NEWS FLASH: Gunman Kills at Least 30 on Virginia Tech Campus

[Adux]

Gunman Kills at Least 30 on Virginia Tech Campus (Update8)

By Demian McLean

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- A gunman killed at least 30 students and faculty today at Virginia Tech University in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.

Multiple press reports citing law officers said as many as 32 people died, including the gunman. At least 28 more were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and other injuries. Police declined to identify the victims at the Blacksburg college, the state's largest.

It's the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassing the 24 people killed in Killeen, Texas, in 1991. In that attack, George Hennard drove his pickup truck into a restaurant and shot 23 people to death before killing himself.

``Today the university was struck with a tragedy of monumental proportions,'' Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said at a televised press conference from the campus, about 270 miles (430 kilometers) southwest of Washington. ``The university is shocked and indeed horrified.''

Governor Tim Kaine, in Tokyo, canceled a trade visit to return to Virginia. The U.S. House of Representatives observed a moment of silence following the shooting, and President George W. Bush offered condolences from Washington.

``He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Two Hours Apart

Shots were reported this morning at about 7:15 a.m. local time at Virginia Tech's West Ambler Johnston dormitory, and again two hours later at the engineering school's Norris Hall, Steger said. The buildings are on opposite sides of the university's campus.

The school sent multiple e-mails to students, warning them to stay inside and away from windows as police responded. Students were locked inside buildings as police tried to determine if another shooter was involved.

Students have now been told to go home. Virginia Tech canceled classes today and tomorrow and the campus is closed until 8 a.m. tomorrow, according to the college's Web site.

``This is a rural area, a college town,'' student Austin Eckerd, 21, said in an interview. ``You usually think of these things happening in downtown Baltimore or in Washington.''

Seventeen students were treated at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Five were taken to Lewis-Gale Medical Center; four to Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, and two to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, HCA Inc. said in a statement. Two of the five at Lewis-Gale were in surgery.

Bomb Threats

The attack came after a week in which bomb threats were made at Virginia Tech, formally called Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It has about 26,000 students.

It's also at least the second fatal shooting near the college in eight months. Last August, an inmate escaped a hospital and killed a police officer and security guard. The accused gunman, William Morva, has been charged with murder.

Today's incident is the deadliest school shooting since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two students killed 13 people before turning the guns on themselves.

``I can imagine what they're going through,'' Frank DeAngelis, Columbine High principal for almost three decades, said in a telephone interview. ``You're hoping there would be lessons learned from Columbine but that's obviously not the case.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_zsnoY4ijrM&refer=home

 

[Adux]

Bush 'horrified' by school shooting

April 16 2007 at 08:18PM

Washington - US President George Bush was "horrified" by the school shootings that left at least 32 people dead at a Virginia university on Monday, the White House said.

"He was horrified, and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," said spokesperson Dana Perino.

The White House was monitoring the situation in what was already one of the deadliest school massacres in US history, and federal government assets were on stand-by in case the state of Virginia asks for help, she said.




It was not yet clear whether or when Bush would travel to Virginia Tech, said Perino, who described school shootings as tragedies that "collectively break America's heart."

But the spokesperson did not indicate that the president backed any new restrictions on firearms as a result of the massacre.

"As far as policy, the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," she said. - Sapa-AFP

 

[Keysersoze]

Bush 'horrified' by school shooting

April 16 2007 at 08:18PM

Washington - US President George Bush was "horrified" by the school shootings that left at least 32 people dead at a Virginia university on Monday, the White House said.

"He was horrified, and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," said spokesperson Dana Perino.

The White House was monitoring the situation in what was already one of the deadliest school massacres in US history, and federal government assets were on stand-by in case the state of Virginia asks for help, she said.




It was not yet clear whether or when Bush would travel to Virginia Tech, said Perino, who described school shootings as tragedies that "collectively break America's heart."

But the spokesperson did not indicate that the president backed any new restrictions on firearms as a result of the massacre.

"As far as policy, the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," she said. - Sapa-AFP

Yeah, but he was not horrified enough to enact new gun control legislation

 

[Adux]

I find it quite funny That in America you can buy Assault Rifles.

 

[JK!]

I find it quite funny That in America you can buy Assault Rifles.

mate the Bush administartion has allowed that ban to expire and futhermore the gun laws in Virginia are so lax that you can buy a gun without a check on your character for previous convictions etc...

Condolences and apologies and Blah Blah Blah.

Nothing will change and it will only be a matter of time before it happens again.

