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Massacre On The Campus In U.S
The Virginia police early today had still not released the identity of the killer responsible for the worst shooting spree in US history.
The lone gunman, who killed 32 students before turning his weapon on himself at the Virginia Technical College, had no mobile phone and his fingerprints did not match any on file. His face was disfigured when he shot himself and he carried no ID papers.
Students at the college - one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the US, situated at the foot of the Appalachian mountains - described the killer as a six-foot man of Asian appearance who had been wearing a maroon cap and carrying an ammunition belt.
At around 7am (Midday BST) yesterday, the man is believed to have gone to the dormitory of a student with whom he had either had a relationship with or been infatuated by. He shot her dead, along with the resident mentor - a student responsible for advising others in the dormitory.
The police began a hunt for the killer, but made the assumption that as it appeared to be a domestic case, no danger was posed to others. Students were only alerted two hours later, too late to save the 30 other students he went on to murder in their classrooms.
Late last night, students wandered round the campus clutching mobile phones trying to establish which friends and professors were missing. A canteen worker cried on hearing from her boss that the resident mentor in the dormitory - a popular - was among the dead.
Other students told of narrow escapes, jumping out of windows to escape the killer or blocking doors. One group told how they had kept pressure on a classroom door even when five bullets were fired through it, and the killer, frustrated, moved on.
The speed with which those involved and the US media moved from shock to what journalists call the 'second-day story' - the attribution of blame - was extraordinary.
Much of the talk on campus was not about the event itself or mourning friends, but who was to blame for the tragedy. The police for failing to close down the campus after the first shooting? College officials for failing to cancel classes and send out a more effective alert? Almost no one raised the issue of gun control.
A campus memorial service will be held today.
Police and university authorities in Virginia were under pressure last night to explain how a gunman, believed to be acting alone, came to kill two students in a university dormitory then evade detection for more than two hours before massacring a further 30 people and killing himself in the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The carnage at Virginia Tech, a university with 26,000 students in a quiet country town in the south-west of the state, instilled horror and shock across the country. In the gruesome calculus of these events, it surpassed the previous bloodiest shooting of 23 people in Killeen, Texas, in 1991 and the incident that has become synonymous with America's record of mass killings, Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher died exactly eight years ago this Friday.
Adding to the stunned reaction to the sheer scale of yesterday's carnage was the revelation last night that most of the victims had died in the second shooting spree, more than two hours after police were first called out.
The initial call to 911 was made at 7.15am from the largest dormitory in the university, West Ambler Johnston, a mixed-gender residence hall housing 895 students. Officers arriving at the scene found a man and a woman dead in a student room, it is thought on the second floor.
Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech, said last night the authorities had had reason to believe the incident was domestic in motive, possibly involving a former boyfriend, and that the killer had left campus and was trying to leave the state.
In fact, he somehow managed to make his way to Norris hall, a building in the science and engineering block of the campus about a mile away, where at about 9.40am he embarked on a second, and far more deadly, shooting spree.
The gunman, whose identity was still unclear last night, went from room to room in the building killing individuals, and at times chaining rooms to prevent police gaining access to them. Finally, he killed himself inside the hall. Police said they recovered two weapons at the scene.
Mr Steger said the college authorities had shut down Ambler Johnston as soon as the first call was made. But he came under repeated questioning from reporters to explain why most of the student body had been told to take precautions in a round-robin email that was sent out only at 9.26am, more than two hours after the first shooting and shortly before the gunman entered Norris hall.
"There were 14,000 students in transit for lessons at 8am. The decision we had to make was where to lock them down," Mr Seger said. Virginia Tech's police chief, Wendell Flinchum, also came under intense questioning. "Based on the information we had at the time we made the assessment that the [Ambler Johnston] incident was isolated," he said.
Police refused to confirm speculation that the gunman may have been a boyfriend of one of those he killed.
They said they were also continuing to investigate whether or not the two shootings were connected, although the fact that they had made no arrests and were not looking for any other individual suggested a certainty that they were carried out by the same person. Access to dorms is restricted to those with swipe cards between 10pm and 10am.
The tragedy at Virginia Tech shocked and saddened the community in the state and far beyond, and once again raised issues about America's relaxed gun laws. George Bush went on air to say that when the sanctity of schools was violated, "the impact is felt in every American classroom and community".
