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it," Steger said.
The 9:26 e-mail had few details:
"A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating." The message warned students to be cautious and contact police about anything suspicious.
Until Monday, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.
The massacre Monday took place almost eight years to the day after the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo. On April 20, 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before he was shot to death by police.
Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is nestled in southwestern Virginia, about 160 miles west of Richmond. With more than 25,000 full-time students, it has the state's largest full-time student population. The school is best known for its engineering school and its powerhouse Hokies football team.
Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks but that they had not determined whether they were linked to the shootings.
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of gunfire.
Last August, the opening day of classes was canceled when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy was killed just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.
Among the dead were professors Liviu Librescu and Kevin Granata, said Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department.
Librescu, an Israeli, was born in Romania and was known internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, Puri wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Granata and his students researched muscle and reflex response and robotics. Puri called him one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy.
Also killed was Ryan Clark, a student from Martinez, Ga., who had several majors and carried a 4.0 grade-point average, said Vernon Collins, coroner in Columbia County, Ga.
His friend Gregory Walton, a 25-year-old who graduated last year, said he feared the nightmare had just begun.
"I knew when the number was so large that I would know at least one person on that list," said Walton, a banquet manager. "I don't want to look at that list. I don't want to.
"It's just, it's going to be horrible, and it's going to get worse before it gets better."

Information From: AP Wire Services

Was gunman crazed over Emily?


First victim ... Emily Hilscher, 18, after which another 31 students and staff were executed.


THIS is the face of the girl who may have sparked the worst school shooting in US history.
Eighteen-year-old Emily Jane Hilscher was one of the first two victims to be identified in the Virginia Tech massacre, along with 22-year-old Ryan Clark.
The pair were neighbours in rooms 4040 and 4042 on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory where a gunman began the first of 33 campus shootings on Monday morning just after 7am, US time.
The gunman was identified by federal law enforcement authorities late last night as Cho Seung-Hui. He was described as being a 23-year-old South Korean male student who lived on campus, but no other details about him were released last night.
Witnesses to the shooting said that the gunman was involved in an argument with a girlfriend and had later stormed out of the dormitory building.
A counsellor – believed to be Mr Clark, who was also a resident adviser – was called to calm the situation at the dormitory.
The gunman returned at 7.15am and shot Ms Hilscher and Mr Clark. US media reported that Mr Clark had been shot in the neck.
More than two hours later the murderer – armed with two hand guns – stalked the corridors and classrooms of a college building in another separate part of the campus for about 20 minutes, killing 30 more people.

Full Story: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html


Posted by: kwflatbed

The Boston Herald


Thousands of students, illuminated by candlelight, hold a vigil last night at Virginia Tech in memory of the 32 killed in Monday’s shooting rampage. (Staff photo by David Goldman)

‘No one deserved to die’: Cops probe for motive as university mourns
By Dave Wedge & Jessica Heslam

BLACKSBURG, Va. - As President Bush helped console a sea of Virginia Tech Hokies reeling from the “darkest day” in the college’s history...
Photo gallery: The day after
Who they were - and what we lost
Photo gallery: The victims
Forum: Condolences for the Virginia Tech community


Profile of a killer: Cho Seung-Hui, 23
By Jessica Van Sack
Ian MacFarlane’s first thought when he heard of the massacre at his alma mater was for his friends’ safety. His second was, “I bet it was Seung Cho.”

Mourning mom rips Va. Tech

Herosim amid the chaos

The Boston Globe

Gunman identified in rampage

(By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff)
The day after a Virginia Tech student opened fire on his schoolmates in the deadliest shooting rampage in US history, campus police and FBI agents confirmed the identity of the young man who was responsible -- an English major whose dark writings led one professor to refer him for psychological counseling. But there were no answers to the central question of the tragedy: why he killed 32 students and professors before turning the gun on himself.


