Shootings at Virginia Tech (VPI) 32 dead, 28 wounded
» Posted April 16th, 2007 by psi29a
Update – 04/17 @ 11:23 AM : There are now F-15E (multiple) flying over head right now. We are expecting the President’s arrival on campus for the convocation.
– Previous days news below –
This is breaking news from killfile and psi29a who live next to VT campus. For all of our readership who goes to tech (we have a few), stay safe, and stay away from the people with assault weapons. This apparently isn’t the first, this year!
Several sources on Virginia Tech’s main campus are reporting possible shootings on Virgina Tech’s main campus. Emergency crews including fire, ambulance, and police are on the scene. This page will be updated as new information is made available.
Update 1Emergency response began at AJ (West Ambler Johnston), one of Virginia Tech’s dormitories and has now spread to the front of McBride hall. The Virginia Tech community is now under lock-down, including this office. There is, as yet, no indication that this is related to the string of bomb threats Tech has received throughout the last week.
Update 2Virginia Tech has confirmed that “A shooting incident occurred at West Ambler Johnston earlier this morning.” Police response has been swift and students on-site report a heavy police presence including officers armed with assault rifles. Students and faculty are urged to stay indoors and away from windows.
Killfile and I are fine atm, but please to those who are still on campus, lock your doors and grab your bats.
edit:
http://www.wsls.com/ — with live news feeds, it also confirmed 20 dead and 28 wounded.
edit:
from the campus at tech –
edit: update at 8:20PM EST
Governor Tim Kaine has declared a state of emergency, giving Tech access to far more of the apparatus of the state. Kaine is flying back to Virginia from an economic conference in Tokyo and should arrive early tomorrow morning.
At this point, despite numerous victim interviews and repeated media inquiries, no information as to the nature of the shooter’s weapon has been forthcoming.
The press conference tonight was a complete farce, and I want to smack each and everyone of the fucking media pundents *ahem* journalists there for interjecting opinion instead of asking questions. Also, how many damn ways can one ask the same question! I want say thank you personally to all our men and women in uniform for their help today. They did a very professional job and made the best decisions they could under the circumstances.
We are talking about 2600 acres of land of open campus in a free society, emphasis on free. Having more security will not make the situation better, nor will throwing more money at it make it better. This shit happens and we all need to grieve, cope, and support ourselves and those who help to protect us.
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April 16th, 2007 at 9:49 am
is there some kinda shoot out at some university or what exactly is going on?
holy J, keep safe guys/gals
April 16th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Sounds like their campus has become a war zone, lol.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Shit, thats no joke. Take care guys.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:57 am
We are safe, but no one is in ‘captured’ yet. Possibly two assailants.
More updates:
Update 3
Virginia Tech has canceled all classes for the day.
Gunman on campus; all classes canceled; stay where you are; do not come to campus.
Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where there are, lock their doors and stay away from window. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus.
Update 4
Reports indicate a second shooting and potentially multiple victims. These reports are unconfirmed as of yet.
Update 5
From WDBJ-7: A News 7 photographer on the scene has also reported seeing at least one person injured and coming out of another building on campus.
Rumors have circulated that a professor may have also been hit. No information is available as to the veracity of this statement or the severity of any wounds suffered.
Update 6
AP Reports one fatality thus-far and another wounded. No resolution to the case has yet been reported.
Other sources indicate that there are now seven ambulances at the Virginia Tech Drill Field (central campus), though if this is in anticipation or response remains to be seen.
Update 7
Rumors indicate that the shooter is now confined to a single building (Norris Hall) and that the wounded individual mentioned above was indeed a professor at the University shot in his arm. Tech has apparently canceled a press conference scheduled for 11.
Update 8
Shooter is apparently not alone in Norris. Reports are coming in of students/faculty attempting to flee the building through windows.
Update 9
Another shooting is being reported at Norris hall bringing the total to three potential victims. Students report that the victim in West AJ was female and (possibly) a Residential Adviser.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:21 am
I hope SWAT will take them down.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Update 10
WSLS Reports that police have one individual in custody while a hunt continues for a second suspect. A news conference is scheduled for noon.
