ghost of miles Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) Worse than the 1966 Austin, TX campus killings: Gunman kills 21 on Virginia Tech campus By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The gunman was killed, but it was unclear if he was shot by police or took his own life. "Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified." The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. 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. Some but not all the dead were students. One student was killed in a dorm and the others were killed in the classroom, Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum. The name of the gunman was not released. It was not known if he was a student. 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. After Monday's shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed. The campus was to reopen Tuesday but classes were canceled. The university set up a meeting place for families to reunite with their children at the Inn at Virginia Tech. It also made counselors available and planned a convocation for Tuesday at the Cassell Coliseum basketball arena. After the shootings, students were told to stay inside away from the windows. "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 where shooting took place. Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put. "They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again." "We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said. Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, "We are all in lockdown. Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible." Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks by authorities but said they have 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 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges. Edited April 16, 2007 by ghost of miles Quote
alocispepraluger102 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 just learning of this. oh, my goodness! Quote
Dan Gould Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Just stunning. I'd seen the earlier report of one fatality but had no idea it was this bad when all was said and done. Quote
bertrand Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) Several of my co-workers, including the woman who sits right next to me, went to VA Tech. This is just an abomination. Of course, dubya is exploiting this gigantic tragedy for his own political purposes. He has no shame (but we already knew that). Bertrand. Edited April 16, 2007 by bertrand Quote
bertrand Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 I beg to differ with Brownian Motion, BTW. I remember mass-shootings in Great Britain, France, Germany and Tasmania by crazed gunmen over the last 20 years. These things do happen more frequently in the U.S., of course, partially because of the lax gun laws. But when a psychotic like this guy (I am sure we are going to learn a lot more about him in the next few days) decides to commit a monstrosity of this nature, no gun laws can stop him. Bertrand. Quote
donald byrd 4 EVA Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 A truly terrible and sad event. Quote
sheldonm Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. ...this shit happens all over the world as we speak.....not just in America....sad none the less! Quote
sheldonm Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Several of my co-workers, including the woman who sits right next to me, went to VA Tech. This is just an abomination. Of course, dubya is exploiting this gigantic tragedy for his own political purposes. He has no shame (but we already knew that). Bertrand. I wondered how long it would take to tie this to GWB! I've never seen one guy responsible for more misdeeds! m Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 16, 2007 Author Report Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) This is the press report I was looking for: A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia. "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said. OK--I'll have to see the transcript. If I were inclined--and I'm not--to give the president the benefit of the doubt, I would imagine or hope that the response was prompted by a reporter's question ("Does this change the president's view on gun control," etc.). If not, then it's cheap and crappy, a reassurance to his NRA base, and totally uncalled for today. There'll be plenty of time for R's and D's and pundits to debate all of that stuff... for today, simply express condolences and sympathy, and try (for God's sake!) to be a leader for the whole country. As I said, I'll have to see the transcript. When something like this tragedy occurs, partisan feeling should be shunted aside for the time being. I'll be as supportive as anybody of the president's going to V-Tech... but his spokesperson should SHUT UP about gun rights, ya know... just for today. Edited April 16, 2007 by ghost of miles Quote
RDK Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. ...this shit happens all over the world as we speak.....not just in America....sad none the less! Yeah, horrible as this is, it's hard to compare this with what's going on in, say, Darfur. Quote
bertrand Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 I mostly agree with ghost, but I got the feeling it was a pressrelease-type statement, not an answer to a question. In either case, the statement is completely idiotic. The president believes all laws must be followed. Well, duh. As opposed to what? 'The President believes that in some instances, a senseless peacetime mass murder of innocent civilians is justified'? But I regret having brough this up, because some people will want it moved to the political forum. But then I was not the one who started playing politics with this senseless tragedy. Bertrand. Quote
BERIGAN Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 horrible, just horribe.....can you imagine how the families that haven't heard from loved ones are feeling right now? I wonder if we will find out he spent hours each day playing ultra violent video games..... Quote
Scott Dolan Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. Not only awful, but highly incorrect as others have already pointed out. Quote
Scott Dolan Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. ...this shit happens all over the world as we speak.....not just in America....sad none the less! Yeah, horrible as this is, it's hard to compare this with what's going on in, say, Darfur. Why do they have to be compared? Quote
BERIGAN Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. ...this shit happens all over the world as we speak.....not just in America....sad none the less! Yeah, horrible as this is, it's hard to compare this with what's going on in, say, Darfur. Why do they have to be compared? I think to point out mass murder doesn't only occur in America. How many hundreds of thousands were killed in Rwanda , without the aid of guns? Quote
BFrank Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Only in America. Not only awful, but highly incorrect as others have already pointed out. Not to mention the daily slaughter taking place in Iraq and only slightly less frequently in Afghanistan. Quote
Scott Dolan Posted April 16, 2007 Report Posted April 16, 2007 Seem a rather macabre practice. Unless you're simply going for a cheap political "gotcha". Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 16, 2007 Author Report Posted April 16, 2007 This is what I don't understand. When I read some of the first reports around 1 p.m. that indicated that far more than one person had died, a student who lived in the dorm where the first shooting took place--evidently around 7:15 a.m.--said her RA had come by at 8 and told everybody to stay in their rooms. There are conflicting reports about whether or not the lockdown was lifted, but how on earth were a bunch of students sitting in classrooms at 9:30--when the second, far-worse shooting incidents occurred--when a gunman was loose on campus? Some students bitterly questioned why the gunman was able to strike a second time, two hours after the bloodshed began. "What happened today this was ridiculous. And I don't know what happened or what was going through this guy's mind," student Jason Piatt told CNN. "But I'm pretty outraged and I'll say on the record I'm pretty outraged that someone died in a shooting in a dorm at 7 o'clock in the morning and the first e-mail about it — no mention of locking down campus, no mention of canceling classes — they just mention that they're investigating a shooting two hours later at 9:22." He added: "That's pretty ridiculous and meanwhile, while they're sending out that e-mail, 22 more people got killed." Now I know things go haywire in a crisis situation, but seems like there was some kind of very poor communication breakdown--inexcusable in the age of the Internet. Unless facts emerge that account for this confusion--and they may well--this looks really bad in terms of how the V-Tech admin handled the situation. Quote
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