But earlier in the day his spokeswoman in Washington was forced to justify his opposition to tightening the rules on handgun ownership. She said the president believed in the right to bear arms, but equally that "all laws must be followed ... Walking into a school hall and shooting people is clearly against the law".
The sound of what appeared to be an execution-style massacre in Norris hall was captured by a student who filmed the outside of the building as it was being circled by Swat teams as the killing went on. The footage, broadcast by CNN, recorded the retort of 27 shots, made in chillingly regular order.
Jamal Albarghouti described how he came to take the footage: "The first thing I saw was policeman taking guns out then I knew that this was serious ... then I saw the guns I knew this wasn't another bomb threat. Then I started hearing guns from far away ...
"There was a person in the second floor trying to tell the cops that he was in there and probably trying to guide them.
"I heard from the window he was trying to reach outside the window to talk to the cops, this is what I saw. I did not hear what he said. A minute after I had reached the area where I took the video from, I saw police asking everyone to lay down or to leave really quickly."
Mihai Alexe sent the BBC website a description of how one friend had been teaching inside Norris hall when the shooting happened. "She sent me an instant message saying she met with the shooter by accident and was nearly shot. She succeeded in barricading herself along with other students in one of the classrooms and as far as I know she is now safe."
Gene Cole, a Virginia Tech services worker, described to the local paper, the Roanoke Times, how he had been on the second floor of Norris hall when he saw a person lying on a hallway floor. Then a man wearing a hat and holding a black gun stepped into the hallway.
"Someone stepped out of a classroom and started shooting at me," he said. He fled down the hallway. "All I saw was blood in the hallways," Mr Cole said.
Another staff member was described as having climbed out of the second floor window of the hall just as the gunman entered the room he was in and opened fire. He jumped at the moment the shooting started.
Professor Scott Hendricks, a professor of engineering, described how he was in his office in Norris hall immediately above where the shooting broke out. He said he counted 30 or 40 shots.
Courtney Dalton, 18, who works in a pizza parlour next to the dorm where the first killing took place said they were locked in soon after the shooting. "The police were looking everywhere for him," she said. "In the drains, everywhere." She said that two victims were removed from the dorm a short time later. Paramedics appeared to be carrying out CPR on one of the victims as they were brought from the dorm.
The lone gunman, who killed 32 students before turning his weapon on himself at the Virginia Technical College, had no mobile phone and his fingerprints did not match any on file. His face was disfigured when he shot himself and he carried no ID papers.
Students at the college - one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the US, situated at the foot of the Appalachian mountains - described the killer as a six-foot man of Asian appearance who had been wearing a maroon cap and carrying an ammunition belt.
At around 7am (Midday BST) yesterday, the man is believed to have gone to the dormitory of a student with whom he had either had a relationship with or been infatuated by. He shot her dead, along with the resident mentor - a student responsible for advising others in the dormitory.
The police began a hunt for the killer, but made the assumption that as it appeared to be a domestic case, no danger was posed to others. Students were only alerted two hours later, too late to save the 30 other students he went on to murder in their classrooms.
Late last night, students wandered round the campus clutching mobile phones trying to establish which friends and professors were missing. A canteen worker cried on hearing from her boss that the resident mentor in the dormitory - a popular - was among the dead.
Other students told of narrow escapes, jumping out of windows to escape the killer or blocking doors. One group told how they had kept pressure on a classroom door even when five bullets were fired through it, and the killer, frustrated, moved on.
The speed with which those involved and the US media moved from shock to what journalists call the 'second-day story' - the attribution of blame - was extraordinary.
Much of the talk on campus was not about the event itself or mourning friends, but who was to blame for the tragedy. The police for failing to close down the campus after the first shooting? College officials for failing to cancel classes and send out a more effective alert? Almost no one raised the issue of gun control.
A campus memorial service will be held today.
Police and university authorities in Virginia were under pressure last night to explain how a gunman, believed to be acting alone, came to kill two students in a university dormitory then evade detection for more than two hours before massacring a further 30 people and killing himself in the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The carnage at Virginia Tech, a university with 26,000 students in a quiet country town in the south-west of the state, instilled horror and shock across the country. In the gruesome calculus of these events, it surpassed the previous bloodiest shooting of 23 people in Killeen, Texas, in 1991 and the incident that has become synonymous with America's record of mass killings, Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher died exactly eight years ago this Friday.
