Virginia Tech shooting rampage leaves 33 dead

Author: Tom Brant

Thirty-three people were confirmed dead and more than a dozen wounded in the wake of a shooting rampage that occurred Monday morning at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. By Tuesday afternoon, Virginia Tech Police identified a student, Cho Seung-Hui, 23, as the gunman responsible for multiple fatalities before killing himself, but would not rule out the possibility that Cho had an accomplice.

Cho was an undergraduate student at the university in his senior year as an English major, according to Virginia Tech.

Witnesses at the campus called the shootings mass chaos and indescribable horror. They said that some students were lined up against a wall and shot, while others jumped out of windows to escape, or crouched on floors to take cover.

"It was a total shock for 32 students and faculty members to be killed," junior Teresa Lau told The Campus. "A lot of people jumped out of buildings as they tried to escape. Some people broke bones, and some were shot as they jumped."

Television images on CNN and other networks showed police officers with assault rifles ordering students off the streets and walkways as a voice on a loudspeaker warned people to take cover in buildings and avoid going near doors or windows.

University officials and police in Blacksburg, Va., told national news media that the first call to police was at 7:15 a.m., and over the next several hours, 32 people were killed in two rounds of shooting, before the gunman killed himself in an engineering building full of students and professors.

University president Charles Steger issued several statements about the shooting on Virginia Tech's Web site.

"I want to repeat my horror, disbelief, and profound sorrow at the events of today," Steger said. "People from around the world have expressed their shock and sorrow and endless sadness that has transpired today. I am at a loss for words to explain or understand the carnage that visited our campus."

Steger faced an immediate barrage of questions from reporters on Monday relating to the university's initial handling of the situation. According to students, there was little sense that the campus was in immediate danger until it was too late.

"I was in my room earlier this morning and I got an e-mail saying there was a shooting incident in one of the other dorms," said first-year Perry Graham. But Graham said that the e-mail didn't give any information about whether the culprit had been caught, nor did it tell students to stay inside.

"Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later I got another e-mail saying that the gunman was still on the loose and that everything was to be locked down and that people had to stay inside," Graham said.

At Virginia Tech, classes were cancelled through the end of the week and counselors were brought in to meet with students.

Students and administrators at colleges across the country showed solidarity yesterday for those affected by the most deadly shooting rampage in American history. As the magnitude of the disaster became clear, many campuses announced their commitment to reviewing and improving security procedures for dealing with violent threats. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz issued a written statement saying that Middlebury was already improving procedures to communicate dangers to students before the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred, and will continue to do so.

"No campus anticipates the kind of terrible tragedy that occurred yesterday at Virginia Tech," wrote Liebowitz. "However, we are currently in the process of updating and clarifying the procedures we use to respond to a variety of campus crises and emergencies. A major goal of that process is to make sure that we are prepared to make and communicate decisions quickly in times of crisis."

The Chaplain's office also organized a prayer service on Tuesday afternoon in Mead Chapel, where community members could light a candle in memory of the victims and sign a condolence book, which will be sent to the Virginia Tech Student Government Association.

Chaplain of the College Laurel Macaulay Jordan sent a statement to students, faculty and staff late Monday night.

"Some members of our community have close ties to that part of the country or friends who are students or faculty at Virginia Tech," wrote Jordan. "But even if these connections did not exist, all of us as members of an academic community and as members of the human family share a portion of the grief that has now cast its shadow over the Virginia Tech campus."

Additional reporting by Brian Fung.