[Dr.Zoidberg]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Umm.. link maybe to back this?

This is probably based on a declaration of a student:

Dozens killed in Virginia Tech shooting spree

Updated Mon. Apr. 16 2007 10:05 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff


A gunman has shot dead at least 32 people before committing suicide at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., in the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger described two separate shootings on the school's campus, but added it has not been confirmed whether the two incidents are connected.

Investigators are comparing ballistics evidence at the two scenes, to determine whether the same weapons were used. Police Chief Wendell Flinchum also said an initial "person of interest" in the first shooting has been interviewed, but he did not confirm whether two gunmen were involved.

"I'm not saying there is someone out there and I'm not saying there is someone who is not," he told reporters.

Steger said the gunman first killed a man and woman at the West Ambler Johnston co-ed residence at about 7:15 a.m. local time. The dormitory houses 895 people.

Police responded to that incident and closed the building, but did not shut down the entire campus, believing it was a domestic dispute and the shooter had fled.

Steger defended that decision Monday afternoon.

"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," he told reporters.
He then added: "We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it."

All 26,000 students were alerted by email about the first shooting, but two hours after it happened -- and roughly at the same time when the gunman struck again. Officials also telephoned resident advisers and asked them to notify those in dormitories.

The email warned students to be cautious and said: "A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating."

Then, at 9:50 a.m., gunfire erupted at Norris Hall, an engineering building on the opposite end of the 1,050-hectare campus. Flinchum said some of the doors in the building were chained shut from the inside.

Police entered the building, which contains faculty offices and classrooms, and followed the sound of gunshots to the second floor. But when they found the gunman, he had already committed suicide, bringing the death toll to 33.

Flinchum described the Norris Hall crime scene as "probably one of the worst things I've seen in my life."
He would not reveal what weapons the gunman carried. However, a law enforcement official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said it was two pistols and several clips of ammunition.

A student who was injured in one of the shootings gave a brief description of the gunman to CNN.

"He was about 6 feet tall, Asian, with a black hood on," he said. "He just started shooting. He didn't say anything."

Steger described the terrible scale of the violence said the university if "shocked and indeed horrified."
"Today, the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," he said.
Officials said police are still identifying victims and a list of their names will likely be released sometime Tuesday.

There are reportedly 16 Canadians attending the school but none died in the violence, according to Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alain Cacchione.

U.S. President Bush said he was shocked by the killings and promised his administration's help to local law enforcement and the community.

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

Reporters had initially been told there had been only one death in one incident. A gasp of shock erupted at a morning news conference when Police Chief Wendell Flinchum told stunned reporters he had "a ballpark figure of fatalities" of at least 20.

At least 29 were injured and taken to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries. There are reports that some students were injured jumping from windows.

It's not clear how many of the victims were students.


Gunman found dead

The gunman was found dead at the scene of the second incident. Officials suggest he shot himself.

Police say they believe that one gunman was involved in both incidents, but they have released no information about his identity. The motive for the attack is also unknown.

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

One Canadian at the school said he only learned of the shootings at about 9:30 a.m., roughly two hours after the first incident.

This is the second time in less than a year that the Virginia Tech campus has been closed because of a shooting.

In August 2006, 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 is still awaiting trial on capital murder charges.

Police said there had been bomb threats on the Virginia Tech campus over the past two weeks but authorities said they have not determined a link to Monday's shootings.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, in Tokyo for a two-week Asian trade mission, is on his way home after being given word of the shooting.

A statement from Kaine says it is "difficult to comprehend senseless violence on this scale."
School officials have said they will go ahead with a convocation scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, and that Kaine will attend the ceremony.

The previous deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in 1991, when George Hennard drove his pickup into a Luby's Cafeteria in Killen, Texas, and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

But the identification is not official so far:

Roundup: 33 killed in Virginia Tech shooting rampage
UPDATED: 10:48, April 17, 2007


A total of 33 people, including the gunman, were killed in the shooting rampage took place in Virginia Tech, university president Charles Steger said at a press conference on Monday.

"It is now confirmed that we have 31 deaths from Norris Hall, including the gunman .... There are two confirmed deaths from the shooting in Ambler Johnston Dormitory," Steger said at a news conference held at Blacksburg, Virginia where the university is located.

The identity of the gunman was not known yet because he did not carry any ID, Steger said.

More information about the shooting accident is expected Tuesday as investigation goes on, Steger said.
Moreover, the gunman killed himself at the shooting rampage, university police chief Wendell Flinchum said. "The gunman took his own life," he said.

Earlier, President George W. Bush, in a brief statement at the White House, said he was "shocked and saddened" at the shooting took place at the Virginia Tech.

Bush said it appeared that more than 30 people had been killed and many more wounded in the shooting rampage and promised his administration's full effort in investigating the shooting.

The shooting rampage is the deadliest in the campus shooting in the U.S. history.

"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," Bush said. "Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech."

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino has said that Bush was "horrified" by the shooting.

"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 the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," Perino said in a statement. "His thoughts and prayers are with them."

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," the statement added.

It is not immediately known if there is any Chinese students among the killed or wounded. U.S. media said there are a total of over 2,000 international students in the Virginia Tech and about half are from India and China.

In addition to those killed, U.S. media said 29 others were wounded in the shooting rampage.
Moreover, the police is investigating the motive of the gunman. It is not immediately known if the gunman is a student.

The gunman opened fire in a dormitory and a class room at Virginia Tech University during a two-hour span, university police chief Wendell Flinchum said.

"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions. There was two shootings on campus. In each case, there were fatalities," Steger said in a statement posted on the official website of Virginia Tech.

"The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus," he said.

The university, situated in Blacksburg, southwest Virginia, will be closed through Tuesday and faculty and staff members were asked to go home effective immediately after the incident.

Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in the country took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, in which 17 people, including the gunman, were killed.

Founded in 1872, the state university has more than 25,000 full-time students. The school is best known for its engineering school and its powerhouse football team.

A decade of campus gun violence

October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least five girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself

March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself

March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students

April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado

May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon

April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania

March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas

December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky

October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others.

Source: Xinhua - China Daily

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/...17_367092.html

Another dreadfull killing frenzy. My prayers to the bereaved, who lost young humans, being in the prime of life.