Update 11
An ambulance has just pulled away from War Memorial Chapel (see above map).
Update 12
Reports from students on campus indicate that a drug raid may have been in progress in AJ when the first shootings occurred. 7 to 8 casualties (not deaths) are now being reported.
Update 13
From the Roanoke Times (emphasis mine):
At Pritchard Hall, a dormitory near one of the shooting sites, students were being pulled into the buildings and told to stay away from windows and off the phone.
Pritchard is across the quad from AJ. See the map above for details.
Update 14
From the Virginia Tech website: On Tuesday, April 17, classes will be canceled. The university will remain open for administrative operations.
Update 15
WSLS reports that there is now an FBI presence on campus. The Montgomery County Hospital is no longer accepting patients from the general public and is limiting its new admittance strictly to students. Reporters have been asked to evacuate the campus.
April 16th, 2007 at 11:18 am
breaking news…
at least 20 are now dead with 28 wounded
April 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am
22 dead…this is insane…stay safe, guys…
April 16th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Did they say whats the reason for this incident
April 16th, 2007 at 11:56 am
At least one gunman dead, according to the police.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
From what a friend’s sister has heard (off the record), it was an Asian guy who went into a classroom looking for his girlfriend. Apparently she wasn’t there and he shot the professor in the head. And then started shooting random people. This is off the record, from what I’ve been told, anybody confirm?
April 16th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I’ve heard this too, no confirmation.
first shooting was in engineering hall, and the 2nd shooting was in a dorm.
This area has settled down, police are now in ’safe mode’.
My heart goes out to our hokies (VT Students) here.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
It’s a shame. Does anyone know what type of weapon the gunman was using or if there was multiple gunman (cause I heard that the police had arrested someone)?
April 16th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
This is unbelievable, unofficial death count is up to 32 now.. what kind of psychopath does something this terrible.. prayers going out to everyone there :/
April 16th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Just updating everyone. The gunman that died is an asian kid… yes that is true. My friend who lives in the dorm that the first person was shot at said that the rumor around up there is that he got into a fight with his girlfriend and killed her. There are also now rumors on the news that some of the ones who were killed were lined up execution style.
My prayers and condolences go out to all of those @ VT and to their friends and families!
April 16th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Oh and there are now 32 dead!
April 16th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
This is just disgusting, how does somebody this unstable make it this far in life? And, how does somebody like that get his hands on an assault rifle? Unbelievable
April 16th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
absolutely unreal. why do people think they have the right to ruin the lives of others?
April 16th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
What a morning, going to class then getting stuck there for an extra 2 hours, then evacuated and kept off campus (which by the way I live on) because some bastard has the tenacity to go crazy on my fellow students.
I don’t know if I know anyone who lost their lives but I’ll be praying with everyone, there are so many pieces to pick up.
April 16th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Man, thats just sick. I dont have any words to discribe what I feel…….
April 16th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Man this is crazy. I’m so pissed off that someone would do such a thing. All they know is the suspect was Asian and in his 20’s. Apparently he shot himself in the end too, such a fucking weakling couldn’t even deal with the consequences of his own actions. Stay safe everyone, and be strong.
April 16th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
this shit is crazy man! the news are all over the world!
but are you guys from VT? i had no idea. well i dont no what to say on these situations.. i get so fucking revolted because of people like the killer who did this shit. ;___; good luck with everything over there.
April 16th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
There are some people trying to post bullshit here, and I’ve been cleaning ‘em out and tossing ‘em in the spam bucket.
Don’t be dicks, you know who you are.
Things have calmed down a bit, but we got this:
Governor Tim Kaine has declared a state of emergency, giving Tech access to far more of the apparatus of the state. Kaine is flying back to Virginia from an economic conference in Tokyo and should arrive early tomorrow morning.
At this point, despite numerous victim interviews and repeated media inquiries, no information as to the nature of the shooter’s weapon has been forthcoming.
