USA: Gunman kills 32, self, in worst U.S. college massacre

A gunman killed 32 people at a Virginia university on Monday, calmly gunning down students in two separate locations and then killing himself in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. Thirty-three people lost their lives at Virginia Tech on Monday (April 16). Most of those killed were students attending classes at a Norris Hall at Virginia Tech, where the gunman apparently used chains to lock doors before shooting the victims, university and police officials said. "Upon arrival at Norris, the officers found the front doors barricaded. Within a minute, the officers breached the doors which had been chained shut from the inside. Once inside the building, the officers heard gunshots. They followed the succession of gunshots to the second floor. Just as officers reached the second floor, the gunshots stopped. The officers discovered the gunman had taken his own life. There was never any engagement between the responding officers and the gunman," said Virginia Tech president Charles W. Steger at a second news conference Monday evening. Fifteen people were wounded, included those shot and students hurt jumping from windows in a desperate attempt to escape the gunfire, officials said. Television images of terrified students and police dragging bloody victims out of the building revived memories of the infamous Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and is likely to renew heated debate about U.S. gun laws. The rampage began two hours earlier at a dormitory a half-mile (0.8 km) away where a male and a female student were shot dead as other students began criss-crossing the sprawling campus for morning classes. University police said they had thought the first shooting was an isolated incident and believed the gunman had left the campus, drawing criticism that they were slow to warn other students of the danger. Virginia Tech campus police chief Wendell Flinchum said the gunman was a male, but gave no details of his age or nationality nor on what kind of gun he used. While he would not confirm there was only one gunman, Flinchum said police were not looking for another suspect. A student's video of the chaos was replayed repeatedly on U.S. television networks. It showed people scurrying around the campus as more than two dozen shots rang out. Flinchum called the massacre "the worst things I have ever seen." "The safety of the students, staff and visitors is of paramount importance to me. I am deeply affected by it," said Flinchum. The death toll was worse than a massacre at the University of Texas in Austin on Aug. 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman, a 25-year-old student, killed 13 people and wounded 31 in a 90-minute spree. Students told CNN there were multiple bomb threats to the Virginia Tech campus in the last few weeks. Two of the threats were aimed at the university's science and engineering school. The first shooting was reported to campus police at about 7:15 a.m. (1115 GMT) in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a dormitory housing some 900 students. It was followed by more shooting at Norris Hall, site of the science and engineering school that has given the university much of its fame as a leading technical institute in the United States. During the two hours after the first shooting some students had ventured out again. University police were still investigating the first shooting at the dormitory when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building. Some students are upset that classes were not cancelled after the first shooting. More than 30,000 people die from gunshot wounds in the United States every year and there are more guns in private hands than in any other country. But a powerful gun lobby and support for gun ownership rights has largely thwarted attempts to tighten controls. In 1999, two student gunmen killed 12 other students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Colorado. Virginia Tech, with 26,000 students and some 100 buildings on 2,600 acres (1,050 hectares), is located in the town of Blacksburg and set in lush rolling hills in the southwest corner of the state, about 240 miles (390 km) from Washington.

ITN Source | April 17, 2007

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