Gunman, 30 others killed in Va. shooting

[Guest guest]

http://news./s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shootin

g

Gunman, 30 others killed in Va. shooting

By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer

6 minutes ago

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and

then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing

at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S.

history, government officials told The Associated Press. The gunman

was killed, bringing the death toll to 31.

Students complained that there were no public-address announcements

or other warnings on campus after the first burst of gunfire. They

said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail

more than two hours into the rampage — around the time the gunman

struck again.

" Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of

monumental proportions, " said Virginia Tech president

Steger. " The university is shocked and indeed horrified. "

It was not immediately clear whether the gunman was shot by police

or took his own life. Investigators offered no motive for the

attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was

not known if he was a student.

The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus. Witnesses

reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom building

to escape the gunfire. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets

and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. Students and faculty

members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting

for ambulances to arrive.

The massacre took place at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus,

beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler ston, a coed

dormitory that houses 895 people, and continuing at least two hours

later at Norris Hall, an engineering building about a half-mile

away, authorities said.

Police said they were still investigating the shooting at the dorm

when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building.

Some students bitterly questioned why the gunman was able to strike

a second time.

" What happened today this was ridiculous, " student Piatt told

CNN. " While they send out that e-mail, 20 more people got killed. "

Students and Wedin, a student programs manager at Virginia

Tech, said the first notification they got of the shootings came in

an e-mail at 9:26 a.m., more than two hours after the first shooting.

The e-mail had few details. It said: " A shooting incident occurred

at West Amber ston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene

and are investigating. " The message warned students to be cautious

and contact police about anything suspicious.

Student Maurice Hiller said he went to a 9 a.m. class two buildings

away from the engineering building, and no warnings were coming over

the outdoor public address system on campus at the time.

Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because

they did not want to pre-empt an announcement by higher-ranking

authorities, put the death toll at 31.

At least 26 people were being treated at three area hospitals for

gunshot wounds and other injuries, authorities said. Their exact

conditions were not disclosed, but at least one was sent to a trauma

center and six were in surgery, authorities said.

Up until Monday, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in

Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when 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 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 the Blue Ridge

Mountains of 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.

The rampage took place on a brisk spring day, with snow flurries

swirling around the campus. The campus is centered around the Drill

Field, a grassy field where military cadets — who now represent a

fraction of the student body — once practiced. The dorm and the

classroom building are on opposites sides of the Drill Field.

A gasp could be heard at a campus news conference when Virginia Tech

Police Chief W.R. Flinchum said at least 20 people had been killed.

Previously, only one person was thought to have been killed.

Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms

and Explosives began marking and recovering the large number of

shell casings and will trace the weapon used, authorities said.

A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by

the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of

Virginia.

" The president believes that there is a right for people to bear

arms, but that all laws must be followed, " spokeswoman Dana Perino

said

After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed, and

classes were canceled through Tuesday. The university set up a

meeting place for families to reunite with their children. It also

made counselors available and planned an assembly for Tuesday at the

basketball arena.

After the shooting began, students were told to stay inside away

from the windows.

Aimee Kanode, a freshman from sville, said the shooting

happened on the fourth floor of West Ambler ston dormitory, one

floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her

door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.

Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two

weeks by authorities but said they have not determined a link to the

shootings.

It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed

because of a shooting.

Last August, 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, Morva, faces capital murder charges.