April 16th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
The press conference tonight was a complete farce, and I want to smack each and everyone of the fucking media pundents *ahem* journalists there for interjecting opinion instead of asking questions. Also, how many damn ways can one ask the same question! I want say thank you personally to all our men and women in uniform for their help today. They did a very professional job and made the best decisions they could under the circumstances.
We are talking about 2600 acres of land of open campus in a free society, emphasis on free. Having more security will not make the situation better, nor will throwing more money at it make it better. This shit happens and we all need to grieve, cope, and support ourselves and those who help to protect us.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
We also got the news here in Canada. Don’t know if that’s true but they say that the killing was made in two times : The first one at 7h15 and the other something like 2 hours later… 2 hours is pretty long for intervention i think. Wish you guys luck and take care !
April 16th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I think the only good question I heard was from one of the student journalists, asking what the students can do to help prevent something like this from happening again in the future. Trying to be helpful, as opposed to the regular journalists who were simply looking for a story about where to lay the blame. Had to turn it off halfway through because I couldn’t stand watching them harass the police chief..
April 16th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
MrShoes, I agree with you 100% on that. Aside from the few poignant questions, it was basically harassment of our police chief.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Man this is…just a terrible terrible tragedy. The times we live in the things that some people are capable of doing. The kind of pain and suffering any member of society can inflict just is not right and all of it really does bring me to tears, even though I have never met you two I am glad to hear you boys are safe.
Just a side note, I wonder how long it will take before some idiot lawyer jumps to the podium and announces that this event is the fault of (video games, manga and Metal).
April 16th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
about 33 dead already figured out
April 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Roanoke Times, August 31, 2006:
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/80510
April 16th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Worst shooting in U.S history…its most heinous.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:18 am
when I first heard it, *being a sick person I am* I was like YEAAAA!!… then I shut up, turned the TV one and 25+ people dead. 20+ wounded.. I was like… oh shi.. umm…. I felt so guilty and shocked/apalled, I didnt know what to say. I thought it was one of those “2 dead 235 wounded”… I mean, comon… theres always that “2 shot and killed, 18 people wounded”… im like, why the fuck cant they fire accurately?…. but this sh1t happens and im like… omg wow… ok… maybe i should rethink about generalizing this stuff.. and felt judgemental about it… other than that, I hope the university of safe now.
April 17th, 2007 at 2:34 am
I hope you guys are all ok. Everything will be alright, try not to succumb to the fear these monsters try to induce.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:10 am
This is just to unreal.
Wat can push someone to do these insane acts ?
Im from the netherlands and i read this morning that the shooter broke his neck jumping from a window. is this corect ?
April 17th, 2007 at 4:27 am
We woke up to the news of this terrible incident this morning here in Australia, its just unbelieveable.
Prayers and condolences go out to all of those @ VT and to their friends and families.
April 17th, 2007 at 5:16 am
God, what a horrible event.
Hearing this on the news here in Australia and the comparisons to our own Port Arthur Massacre… Why would a person do such a thing?
My condolences goes out to the families and students at VT
April 17th, 2007 at 5:53 am
and i was siting here wondering how epic he would die, and what a disapointment. Still, realy f up to kill others like that. MAkes you wonder if its bether that everyone is going around with atleast one gun for these kind of situations. Cus other way people would go and buy guns on the street and do what they want and no one can do anything about it when they strike again….someone elese that is……makes me wana go get a gun for protection……still there would be probably bigger chance of it hapening again , but atleast youd be prepared
April 17th, 2007 at 5:57 am
it was a student, who got panic and jumped out the window…
the marksman judged himself right after this massacre.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:33 am
I don’t think allowing people to carry guns to protect themselves will necessarily prevent this event from happening again. If anything, it would probably increase the chances of a gunfight, when a brawl gets ugly. There has to be some degree of tighter gun control in my opinion, how this crazed individual was able to obtain an assault weapon is beyond my comprehension. This is incredible distressing, Columbine was already terrifying, and now this, armed with heavier firepower. I don’t think the media is doing their job right, trying to assign blame. My sympathies goes to the families of the victims, and to the injured, I hope they have the strength to endure this ordeal and recover quickly.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am
If you want the data on firearms:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/Firearms.htm
Major Findings: States with higher levels of household gun ownership had higher rates of firearm homicide and overall homicide.
note: I re-iterate, any dick-ish comments will be removed. I’m not the government, and this is private property therefor there is no freedom of idiotic speech here.
