Shooting in VT Campus: 21 Dead 21 Injured

DOBERMAN_07 · 04-16-2007, 01:04 PM

Quote:

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people and wounding another 21 before he was killed, police said.
On the Web site, Tech reported the shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and said there were "multiple victims" at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
All entrances to the campus were closed and classes canceled through Tuesday.
"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said student 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 4th 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.
Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, "We are all in lockdown. Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible."
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when 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, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.

Wow, just wow

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

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.

US President George Bush and his wife Laura are expected to attend.

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

sillylilykitty · 04-16-2007, 01:20 PM

I saw that on the news today. So sad, Im soo glad my friend isnt going to that school right now

She has been planing on going to it sometime later this year or next year.

cshellenberger · 04-16-2007, 01:21 PM

Good Lord, I HOPE they get him soon! I'm watching on FOX.

SFury · 04-16-2007, 01:23 PM

The last news repot I heard had a confirmed 238 wounded, with 22 dead including the gunman.

This makes the other school shootings look like minor incidents. I wonder what lead to this incident? Maybe the shooter and friends can put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Too bad the amount of planning and effort put into pulling this off wasn't used for something constructive.

Edit: A change in the report. There are 238 people wounded, but only 20 were injured from the gunfire. The rest of the injuries are apparently caused by students fleeing and hurting themselves in the chaos.

cshellenberger · 04-16-2007, 01:32 PM

Fox says 21 killed, 21 injured, I'll see what the others say.

peace36 · 04-16-2007, 01:38 PM

I have been watching that on Fox today. How horrible. My children are only in elementry school now but I am all ready worried about when they go to HS or Cldg. What pushes thes people to the point of commiting such horrible acts. Are they unloved? Have they no concience? Are their brains miswired? It is so horrible and scary.

cshellenberger · 04-16-2007, 01:44 PM

They are usually people who just snap and often have an undiagnosed mental illness.

They are now saying 32 dead.

SFury · 04-16-2007, 03:27 PM

My local station probably had the total number of people treated at the hospital who were from the University system. They would have gotten their information from the AP. Although they have been known to be wrong at times.

All in all from what I have seen on CNN has been a lot of reports of people fleeing entire areas in panic, and some staying lockdown. One student they interviewed talked about how he and his classmates jumped out of their second story window to escape the shooting near them.

There is a bit of footage of some officers carrying a badly wounded woman away from one of the buildings. Apparently she landed badly from jumping off of the building or out of a window.

Hopefully this is over and the community can rebuild and move forward after this event. I cannot fathom why someone would go to this extreme with dealing with any problem. My condolences do go out to those who are involved in this tragic shooting.

Shalva · 04-16-2007, 03:53 PM

Its in VA not Vermont......

DOBERMAN_07 · 04-16-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shalva

Its in VA not Vermont......

http://www.cnn.com/

"virginia tech rampage"

Tamara · 04-16-2007, 05:41 PM

Horrible it's on the news here now and what's really terrible is that there was 2 hours between the first shootings and the other 31. And they think there may have been more than one gunman.

xoxluvablexox · 04-16-2007, 06:18 PM

Yupp 31 or 32 dead and 20 sumthin injured.

The sad part is that one of the students in this school has a brother over in Iraq and that brother called him up worried about his safety. It's sad when you not only have to worry about your safety in a country where there is a war taking place but also for the safety of a loved one in a place where there should be no serious danger.

German Shepherd Lover · 04-16-2007, 07:05 PM

Bad deal for the kids, parents, family, friends and school and the rest of us. It's a shame one of the students or teachers weren't armed so they could have taken the fool out. It's hard to believe one person can be so screwed up.

I hope we sometime learn the whole real story and not just what the media want us to know.

xoxluvablexox, you are right about a place where you don't expect things like this to happen, but I think you should have said place and not country. Thank God this is a very unusual occurance, but look at the news and it's really sad how many people are killed on the streets of our cities everyday. We are not immune to danger as long as there are people involved in this world.

I was taught from little on to always look for a way out and be prepared for any situation that may occur. I don't know what I would have done if I was there but, I believe everyone should keep their guards up in all steps of life...unfortunately.

I hope everyone says a prayer for the families of all of the victims.

iwantmypup · 04-16-2007, 07:10 PM

I remember Columbine...but this is horrid!

xoxluvablexox · 04-16-2007, 07:14 PM

I know I will. I feel worse for the friends and family left behind, to here about someone you love dieing at a place were you would think they would be safe to learn is just horrible. Sorry I did mean to say place, I thought I did...oh well.
I know that a lot of horrible stuff happens in this country. I live right near newark and I've had friends tell me that when they go there to see family that you can sometimes here guns shooting off in houses down the streats. My one friend was on a sidewalk and saw someone get shot down right in front of her from a driveby shooting. This stuff happens everyday and it's horrible.

