[Southsider2k12]

The information coming out of Virgina Tech is sporatic and hard to follow at times, but whatever it ends up being, there are a lot of prayers that are needing to be said right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

Chief: Gunman kills at least 21 at Virginia Tech
POSTED: 1:59 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: Police chief says at least 22 people are dead, including gunman
• NEW: Attacks mark deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
• Officials tell AP that more than 20 people were wounded
• Student describes situation as "mayhem"; says 2 students jumped from window

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(CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the worst school shooting incident in U.S. history.

"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.

"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." (Map of Blacksburg)

The shootings mark the deadliest school shooting incident in U.S. history, topping attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966.

The Associated Press quoted officials saying more than 20 people were wounded. A hospital spokeswoman told AP that 17 Virginia Tech students were being treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries.

Sharon Honaker at the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in nearby Christiansburg, Virginia, told CNN that four patients had been transported there, one in critical condition.

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. (Campus map)

The first reported shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a four-story 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. (Watch the police chief explain where bodies were found )

"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.

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.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Ang]

The death toll is up to 30 now, and counting I'm sure.

I have a friend that lives in Blacksburg. Such a tragedy. I haven't heard from my friend yet, but if he says anything interesting, I'll let you guys know.

[Southsider2k12]

The shooter now is being named, and confirmed as the only shooter.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-0...ch_N.htm?csp=34

By USA TODAY staff
BLACKSBURG, Va. — The person believed responsible for the nation's deadliest shooting rampage was a South Korean student at Virginia Tech, campus police said Tuesday as the investigation continued into a massacre that claimed 33 lives.
The Virginia Tech Police Department identified the campus gunman as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a student and native of South Korea. He was a senior in the English department, police said.

Campus police also said one weapon was used in both shootings Monday — one at a campus building and one in a dormitory. A second weapon also was used at the campus building — Norris Hall — where at least 30 people were killed before Cho committed suicide, police said.

Two others were killed earlier Monday at the Ambler Johnston dormitories.


It is "certainly reasonable" to assume Cho was responsible for both Virginia Tech shootings, said Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police. However, investigators have not yet ruled out the possibility another person could have been involved.

"The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved in both instances," he told reporters.

The chaos at Norris hass has complicated the investigation there, he said. Victims were found in at least four classrooms and along a stairwell. Personal effects were strewn about, Flaherty said.

"What went on during that incident caused tremendous chaos and panic," he said.

The new information came as Virginia Tech began to try to recover from the rampage. A convocation is scheduled for this afternoon on campus. President Bush is among the tens of thousands expected to attend.

"The president and Mrs. Bush are going to Virginia Tech as representatives of the entire nation," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Bush also directed that flags be flown at half-staff through Sunday evening in honor of the Virginia Tech victims.

The campus canceled all classes for the week. Norris Hall will be closed for the rest of the semester, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said.

This morning, Steger again defended the response of the campus police in the shootings. The police were called to the Ambler Johnston dormitory shootings Monday and, after suspecting the shootings were part of a domestic dispute, decided not to lock down the Virginia Tech campus. The killings at Norris Hall came two hours later.

Steger noted that only 9,000 of the university's approximately 25,000 students live on campus, meaning that many of the rest — along with about 8,000 teachers and employees — were en route to the university Monday when the first shootings occurred. "We warned the students we thought were immediately impacted," he said on CNN, noting campus police closed off the area around the dormitory immediately after the shooting.

When pressed on CNN about whether Virginia Tech police "blew it," Steger responded, "I don't think it's fair at all" to characterize the situation that way.

The slayings left people of this once-peaceful mountain town and the university at its heart praying for the victims and struggling to find order in the face of horror that defies reason.

A mourner at a church service Monday night prayed "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.


VIDEO: Psychology behind a mass shooter
USA TODAY ON POLITICS: Will tragedy put gun control on campaign agenda?

In addition to the deaths, at least 15 people were hurt in the second attack, some seriously. At least 12 remained hospitalized Tuesday, with three in critical condition. Many victims Monday 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.

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.

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 shooting in U.S. history was in 1991 when in a man in a cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, shot 23 people to death and himself.

The deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history had been 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.

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.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Donna Leinwand in Blacksburg, Va.; David Jackson in Washington; Randy Lilleston in McLean, Va.

[BioTeach]

I am really frustrated with the rush by the press to blame the university for the magnitude of this tragedy. Many facts are still fuzzy, and I am sure the University took all steps it deemed appropriate in protecting innocent lives. I love the rush to always blame someone else. Let us remember that an individual was responsible for his own actions, actions that most of us could never understand let alone prevent.

[Max Main]

You cannnot prevent all crimes. You especially cannot prevent a lone whacko who is prepared to die. No matter what steps The Man may take, there is a way through for such an individual. This applies to any situation, from the open campuses of the US to the Green Zone in Iraq. It is not reasonable to blame VTech for not providing enough security.

Can we update this thread? For good coverage, try www.bbc.co.uk/news

[Southsider2k12]

I heard today about the video he mailed to NBC in between his killings. Part of me wants to see, but at the sametime, I don't want to even acknowledge its exsistance.

[Ang]

This morning on Good Morning America, they showed little pieces of it here and there. Pretty disturbing if you ask me. They had some forensic psychologist talking about the situation and the video. He said that parents should not expose their children to any media about this guy. In the video he talked about the Columbine shooting and how he admired those two boys. He also remarked about how society made him what he is and forced him to do what he did. So, so, so sad!!

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...hool/mchs06.txt

Students sound off on V. Tech tragedy
Laura Ryba, Michigan City High School

The tragedy at Virginia Tech is upsetting. Some say it should not have happened and been prevented. Some are grieving and will never forgive the man who took the lives of students, friends, professors, family members and loved ones.

Several Michigan City High School students offered their thoughts on the tragedy.

“The VT incident was terrible to watch on TV and to read about in the newspaper,” Jackie Pagels said. “It makes me think about next year, going off to college. That same thing could happen at IU.”

Nicole Koskii said, “This was a horrific tragedy that occurred. The family members who have lost a loved one, I will pray for and keep in mind every day. When something like this occurs, it touches everyone's hearts and hopefully will make our nation closer. May those 32 victims rest in peace.”

I asked other students if they felt safe or if anything will change hereafter.

“I think that safety measures need to be taken in all schools to prevent things such as this shooting from happening,” Janelle Phillips said. “I hope that this can be a wake-up call for all schools on how important it is to protect their students.”

Starla Collins said, “Whenever something like this happens, the media always focuses on and attacks the school for its faults, when really the only person at fault is that extremely disturbed man. As long as there are people walking around in that mental state of mind, there is not much that any school could do to prevent this from happening again.”

Kristinie Hawa said, “It does not matter who or where you are, a massacre such as this can happen anywhere. That is why individuals should always be ready for the worst-case scenario. Hopefully, a day will come in the future when all of these unfortunate tragedies will come to an end.”

Seth Campion said, “I think that you cannot prepare for these kinds of things. The best thing you can do is help those who think they need help and prepare just in case.”

There were many heroic stories from the VT shooting about teachers shielding students to save their lives. God bless them and their families. Being a teacher is not a safe job, so I'd like to thank all teachers who come to school every day, even though they don't know what could happen that day at school.

My sympathy goes out to all of VT and the friends and families of the victims.

Laura Ryba, a Michigan City High School senior, is a student columnist for The News-Dispatch. Views expressed are the writers, not the school's nor the newspaper's.