If you cannot empathize with and for your fellow man, then this world is better off without you.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:36 am
the guy was 23 yrs old Korean. and it’s definitely a problem with being able to go to the store and buy guns… whoever thinks it’s not the guns that kill people, are just in need of a serious reality check. how many people could he have killed if he only had a knife? maybe 2 or 3. when you introduce the guns, it’s a whole new level.
here’s the identification of the person:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3048108&page=1
April 17th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
in all of the country where weapons are easily available stuff like this happens too often
America, west middle asia, africa- shit like this happens everyday, ppl kill other for the ’simplest’ reason . in europe such things happen too but not that often and not in such a large scale.
weapons should really be forbidden in a ‘civilized’ country as America is calling itself, if not then face the consequences.
if you are willing to call the devil then you should also be able to handle the devil
April 17th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
true, but wouldnt that mean that those that dont have guns to defende themself will be even more exposed……Weapons, a double edged sword .Cant live with them,cant live without them
April 17th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
It was possible for 33 people to die only because guns were (are) free for all to buy at the corner store. It does not make any sense that people need to have guns to protect themselves. If that kid had had a knife, he could’ve maybe killed 3 people before being apprehended.
People say it’s the kid’s fault, not the guns. They say blame him, not the guns. Well, the world is full of messed up kids in every town, rich or poor. The thing is that this kind of incident only happens in the USA; you don’t hear about this sort of thing in other countries. That’s because here we have many messed up kids AND they can buy guns anytime. Letting anyone buy guns is just begging for incidents to keep happening. Bottom-line is we don’t need to have guns in our houses, for protection, for hunting, or for sport. Just think of how many people are being threatened by the gun… It serves a better and bigger purpose to give up on that “tradition” of keeping guns. Even if one is keeping guns “to revolt against the government,” as someone mentioned to me, realistically speaking, that will never happen and the government’s guns are so much bigger than what civilians can carry that they’d destroy any attempt to overthrow the government. Even more so if the demonstrators are carrying guns. I’m not saying that getting rid of guns will stop these incidents, but at least it will thwart many attempts.
Interesting article of the world blaming America’s gun laws for this incident is here:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OIGHU00&show_article=1
April 17th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I thought it was interesting on CNN yesterday when I heard someone saying “Why does this happen so much in America? You don’t ever hear about this happening in other countries, so why in America?”. I think gun laws definitely have something to do with it, but they cannot be the only reason, and I hope they can find ways to prevent this from happening in the future..
April 17th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
As long as gun lobbyists are responsible for getting presidents elected, there is no way of a more tighter gun control. It is part of the American culture, and there is no way of abolishing the use of guns completely. However, I would hope that at least there is some degree of gun control to stop assault weapons from being available and accessible to the public.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
How many people have to die, to MAKE anything about guns?
Its a terrible news…
The friends and family will need support…
sinceresly
Rocio (from Argentina)
April 17th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
33 people dead from a single shooting is the worst in the country’s history? I thought the record would be much more than that.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Also, I do think having access to guns increases someone’s motivation to go on a killing, but I also believe that if someone really wanted to kill that bad they would just find another way. Like that old saying goes, “Gun’s don’t kill people, people kill people.”
April 17th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
First of all, before watching the lies that come from Fox News, please get your facts here first:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre
The sources are well sited and is free of bias or opinion.
–
It is the worst shooting at a University in history.
However, to put this in historical perspective:
With a death toll of 33, this is the deadliest single-perpetrator civilian shooting in United States history, surpassing the Luby’s massacre of 1991, in which 24 people were killed. Internationally, it is surpassed by the 1982 massacre of 57 South Koreans by off-duty police officer Woo Bum-Kon and the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in the Australian state of Tasmania where 35 people were killed by a single gunman.