IN A CLASSROOM: Students banded together in terror (By Raymond Hernandez, New York Times News Service)

CONVOCATION: Amid the anguish, solidarity and resolve (By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff)

Training planned to improve campus security (By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff)

Boston groups gather to mourn victims (By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff)

Sophomore from Saugus called funny and flirtatious (By Maria Cramer and Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff)

R.I. native had 'lots to give the world' (By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff)

THE VICTIMS: Snapshots identified victims
More on the Virginia Tech shooting


04/18/2007
SWAT storms building; Another scare rattles Va. Tech


The Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech students still on edge after the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history got another scare Wednesday morning as police in SWAT gear with weapons drawn swarmed Burruss Hall, which houses the president's office.
The threat of suspicious activity turned out to be unfounded, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said, and the building was reopened. But students were rattled.
"They were just screaming, 'Get off the sidewalks,"' said Terryn Wingler-Petty, a junior from Wisconsin. "They seemed very confused about what was going on. They were just trying to get people organized."
One officer was seen escorting a crying young woman out of Burruss Hall, telling her, "It's OK. It's OK."


Posted by: CJIS

Student at Virginia Tech was also at Columbine 8 years ago!

(www.msnbc.msn.com)
Eight years ago, she was a freshman at Columbine High School in Colorado when two classmates, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, came in armed to the teeth and bent on murder. And now, on Monday morning, it was happening again.


Posted by: USMCMP5811

That's fucked up....


Posted by: girlcop21

Va. Tech gunman sent material to NBC

By Matt Apuzzo, AP National Writer | April 18, 2007

(This guy sent mail in between the shootings!!!)

BLACKSBURG, Va. --Between his first and second bursts of gunfire, the Virginia Tech gunman mailed a package to NBC News containing pictures of him brandishing weapons and video of him delivering a diatribe about getting even with rich people.
"This may be a very new, critical component of this investigation. We're in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth," said Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police. He gave no details on the material, which NBC said it received in Wednesday morning's mail.

NBC said that a time stamp on the package indicated the material was mailed in the two-hour window between the first burst of gunfire in a high-rise dormitory and the second fusillade, at a classroom building.