Also how useless is American Law enforcement. The entire campus is swarming with SWAT teams yet between 7.15 and 9.15 the gunman made his way from one end of the uni campus to the other and they didn't even close the place down.

IDOTS ON PAR WITH NOAM CHOMSKY!!! :wall:

 

[Cheetah786]

An Indian-born man was among those killed in the shooting at a US university which left 33 people dead, his family and colleagues say.
Professor GV Loganathan was teaching at Virginia Tech when a gunman went on the rampage on Monday.

His brother said he heard of the death from the professor's wife, who had identified the body.

Names of the dead have yet to be released. Fears are growing for a second Indian who is missing.

The authorities have yet to identify the gunman, who they say was a resident Asian student at the university.


Locations of Virginia Tech campus shootings
Prof Loganathan, 57, came from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

He joined Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and had remained there ever since, working in the department of civil and environmental engineering.

He is survived by his wife, Usha, and two daughters.

His brother, Palanivelu, told the BBC his elder sibling had been "a bright boy since birth".

"He was among the top five when he obtained his masters degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in northern India," he said.

Family members recall with pride the award he won for excellence in teaching.

The BBC's TN Gopalan in Madras (Chennai) says the professor's parents, who are both in their 70s, last saw him when he visited India in October 2004.

Colleagues of Prof Loganathan's also spoke of his death.

One, Prof Mallikarjun Kumar, told India's CNN-IBN channel his wife had called up trying to get word of her husband.

"So we tried the local hospitals and tried to locate whether he is there or not. We could not find him and after that... news broke out that he is among the victims."

Student missing

Indian consular officials were being sent to the university on Tuesday morning to liaise with Indian students there following the tragedy.

The university's Indian Students Association says it has about 700 members, making it the largest foreign body on campus.

Association president Ajit Pal Singh Raina told the Press Trust of India they had contacted most of the Indian student community.

"Right now we don't know of any Indian students being involved," he said.

But press reports quote friends of Minal Panchal, a student from Mumbai, saying she was in the building at the time of the shooting and they have been unable to contact her.

Virginia Tech remains closed while officials identify victims and notify next-of-kin. The university says it will not release names of those killed until that process is complete

 

[Cheetah786]

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A Virginia Tech senior from South Korea was behind the massacre of at least 30 people locked inside a campus building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, the university said Tuesday.
The Virginia Tech Police Department identified him as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior in the English department.

The bloodbath ended with the gunman's suicide, bringing the death toll from two separate shootings—first at a dorm, then in a classroom building—to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy.

 

[Muradk]

Same thing happend in Columbine Cops just stood out side and in VTeach the cops could hear the gun shots while the guy was killing the students and they did'nt do anything. Procedures procedure dam these cops they all wear a bullet proof vest, melmet, even a nut cup. What are they affraid of. I feel so sorry for families who lost there kids I just say GOD please take care of them.

 

[su-47]

My heartfelt condolences to the grieving families.

Its disturbing how people can take out their frustrations by killing others.

 

[A.Rahman]

My heartfelt condolences to the grieving families.

Its disturbing how people can take out their frustrations by killing others.

This happens regularly in Iraq by the NATO forces; how come bush is not "horrified" & "shocked" then?

 

[A.Rahman]

Just for thought in this difficult time.

He struck yesterday morning at the heart of Virginia Tech, with terror, killing more than thirty students and faculties.

How American media characterized this terrorist?you are judge here. I don't want to loose sight by saying until proven guilty through independent justice due process, every human is assumed innocent.

That common sense prevail through all humanity adages though they differ how they carry on. But what struck me cord was the selective words that media choose to label on this terrorist.

Despite 24hr coverage in this carnage, media refused to call him terrorist. If he was muslim and push one person to side these media will cry foul and quickly give him terror title. What a hypocrite media!!!.. It look like the word terrorist is reserved and patented for Muslims only.

Here is one sample of their description of the man they said he carry out this terror attack.

"Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior from South Korea who was in the English department at Virginia Tech. Cho, a South Korean native, was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va. Cho was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall"

 

[Keysersoze]

Just for thought in this difficult time.

He struck yesterday morning at the heart of Virginia Tech, with terror, killing more than thirty students and faculties.

How American media characterized this terrorist?you are judge here. I don't want to loose sight by saying until proven guilty through independent justice due process, every human is assumed innocent.

That common sense prevail through all humanity adages though they differ how they carry on. But what struck me cord was the selective words that media choose to label on this terrorist.

