http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266310,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18134671/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting_61
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3D3045574&page=3D1
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html
Gunman kills at least 21 at Virginia Tech
POSTED: 2:43 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007
Story Highlights
=B7 Four hospitals report 29 wounded
=B7 Police chief says at least 22 people are dead, including gunman
=B7 Attacks mark deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
=B7 Student describes situation as "mayhem"; says 2 students jumped from
window
(CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21
people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the
deadliest school attacks in U.S. history.
Government officials told The Associated Press that the death toll had
grown to 31, including the gunman. CNN is working to confirm the
report.
"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. (Watch the
police chief explain where bodies were found Video)
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
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. (Watch police,
ambulances hustle to the scene Video)
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.
The university has scheduled a convocation for 2 p.m. ET Tuesday.
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.
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