Gunman shot people in a dorm, second building; suspect among deadAssociated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. - At least 32 people were killed Monday in a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus, police said. They said the gunman was among the dead.
In addition to those killed, officials said at least 28 people were wounded. Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the gunman was dead, but that he didn't know how he died.
"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."
Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
Virginia Tech reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. local time at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
At least one student was killed in the dorm and others were killed in the classroom, Flinchum said.
After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed. "There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm. See: MASSACRE ON CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH
No comments:
Post a Comment