Thirty-three people died in the rampage, including the gunman, 23-year-old student Cho Seung-Hui, who committed suicide.
The package included a manifesto that "rants against rich people and warns that he wants to get even," according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.
MSNBC said the package included a CD-ROM on which Cho read his manifesto.
Late Wednesday, MSNBC showed a photo from the package of Cho glaring at the camera, his arms outstretched with a gun in each hand. He wears a khaki-colored military-style vest, fingerless gloves and a backwards, black baseball cap. "NBC Nightly News" planned to show some of the material Wednesday night.
NBC News President Steve Capus said the network promptly turned the material over to the FBI in New York.
The material is "hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing very angry, profanity-laced," he said on the MSNBC Web site. Among the materials are digital video files showing Cho talking directly to the camera about his hatred of the wealthy, Capus said.
It does not include any images of the shootings, but contains "vague references," including "things like, `This didn't have to happen,'" Capus said.
The package bore a Postal Service stamp showing that it had been received at a Virginia post office at 9:01 a.m. Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after Cho first opened fire, according to MSNBC.
If the package was indeed mailed between the first attack and the second, that would help explain where Cho was and what he did during that two-hour window.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, authorities disclosed that more than a year before the massacre, Cho was accused of stalking two women and was taken to a psychiatric hospital on a magistrate's orders because of fears he might be suicidal. He was later released with orders to undergo outpatient treatment.
The disclosure added to the rapidly growing list of warning signs that appeared well before the student opened fire. Among other things, Cho's twisted, violence-filled writings and sullen, vacant-eyed demeanor had disturbed professors and students so much that he was removed from one English class and was repeatedly urged to get counseling.
In November and December 2005, two women complained to campus police that they had received calls and computer messages from Cho, but they considered the messages "annoying," not threatening, and neither pressed charges, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.
Neither woman was among the victims in the massacre, police said.
Around the same time, one of Cho's professors informally shared some concerns about the young man's writings, but no official report was filed, Flinchum said.
After the second stalking complaint, the university obtained a temporary detention order and took Cho away because an acquaintance reported he might be suicidal, authorities said. Police did not identify the acquaintance.
On Dec. 13, 2005, a magistrate ordered Cho to undergo an evaluation at Carilion St. Albans, a private psychiatric hospital. The magistrate signed the order after an initial evaluation found probable cause that Cho was a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness.
The next day, according to court records, doctors at Carilion conducted further examination and a special justice, Paul M. Barnett, approved outpatient treatment.
A medical examination conducted Dec. 14 found that that Cho's "affect is flat. ... He denies suicidal ideations. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder. His insight and judgment are normal."
The court papers indicate that Barnett checked a box that said Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness." Barnett did not check the box that would indicate a danger to others.
It is unclear how long Cho stayed at Carilion, though court papers indicate he was free to leave as of Dec. 14. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said Cho had been continually enrolled at Tech and never took a leave of absence.
A spokesman for Carilion St. Albans would not comment.
Though the stalking incidents did not result in criminal charges, police referred Cho to the university's disciplinary system, Flinchum said. But Ed Spencer, assistant vice president of student affairs, would not comment on any disciplinary proceedings, saying federal law protects students' medical privacy even after death.
Some parents complained that the university failed to lock down the campus and spread a warning after the first round of shootings. Still, two days after the shooting spree, many students resisted pointing fingers.
"Who would've woken up in the morning and said, `Maybe this student who's just troubled is really going to do something this horrific?'" said Elizabeth Hart, a communications major and a spokeswoman for the student government.
Lucinda Roy, professor of English at Virginia Tech, said that she, too, relayed her concerns to campus police and various other college units after Cho displayed antisocial behavior in her class and handed in disturbing writing assignments.
But she said authorities "hit a wall" in terms of what they could do "with a student on campus unless he'd made a very overt threat to himself or others." Cho resisted her repeated suggestion that he undergo counseling, Roy said.
One of the first Virginia Tech officials to recognize Cho's problems was award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni, who kicked him out of her introduction to creative writing class in late 2005.
Students in Giovanni's class had told their professor that Cho was taking photographs of their legs and knees under the desks with his cell phone. Female students refused to come to class. She said she considered him "mean" and "a bully."
Questions lingered over whether campus police should have issued an immediate campus-wide warning of a killer on the loose and locked down the campus after the first burst of gunfire.
Police said that after the first shooting, in which two students were killed, they believed that it was a domestic dispute, and that the gunman had fled the campus. Police went looking for a young man, Karl David Thornhill, who had once shot guns at a firing range with the roommate of one of the victims. But police said Thornhill is no longer under suspicion.
------
Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey and Justin Pope in Blacksburg, Va., Matt Barakat in Richmond, Va., and Colleen Long and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.


Posted by: kwflatbed

Police Explore Gunman's Mysterious Mailing

Gunman Sent NBC Writings, Police Say



Cho Seung-Hui sent NBC News a package containing writings, video and photographs, according to Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty.

NBC said that a time stamp on the package indicated the material was mailed in the two-hour window between the first burst of gunfire in a high-rise dormitory and the second fusillade, at a classroom building.

NBC Nightly News played small portions of a videotape the network said was part of the mailing on Wednesday night.
"When the time came, I had to do it," Cho is seen saying.

NBC said there were 29 images of himself in the package, 11 of which showed Cho pointing guns at the camera.

There was also an 1,800-word diatribe laced with profanities, NBC said. Cho said he was "forced into a corner," and railed against Christians and hedonists.

Flaherty said the information was immediately turned over to the police.

"This may be a very new, critical component of the investigation," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, professors and college suitemates of the gunman blamed in the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history painted a dark portrait of Cho.

Cho's dormitory suitemates said he rarely spoke to them or made eye contact. They and his professors describe him as a troubled, very quiet young man.

One of the suitemates, Karan Grewal, said no one told him that his teachers were concerned about Cho's being dangerous or suicidal.

Grewal said Cho was always alone -- in the dining hall, watching TV or working out in the gym.

Grewal said he pulled an all-nighter to do homework the night before the shootings and saw Cho up around 5 a.m., a few hours earlier than normal. He said that Cho was his usually silent self.

Still, Grewal said he had no idea Cho was capable of killing 32 people plus himself.

Police said Wednesday that Cho was accused of stalking two female students in the fall of 2005. Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said that Cho had been taken to a mental health facility that year.


Full Story: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...9/detail.html#




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