In some ways it makes me sad to even be a part of this country sometimes. I know someplaces are worse off but considering we are one of the countries that you can get a better education and get good jobs you think there would be more people doing good things during their lives instead of killing and being hateful. Then again maybe I'm wrong and those are sometimes the reasons for what goes on. Whose to say...

German Shepherd Lover · 04-16-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxluvablexox

I know I will. I feel worse for the friends and family left behind, to here about someone you love dieing at a place were you would think they would be safe to learn is just horrible. Sorry I did mean to say place, I thought I did...oh well.
I know that a lot of horrible stuff happens in this country. I live right near newark and I've had friends tell me that when they go there to see family that you can sometimes here guns shooting off in houses down the streats. My one friend was on a sidewalk and saw someone get shot down right in front of her from a driveby shooting. This stuff happens everyday and it's horrible.

In some ways it makes me sad to even be a part of this country sometimes. I know someplaces are worse off but considering we are one of the countries that you can get a better education and get good jobs you think there would be more people doing good things during their lives instead of killing and being hateful. Then again maybe I'm wrong and those are sometimes the reasons for what goes on. Whose to say...

You are right, it's a shame we have to worry about people that don't value lives and kill other people without having any remorse. Yes, you sure wouldn't expect to have to worry about someone in a college or a school.

I hope that the normal gun grabber liberals don't try to blame this on guns. The fact is, if the students or teachers would have been armed someone would have taken this guy out before he had time to kill 32 people.

iwantmypup · 04-16-2007, 07:29 PM

I'm not blaming the guns ... I'm blamming the..... um.....Big Meanie. That had to kill him self after......of cours he didnt nwant to be put in jail..but geez.....Idiot

ETA:

Campus remains closed; convocation Tuesday at Cassell

04.16.2007, Updated 4:45 p.m.

Two shooting incidents on campus today have left 33 dead. Thirty-one, including the gunman, died at Norris Hall; two died at West Ambler Johnston Hall. Fifteen other victims from Norris are being treated at area hospitals.

The university is in the process of identifying victims and notifying next-of-kin. Names will not be released until that process is complete.

Counseling assistance for students is available at West Ambler Johnston and McComas halls until 9 p.m. tonight. Students are encouraged to utilize these services.

Counseling for faculty and staff is available in the Bowman Room on the fourth floor of Jamerson Athletic Center, accessible from Jamerson or the Merryman Athletic Facility.

The university will remain closed Tuesday. Essential personnel are to report for work. Classes are canceled.

A public gathering will be held Tuesday at Cassell Coliseum at 2 p.m.

All students are urged to contact their parents as soon as possible to let them know individuals are safe.

Students, faculty, and staff who have any information related to the incidents are encouraged to go to the Blacksburg Police Department to make statements, or call 540/231-TIPP (8477), or 231-6411.

It makes me want to cry thinking about this horrific thing...All the the people that just wanted to learn...were just studying in their dorms...

xoxluvablexox · 04-16-2007, 07:35 PM

Well then I'll keep my mouth shut about the guns

Honestly your right though, but then they would be worried a teacher would get fed up with their students and start shooting out of no where. God knows what people are capable of.

IMO, they should have gotten police to escort all the kids out of the school when the first shooting happened and then atleast it would have saved those last 31. Really though, what were they thinking letting kids stay there after a SHOOTING? That's not like some small problem that goes away and can be fixed within a couple hours. They didn't even know if the guy left for sure.
That was pretty stupid on their part. Not saying it's all their fault but it should have been haddled a lot better then it was.

drfong · 04-16-2007, 09:17 PM

My prayers go out to the families of everyone involved. It will be interesting to get the whole picture of what happened. Just like other tragic events, it takes some time for the whole picture to come into focus. It does seem bizzare that one shooting could take place and not have the campus crawling with police for 2 hours to pass. I can only guess that because it was onle 2 people in the dorm, they may have thought it was an isolated incident and not realized it was a disturbed mass murderer. If he had shot more people in the dorm I would guess they would have handled the situation differently. Not that it would have been good that more people were shot there, but that the second shooting probably would not because I'm sure the campus would have been locked down with police everywhere.
I have never been through anything like this, and few have, but I was in school at University of Florida during the Gainesville slayings. It was an absolutely strange time to be at school. Tons of people left campus. Gun sales went through the roof. The gaurdian angels came to town to patrol all around. I know from that experience that it will take a long time for things to get back to normal there.

DOBERMAN_07 · 04-16-2007, 10:49 PM

I wonder how/if this will have any affect on Gun Control Laws...