The incident is the deadliest school shooting incident in the United States, exceeding the 16 deaths of the University of Texas shooting of 1966; and as the second deadliest school-related killing in U.S. history, behind the 1927 Bath School disaster which claimed 45 lives through the use of explosives, including 38 school children.
Also, the attacks occurred four days shy of the eighth anniversary of the Columbine high school massacre, three days before the 12th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and the 14th anniversary of the Waco siege.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I agree with Psi. Guns do not kill people. It is the people behind the guns. Also, as americans, we seem to take the easy way out because so much is given to us. Gun control is not the answer. There is always going to be a person that either has no remorse for life or has convinced their self that life means nothing. As a side note the people of Canada own more firearms per person then in the US. and yet less than 1/8 of their crimes are committed with a firearm(look it up if you don’t believe me.) The people of the US are brought up in violence and distrust. Until we can change this, we will continue to see this path of destruction and suffering.
thoughts and prayers to all who are suffering and grieving.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Also, to those of you that say that this only happens in the US. Open you eyes and don’t believe everything you see on the news. Every day there are 10 year old kids killing people. Sometimes, they kill a lot of people. The difference is that those kids with guns live in third world countries and have no media coverage telling the world what a f ed up person they are. Here we do.
April 18th, 2007 at 2:37 am
my sympathy goes out to whomever had friends or loved ones in VT.
im from pittsburgh pennsylvania and we deffinately felt the shockwave up here.
all vt students will be in my prayers
April 18th, 2007 at 3:37 am
WOW… all i can say is thank god i live in australia where this shit neva happens. only farmers and police use guns over here and no 1 else. no guns are the key here. aus have about 50 to 60 deaths per from guns. but usa has about 10 000 to 20 000 per yr. less guns less death
April 18th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Oh really altekterror?
Port Arthur Massacre in the Australian state of Tasmania where 35 people were killed by a single gunman.
It happens everywhere and absolutes like ‘never’ aren’t very helpful. Just some perspective man, no offense towards you or anyone else. Eldo can back that up, as he is an Aussie as well.
For a map of guncrime by country go here:
http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/world/0704/map.guncrime/Map.swf
April 18th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I feel sorry for all the families that lost their children, brothers, sister, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, beloved one.
That was a tragedy and, again, stress the easy access to weapons by the civils.
April 18th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I know I’D like to be able own a gun for protection (it’s also an enjoyable and challenging trying to improve your aim at the range). Unfortunately, permitting people to acquire guns for protection or target-shooting doesn’t mean people will only use them in self-defense or targets at the range. This is evidenced by unstable people who use guns for efficient suicide/non-self-defense homicide.
It is a pity, but it’s quite common for people to be emotionally unstable, and guns provide a dangerous outlet for wild emotion (of course, the appropriate mindset/personality has to be present as well–’emotion’ is an incomplete explanation). The event at Virginia Tech is a perfect example of the danger that stems from human frailty and efficient weapons.
Also, regarding the media…I share your disgust, psi29a. Some ‘journalists’ can be quite dreadful.
April 19th, 2007 at 3:23 am
The Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania that happened over 10 years ago was the last straw for Australia, because of this, tougher gun control laws were introduced. Most Australians were already against the use of firearms, and the laws further restricted the availability and legal ownership in Australia.
Since then, the number of gun deaths has significantly reduced, and relatively free of any fatal shootings. There hasn’t been any reports from the media or otherwise of any major shootings in Australia. There is the occasional gang wars and the such, but the numbers of gun-related deaths pale in comparison with American figures.
April 19th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
My prayers go out to all family and friends from VT. A coworkers son was the boy who was shot 3 times but survived. We are thanking God for this miracle. He is still hospitalized but recovering.
April 19th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
shellbellz4,
I’m glad to hear that he is recovering. Tell him and others that companies at the VTCRC give our love and support.
May 6th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I just found out that a friend of mine knew that kid since second grade. But he never talked to anybody. Graduated from the same high school as him in the same year. Another guy who graduated on the same year killed four police man in a police station somewhere. Bad year. Very Bad Year.