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At least 31 dead in Va. Tech shooting rampage

Gunman shot people in a dorm, second building; suspect among dead

 

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.

 

“Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,†said Charles Steger, president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, in southwest Virginia. “The university is shocked and indeed horrified.â€

 

The shootings spread panic and confusion at the college, which is popularly known as Virginia Tech. Witnesses reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom building to escape the gunfire.

 

Authorities said the gunman was dead after he shot nearly 50 people at two locations on campus. Twenty-one were confirmed dead, NBC News reported. At least 28 others were injured, at least four of whom were in critical condition, NBC affiliate WSLS-TV in nearby Roanoke reported, quoting local hospital officials.

 

The name of the gunman, whom witnesses described as a young Asian man wearing a maroon cap and a black leather jacket, was not released. It was not immediately clear whether he shot himself or was killed by police.

 

The man did not appear to be shooting at random, NBC News’ Pete Williams reported, quoting federal law enforcement officials. He appeared to have specifically targeted the two locations, a co-ed dormitory and a classroom in an engineering building.

 

Officials told Williams that they were investigating reports that the gunman may have chained the doors of the classroom closed so his victims could not escape.

 

No terrorism evidence

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at 7:15 a.m. ET at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people.

 

The campus was under lockdown, with students asked to stay indoors and away from the windows, when authorities got word of gunfire about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

 

Some but not all of the dead were students. One student was killed in the dorm, and the others were killed in the classroom, said Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum.

 

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said there was no immediate evidence to suggest it was a terrorist attack, “but all avenues will be explored.â€

 

Law enforcement officials said the gunman carried two weapons, a 9-mm handgun and a 22-caliber gun, Williams reported.

 

Until Monday, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard drove his pickup into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

 

 

The deadliest previous campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High School bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

 

After Monday’s shootings at Virginia Tech, all entrances to the campus were closed.

 

The university set up a meeting place for families to reunite with their children at the Inn at Virginia Tech. It also made counselors available and planned a convocation for Tuesday at the Cassell Coliseum basketball arena.

 

“There’s just a lot of commotion. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on,†said 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 fourth 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.

 

 

 

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America is unsafe, this is the 19th school shooting in 10 years!

 

It's easier to buy a gun than a passport in the US!!

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America is unsafe, this is the 19th school shooting in 10 years!

 

It's easier to buy a gun than a passport in the US!!

:o That many :o Thay=t would make me scared of going to school if i lived in america :lol:

It's madness. They should get stricter laws when it comes to owning guns. How many more innocent people have to die before they do summit.

It really seems there is no end to this. It's every few months.

 

And there will be the usual outrage but nothing will happen re gun reform. The National Rifle Association are too powerful in the US.

 

 

It really seems there is no end to this. It's every few months.

 

And there will be the usual outrage but nothing will happen re gun reform. The National Rifle Association are too powerful in the US.

Not just that, the Second Amendment, an old, LONG outdated part of the Bill of Rights put in merely to protect the right of the Americans to defend themselves against British invaders/liberators (depending on how you see it...) is the main thing which stops anything EVER being done about it...<_<

Yip. The right of every American to bear arms.... :rolleyes:
Yip. The right of every American to bear arms.... :rolleyes:

 

that needs addressing now, that part of the constitution was when us Brits ran around with muskets firing big ball bearings at a rate of 1 every 30 seconds -_-

The americans will never give up their right to own guns, it will be the same 10 or 20 years from now.It doesn't matter how many shooting sprees at schools,colleges or in the shopping mall, it won't change their way of thinking. They will use it as an arguement for even more guns to protect themselves from these nutters.
The americans will never give up their right to own guns, it will be the same 10 or 20 years from now.It doesn't matter how many shooting sprees at schools,colleges or in the shopping mall, it won't change their way of thinking. They will use it as an arguement for even more guns to protect themselves from these nutters.

 

Agreed. -_-

 

Thing is though, dont the Canadians have more or less the same right to bear arms as the Americans...? And doesn't every single adult in Switzerland also own a gun...? When was the last time you heard of a gun rampage in Canada or Switzerland (okay, there was one in Switzerland a year or so back, but it is a very rare occurence)...? I think that there is something which is just in the character of Americans to be honest, which predisposes them to violence of this nature. Most of the serial killers in the world seem to be Americans as well...

This is so wrong, and it's so surreal because that is relatively close to me. :(

 

I think guns should be illegalized, it is just opening a door that is killing many innocent people.

 

 

I don't know. England had Hungerford, Scotland had Dunblane. There was a gun massacre in Tasmania a few years back too. I think it's a case of the more guns, the bigger risk.

 

And of course America has a bigger population. They obviously have more nutters too... :cry:

I don't know. England had Hungerford, Scotland had Dunblane. There was a gun massacre in Tasmania a few years back too. I think it's a case of the more guns, the bigger risk.

 

And of course America has a bigger population. They obviously have more nutters too... :cry:

 

England had ONE gun massacre, Scotland had ONE gun massacre, we're hardly talking a regular occurence here... And afterwards, we had changes in the laws governing ownership of guns... The same has NEVER happened in the US, it's un-American apparently, to actually change gun laws to keep the streets a bit safer... <_< As Marilyn Manson once said - "Guns, God and Government", as American as Apple Pie and mom.... Mind you, I suppose he'll more than likely get the blame for this current situation...

How long will it be before that VILE creature Charlton Heston and his cronies in the NRA hold a rally outside where this took place promoting gun ownership :manson: not very long I suspect

:o :o :o

 

This has been all over the news over here. :( I'm really sad. Those poor people did nothing to deserve this tragic event ... and yet they die. And that coward... did he kill himself? :angry:

:o :o :o

 

This has been all over the news over here. :( I'm really sad. Those poor people did nothing to deserve this tragic event ... and yet they die. And that coward... did he kill himself? :angry:

I wouldn't quite go to the lengths of saying the victims are innocent in all this yet - remember Columbine, the shooter could have very easily been somebody who had had their lives ruined by these people - indeed, some sources are saying the victims were targeted, rather than this just being a random attack. For all we know there could be a very powerful reason behind this :(

I wouldn't quite go to the lengths of saying the victims are innocent in all this yet - remember Columbine, the shooter could have very easily been somebody who had had their lives ruined by these people - indeed, some sources are saying the victims were targeted, rather than this just being a random attack. For all we know there could be a very powerful reason behind this :(

 

It seems likely to me that perhaps this guy was a student.. Perhaps someone who had been thrown off-campus...?

 

Beyond disturbing. It's easy to think... oh, 31 dead, how awful. But the personal stories making rounds in the media now are terrifically upsetting. One girl was one of only 4 in a class of 25 who wasn't shot, students leaning against the door to keep the killer from coming in while bullets ripped through the door in between them, people jumping out of 3rd story windows to escape gunfire. Truly horrific, just beyond words.

 

Of course, the case is utterly bizarre and some of the strangest clues are being revealed. Some yet-to-be-sourced news reports are claiming it was a Chinese man who had only been in the country for 8 months but wasn't a student? Still the confounded police are claiming there is a "person of interest" in the 7:15am dorm shooting (2 killed) who is NOT the man who killed 30 two hours later.

 

I suppose we'll find out eventually but right now the University is facing ENORMOUS pressure. It is clear they made a gigantic mistake by letting students go to class when a killer was on the loose.

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