Despite 24hr coverage in this carnage, media refused to call him terrorist. If he was muslim and push one person to side these media will cry foul and quickly give him terror title. What a hypocrite media!!!.. It look like the word terrorist is reserved and patented for Muslims only.

Here is one sample of their description of the man they said he carry out this terror attack.

"Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior from South Korea who was in the English department at Virginia Tech. Cho, a South Korean native, was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va. Cho was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall"

Interesting point however bear in mind he had no motive other than whatever personal reasons he had. If we look at the dictionary definition I don't think he fits into any of them.

ter·ror·ist /ˈtɛrərɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ter-er-ist] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
2. a person who terrorizes or frightens others.
3. (formerly) a member of a political group in Russia aiming at the demoralization of the government by terror.
4. an agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France.
–adjective
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of terrorism or terrorists: terrorist tactics.

 

[Adux]

Roommate: Gunman 'weird'

REUTERS
Cho Seung-Hui, a student from South Korea identified as the gunman who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University, is seen in this police handout released April 17, 2007. Email story
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READ MORE IN TOMORROW’S STAR

Toronto Star reporter Sandro Contenta talked to the roommate of accused Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui in company with another reporter.

For more of this exclusive story, the name of the roommate and other details, as well as exclusive photographs, please see Wednesday’s edition of the Toronto Star.



Apr 17, 2007 02:10 PM
Sandro Contenta
Staff Reporter

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The gunman in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history was a loner who wouldn't even speak to his roommate.

Cho Seung-Hui, 23, spent his time barely uttering a word and working on his computer, his Virginia Tech University roommate said in an interview with the Toronto Star today.

"He was always really, really quiet and kind of weird, keeping to himself all the time," said the 19-year-old roommate.

"I tried to make conversation with him and he would just give one-word answers," he added.

Police said today that Seung-Hui, a South Korean citizen studying English who had been a resident of the United States since 1992, killed 32 people Monday with two 9mm handguns recovered at one of the university buildings where the shooting spree took place.

The massacre ended when Seung-Hui took his own life.

A Canadian was among those killed.

Police said ballistic tests confirm that one of the handguns recovered was used to kill people at two different murder sites — evidence that seems to rule out rumours of a second gunman.

The shooting began 7:15 a.m. with the killing of two people. It resumed two hours later in the engineering building, where the rest of the people were killed. Police and university officials continued to face questions today about why they didn't warn students immediately after the first killings.

Students at the university set up a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles in the middle of the sprawling campus of grey stone buildings. President George W. Bush was expected to attend a mid-afternoon vigil.

Classes were suspended for the rest of the week "to allow students the time they need to grieve and seek assistance," said university president, Charles Steger.

 

[Neo]

Virginia massacre gunman is named

Cho was found in a classroom among victims

Police have named a student who shot dead at least 30 people at a US university as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old from South Korea.
Cho was studying English and had been living on the university campus. He killed himself after the rampage.

He is also thought to have killed two people earlier in the day. It was the worst gun massacre in US history.

US President George Bush told a university memorial service it was "a day of sadness for our entire nation".

Mr Bush, attending with his wife Laura, called for people to offer help to bereaved relatives, and said: "In this time of anguish, I hope you know that people all over this country are thinking about you and asking God to provide comfort for all who have been affected."

University president Charles Steger said the "entire nation and people from many other nations are coming together to grieve" over the tragedy, and he hoped it would help begin the healing process.

There was a sombre atmosphere as students thronged the university's Cassell Coliseum sports centre for the memorial which was screened on the campus TV.

The shootings on Monday occurred in two separate locations, two hours apart.

CHO SEUNG-HUI
23 years old
South Korean
Final year student
Studying English
Lived on campus

The first took place at 0715 (1215 GMT), at West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory, where a man and a woman were shot dead.

Then, at about 0915 (1415 GMT), 30 people were killed in the second shooting at Norris Hall, about half a mile (800 metres) from the first, on the same campus.

Police confirmed that two handguns - 9mm and 22mm weapons - were recovered at the scene of the second shooting, and that one of them was also used in the first incident.

"It's certainly reasonable for us to assume that Cho was the shooter in both places," police said.

However, they are investigating whether he had an accomplice.

'Loner'

Police said Cho Seung-hui was a South Korean living legally in the US.

Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell

Colonel Steve Flaherty
Virginia State Police

It is reported that he had lived in the US from a young age.

Nevertheless, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun "was shocked beyond description", and sent "deep condolences" to the victims, their families and the American people, his office said in a statement.

