April 16, 2007

• Prayers for Va Tech

  <3 to Tech

  What's this world coming to? Please pray for VA Tech.

  Officials: Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage

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  POSTED: 3:42 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007
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  Story Highlights

  • Police chief says at least 22 people are dead; congressmen report 32
  • Four hospitals report 29 wounded
  • Attacks mark deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
  • Student describes situation as "mayhem"; says 2 students jumped from window

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  (CNN)
  -- A lone gunman is dead after officials said he killed at least 21
  people and perhaps more Monday during shootings in a dorm and a
  classroom at Virginia Tech -- the deadliest school attack in U.S.
  history.

  It was not clear if the gunman was killed by police or if he took his own life.

  Virginia
  Reps. Tom Davis and Randy Forbes said they were told that 32 people,
  including the gunman, were dead. The two said they were given the new
  death toll during a phone conversation with Gov. Tom Kaine's chief of
  staff, but the governor's office was unable to confirm that number.

  In
  a separate interview, Forbes said he heard the shooter was a student,
  but he emphasized that he had no solid information on the shooter's
  identity or his motive.

  "Some victims were shot in a classroom,"
  university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said of the shootings, which
  occurred two hours apart. (Watch the police chief explain where bodies were found )

  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.

  Scott Hill, a spokesman for Montgomery Regional
  Hospital in Blacksburg, where 17 wounded students were taken, said he
  wasn't expecting any more victims.

  "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." (Map of Blacksburg)

  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. (Campus map)

  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 )

  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." (Watch a student's recording of police responding to loud bangs )

  "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. Classes also have been canceled
  Tuesday. In Washington, the House and Senate observed moments of
  silence for the victims and President Bush was reportedly "horrified"
  by news of the attacks.

  "His thoughts and prayers are with them, and we are monitoring the situation," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

  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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