Adding to the stunned reaction to the sheer scale of yesterday's carnage was the revelation last night that most of the victims had died in the second shooting spree, more than two hours after police were first called out.
The initial call to 911 was made at 7.15am from the largest dormitory in the university, West Ambler Johnston, a mixed-gender residence hall housing 895 students. Officers arriving at the scene found a man and a woman dead in a student room, it is thought on the second floor.
Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech, said last night the authorities had had reason to believe the incident was domestic in motive, possibly involving a former boyfriend, and that the killer had left campus and was trying to leave the state.
In fact, he somehow managed to make his way to Norris hall, a building in the science and engineering block of the campus about a mile away, where at about 9.40am he embarked on a second, and far more deadly, shooting spree.
The gunman, whose identity was still unclear last night, went from room to room in the building killing individuals, and at times chaining rooms to prevent police gaining access to them. Finally, he killed himself inside the hall. Police said they recovered two weapons at the scene.
Mr Steger said the college authorities had shut down Ambler Johnston as soon as the first call was made. But he came under repeated questioning from reporters to explain why most of the student body had been told to take precautions in a round-robin email that was sent out only at 9.26am, more than two hours after the first shooting and shortly before the gunman entered Norris hall.
"There were 14,000 students in transit for lessons at 8am. The decision we had to make was where to lock them down," Mr Seger said. Virginia Tech's police chief, Wendell Flinchum, also came under intense questioning. "Based on the information we had at the time we made the assessment that the [Ambler Johnston] incident was isolated," he said.
Police refused to confirm speculation that the gunman may have been a boyfriend of one of those he killed.
They said they were also continuing to investigate whether or not the two shootings were connected, although the fact that they had made no arrests and were not looking for any other individual suggested a certainty that they were carried out by the same person. Access to dorms is restricted to those with swipe cards between 10pm and 10am.
The tragedy at Virginia Tech shocked and saddened the community in the state and far beyond, and once again raised issues about America's relaxed gun laws. George Bush went on air to say that when the sanctity of schools was violated, "the impact is felt in every American classroom and community".
But earlier in the day his spokeswoman in Washington was forced to justify his opposition to tightening the rules on handgun ownership. She said the president believed in the right to bear arms, but equally that "all laws must be followed ... Walking into a school hall and shooting people is clearly against the law".
The sound of what appeared to be an execution-style massacre in Norris hall was captured by a student who filmed the outside of the building as it was being circled by Swat teams as the killing went on. The footage, broadcast by CNN, recorded the retort of 27 shots, made in chillingly regular order.
Jamal Albarghouti described how he came to take the footage: "The first thing I saw was policeman taking guns out then I knew that this was serious ... then I saw the guns I knew this wasn't another bomb threat. Then I started hearing guns from far away ...
"There was a person in the second floor trying to tell the cops that he was in there and probably trying to guide them.
"I heard from the window he was trying to reach outside the window to talk to the cops, this is what I saw. I did not hear what he said. A minute after I had reached the area where I took the video from, I saw police asking everyone to lay down or to leave really quickly."
Mihai Alexe sent the BBC website a description of how one friend had been teaching inside Norris hall when the shooting happened. "She sent me an instant message saying she met with the shooter by accident and was nearly shot. She succeeded in barricading herself along with other students in one of the classrooms and as far as I know she is now safe."
Gene Cole, a Virginia Tech services worker, described to the local paper, the Roanoke Times, how he had been on the second floor of Norris hall when he saw a person lying on a hallway floor. Then a man wearing a hat and holding a black gun stepped into the hallway.
"Someone stepped out of a classroom and started shooting at me," he said. He fled down the hallway. "All I saw was blood in the hallways," Mr Cole said.
Another staff member was described as having climbed out of the second floor window of the hall just as the gunman entered the room he was in and opened fire. He jumped at the moment the shooting started.
Professor Scott Hendricks, a professor of engineering, described how he was in his office in Norris hall immediately above where the shooting broke out. He said he counted 30 or 40 shots.
Courtney Dalton, 18, who works in a pizza parlour next to the dorm where the first killing took place said they were locked in soon after the shooting. "The police were looking everywhere for him," she said. "In the drains, everywhere." She said that two victims were removed from the dorm a short time later. Paramedics appeared to be carrying out CPR on one of the victims as they were brought from the dorm.
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