Police did not suggest a motive for the attack.

Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech, said: "He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him."

US media reported that a "disturbing" note had been found in Cho Seung-hui's dormitory, and that he had been referred for counselling after producing "troubled" work in his creative writing class.

At a press conference on Tuesday the superintendent of Virginia state police, Colonel Steve Flaherty, described the scene of the massacre.

"Personal effects were strewn about the entire second floor of Norris Hall so it made it much more difficult for us to identify students and faculty members that were victims," he said.

"Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell. We know that there were a number of heroic events that took place within minutes of this tragedy unfolding.

"The gunman was discovered among several of the victims in one of the classrooms. He had taken his own life."

At least fourteen people remained in hospital on Tuesday. A hospital spokesman said most were stable.

The university said all classes would be suspended for the rest of the week, while Norris Hall would remain closed for the rest of the semester.

Some students have complained that they were put at risk by the university, saying they had received no warning until an e-mail more than two hours after the first incident.

WORST US SCHOOLS SHOOTINGS
1 August 1966 - Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and injures dozens at University of Texas
20 April 1999 - Two teenagers at Columbine High School, Colorado, kill 13 before killing themselves
21 March 2005 - A teenager on an Indian reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, kills nine

Student Billy Bason, 18, said: "I think the university has blood on their hands because of their lack of action after the first incident."

But the university president has defended his staff, saying they "had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur".

Virginia Tech and police said they would not name the victims of the attacks until all had been identified, and their families informed.

However, some of the names of the victims emerged when their families or colleagues volunteered the information.

At least two of the dead were university professors.

One was GV Loganathan, 51, an Indian-born lecturer in civil and environmental engineering, and another was Liviu Librescu, a Romanian-born Israeli expert on aeronautical engineering.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6563565.stm

 

[Cheetah786]

THIS is the face of the girl who may have sparked the worst school shooting in US history.


http://imageshack.us

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.

http://imageshack.us

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.

A further 20 students were injured, either by gunfire or jumping out of the massacre building.

The gunman was wearing a vest holding ammunition, witnesses said. He carried a 9mm semi-automatic and a .22-calibre handgun, both with the serial numbers obliterated, according to federal law enforcement officials.

He turned his weapons on himself before police could arrest him.

Police decided against closing down the college after the first shootings occurred, believing the killer had left the scene and was "off campus".

Then, two hours later, gunshots erupted from a separate building about 1km from the scene of the first murders.

Virginia Tech student Chen Chia-hao told Taiwan cable TV about the first shootings.

"They had a big quarrel in the West Ambler Johnston Hall and he shot her. Then the RA (dormitory supervisor) came, and he shot the RA," Mr Chen said.

Witnesses told how the gunman calmly roamed the classrooms inside Norris Hall, a building housing a science and engineering school, firing his weapon as students and teachers vainly tried to flee.

Wearing a black leather coat and maroon hat, the gunman used chains to lock the doors to the building from the inside before beginning his killing spree.

Friends of Ms Hilscher and Mr Clark last night posted messages on internet social-networking site "Facebook" and other blogs remembering her as a vibrant girl with an engaging personality.

"Emily was a wonderful person who always put a smile on my face," wrote friend Jessica Gould.

Mr Clark – a prefect in the dormitory – was in his fifth year at Virginia Tech and a leader in the school's marching band.

"He was such a friendly person," said friend Sarah Davis, 21, a trombone player in the band.

"When I came in as a freshman I was scared to death. He was always really friendly. If he didn't know you, he'd introduce himself."

Columbia County Sheriff's Office in Georgia confirmed 22-year-old Mr Clark from Georgia was one of the first shooting victims.

Ms Hilscher was confirmed dead by local law enforcement officials.

"You hear about people in other places mourning the loss of a child of great potential and great hope, and now we're the ones that have to bear that great loss," an official said last night.

"The Hilschers are strong people, and this is a strong community, and they'll have our support. The best we can hope for is a time of healing."

The list of the dead is known to include at least four staff members.

A message on the school's engineering department website paid tribute to two of the staff.

It read: "In Memoriam. Professor Kevin Granata and Professor Liviu Librescu who died on April 16, 2007 while serving Virginia Tech."

Professor Granata was killed while teaching his course in the Norris Hall building.

Professor Librescu, originally from Romania, was killed alongside Professor Granata.

A third instructor in the engineering department, Professor G.V. Loganathan, was also killed.

President George W. Bush addressed the nation in the hours after the shootings.

"Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community," he said.