Blacksburg, Va. – A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart.
The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33.
Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman’s name was not immediately released, and it was not known whether he was a student.
“Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said. “The university is shocked and indeed horrified.”
He was also faced with difficult questions about the university’s handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire.
Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, the killer opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston Hall, a high-rise coed dormitory. Students said he had gone from room to room looking for his ex-girlfriend.
Two hours later he stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building half a mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.
Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including the gunman, who put a bullet in his head.
At least 15 people were hurt, some seriously. Three of the injured were in critical condition and nine others were stable, according to HCA Inc.
Another person involved?
Federal law-enforcement officials in Washington said the gunman might have been a young Asian male who recently arrived in the United States.
At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility that a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a male who was a “person of interest” in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims, but he declined to give details.
“I’m not saying there’s a gunman on the loose,” Flinchum said.
Ballistics tests will help explain what happened, he said.
Sheree Mixell, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the evidence was being moved to the agency’s national lab in Annandale.
At least one firearm was turned over, she said.
Mixell would not comment on what types of weapons were used.
Young people and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive. Many found themselves trapped behind chained and padlocked doors. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. A student used his cellphone camera to record the sound of bullets echoing through a stone building.
Erin Sheehan told the student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, that she was one of only four of about two dozen people in her German class to walk out of the room after the gunman opened fire. The rest were dead or wounded, she said.
She said the gunman “was just a normal-looking kid, Asian, but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest, and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something.”
“Blood on their hands”
Students said there were no public-address announcements after the first shots. Many said they learned of the first shooting in an e-mail that arrived shortly before the gunman struck again.
“I think the university has blood on their hands because of their lack of action after the first incident,” said Billy Bason, 18, who lives on the seventh floor of the dorm.
Steger defended the university’s conduct, saying authorities believed that the shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.
Steger emphasized that the university closed off the dorm after the first attack and decided to rely on e-mail and other electronic means to spread the word, but said that with 11,000 people driving onto campus first thing in the morning, it was difficult to get the word out.
He said that before the e-mail went out, the university began telephoning resident advisers in the dorms and sent people to knock on doors. Students were warned to stay inside and away from the windows.
Some students and Laura Wedin, a student programs manager at Virginia Tech, said their first notification came in an e-mail at 9:26 a.m., more than two hours after the first shooting. The message warned students to be cautious and contact police about anything suspicious.
Until Monday, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.
The massacre Monday took place almost eight years to the day after the Columbine High School shootings of April 20, 1999.
Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before police shot him to death.
2nd shooting this school year
Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks but said they had not determined a link to the shootings.
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
In August, the opening day of classes was canceled when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Virginia Tech area. A sheriff’s deputy was killed just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital-murder charges.
Among Monday’s dead was Ryan Clark, a student from Martinez, Ga., with several majors who carried a 4.0 grade-point average, said Vernon Collins, coroner in Columbia County, Ga.
Clark was the resident adviser on the fourth floor of the dormitory, where he was killed along with a freshman identified by other students on her floor as Emily Hilscher.
At a hastily arranged service Monday night at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Susan Verbrugge gazed out at about 150 bowed heads.
“Death has come trundling into our life, a sudden and savage entity laying waste to our hearts and making desolate our minds,” Verbrugge said during a prayer. “We need now the consolation only you can give.”
The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
VOICES FROM VIRGINIA TECH
Reactions from students and others around the campus.
“What happened today, this was ridiculous. While they send out that e-mail, 20 more people got killed.”
Jason Piatt, student
“I’m trying to figure that out. Someone’s head is definitely going to roll over that.”
Everett Good, student, on the lack of warning
“We were kept in the dark a lot about exactly what was going on.”
Andrew Capers Thompson, graduate student
“The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms but that all laws must be followed.”
Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman
“You can second-guess all day. We acted on the best information we had.”
Wendell Flinchum, Virginia Tech police chief
“This is a rural area, a college town. You usually think of these things happening in downtown Baltimore or in Washington.”
Austin Eckerd, student
“It’s so overwhelming,”
Carol Chappell, spokeswoman for Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem, Va., and Montgomery Regional in Blacksburg, where some of the victims were being treated
“I saw one faculty member who was shot in the arm apparently being led away. I’ve been here 25 years. I’ve never seen something like this happen.”
Wayne Neu, a professor of ocean engineering
About the school
Virginia Tech is known for its powerhouse football team, its engineering school, and its agriculture and veterinary programs.
The school is located in the small town of Blacksburg, about 160 miles west of Richmond.
More than 25,000 full-time students are enrolled.
The 2,600-acre campus has more than 100 buildings, many constructed from limestone mined from school-run quarries.
The university was founded in 1872 as the all-white-male Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1896, it changed its name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, informally shortened to Virginia Tech.
The university admitted white women for the first time in 1921. The first black man enrolled in 1953, and six black women enrolled in 1966, according to the university.
On the football field, the Hokies have played in the postseason for the past 13 years, including in the 2000 national championship game, when they lost to Florida State.
Virginia Tech also is known for its Corps of Cadets, a military-training program within the university.
The university has a budget of $900.6 million and a $447.4 million endowment, according to university figures. Charles Steger is the school’s 15th president, having led Virginia Tech since January 2000.
The school’s website is vt.edu.
E-MAILS SENT TO STAFF, STUDENTS
Timeline and text of e-mails sent Monday by Virginia Tech to students and staff after the first 911 call at 7:15 a.m. reporting a shooting in West Ambler Johnston dormitory:
E-mail sent at 9:26 a.m.:
Subject: Shooting on campus.
“A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating.
“The university community is urged to be cautious and are asked to contact Virginia Tech Police if you observe anything suspicious or with information on the case. Contact Virginia Tech Police at 231-6411
“Stay attuned to the www.vt.edu. We will post as soon as we have more information.”
9:45 a.m.: Approximate time of second shooting at Norris Hall.
E-mail sent at 9:50 a.m.:
Subject: Please stay put
“A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows”
Third e-mail sent at 10:16 a.m.:
Subject: All Classes Canceled; Stay where you are
“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.”
Fourth e-mail sent at 10:52 a.m.:
Subject: Second Shooting Reported; Police have one gunman in custody
“In addition to an earlier shooting today in West Ambler Johnston, there has been a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall.
“Police and EMS are on the scene.
“Police have one shooter in custody and as part of routine police procedure, they continue to search for a second shooter.
“All people in university buildings are required to stay inside until further notice.
“All entrances to campus are closed.”
Source: Virginia Tech
