Chief: Gunman kills at least 31 at Virginia Tech
POSTED: 2:24 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007
(CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 31 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the deadliest school attacks 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.
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 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.
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."
"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.
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.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html
Students describe panic and confusion after shooting
POSTED: 2:33 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007
(CNN) -- A gunman is dead after opening fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 31 people in the deadliest campus shooting spree in U.S. history.
Students in Blacksburg, Virginia, described a chaotic scene as word of the shootings spread by e-mail, word-of-mouth and the school's emergency loudspeakers:
Jamal Albarghouti, Virginia Tech student: "The first thing I saw is when the policeman started taking their guns out. Then I knew this was serious. I didn't hear anything about the shooting that happened in A.J. but when I saw the guns, I thought there was just another bomb threat. Then I started hearing some gunshots far away. It seemed to me -- where the cops are near right now. And then all the cops were trying to get into Norris Hall and they used like a bomb or something to open one of the doors. Probably they dropped a bomb in the building. There was a person on the second floor of Norris trying to tell the cops that he's in there. And probably trying to guide him in."
Kristen Heiser, student: "We were having class as usual and my teacher was lecturing and then there was a big window in our classroom and we saw all of a sudden about -- this was probably around 9:30 -- about six officers run by the building with their guns drawn. 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. We were all alarmed, but someone got on their laptop and checked the Web site. All the Web site said was that there had been a shooting incident and that it had occurred at that dorm, which is across campus."
Matt Waldron, student: "I was on campus today, and I was walking toward class with my iPod on and these police cars started streaming down the sidewalk and kids were peeling off. I guess there were gunshots. It was right behind the building that I was in. And so they peeled us alongside the building. We had to stay inside there for like 15 minutes buildings. These two kids panicked and jumped out of the top story window. One kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground. It was just mayhem. They told us to get out there. We ran across the drill field as quick as we could. There were cops yelling, and it was just a mess. It was kind of scary."
Laura Spaventa, student: "I was in Shanks Hall, which is located in the upper portion of campus, and we were having class, and all of a sudden we had e-mail saying that, like, there was a shooting on campus and then we were updated with it saying that, like, classes were being canceled and to stay where we were. ... Right after we got that e-mail we heard five shots on campus, and we could hear the emergency speaker system. So we all got down under the desks and moved away from the windows.
There must have been at least over 20 or 30 cop cars and ambulances. Like, every street was lined with them. I did not see like openings at all, like, it was really scary. All the cops had, like, vests on, and some had guns in their hands and everything. I felt like I was in a war zone, or in the middle of like the city, or something. It was just very, very unsettling."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/students.witnesses/index.html
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