A gunman opened fire in a dormitory and classroom at a US university on Monday, killing at least 30 people.
The rampage at Virginia Tech University was the deadliest in US history, government officials said. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll in Blacksburg, Virginia, to 31.
It is unclear if the gunman 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 name of the gunman was not immediately released, and investigators offered no motive for the attack. It was not clear if the gunman was a student.
The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus, with witnesses reporting students jumping out classroom windows to escape the gunfire. Students and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive. Police with flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed the campus.
The bloodbath took place at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7.15am (1215 GMT) 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.
Police said they were still investigating the shooting at the dormitory when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building.
After the first shots were fired, students were warned to stay indoors and away from the windows. But some students said they thought the precautions had been lifted by the time the second burst of gunfire was heard, and some bitterly questioned why the gunman was able to strike a second time, two hours after the bloodshed began.
Some of 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 said.
I saw this earlier, what a tragedy, you have to wonder What made this guy wake up this morning and decide today was the day he was going to kill 31 people, I wonder if these people were pre-picked or just killed at random. Crazy world
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
- Bertrand Russell
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the
enemy." - George Washington
A student went on a shooting rampage and killing 32 classmates in one day.
Read full story. My best friend was at this campus..Alhumdulilah he is okay ...
crazy stuff, very bad university security as well as this lasted for 2 hours unlike other shootings which occured and ended in like 20 mins. this guy was walking the campus shooting ppl for 2 hours.
yup. but it will be useless, by the time they outlaw it guns will still be all over the place, its abit too late for that.
You can't just sit back and say "oh well." You have to at least try. They're debating this on Sky News. This type of incident has happened far too often...
guns seem to be appearin everywhere now, in london nearly everyweek someone is shot in south london, even in DUBAI there was an armed robbery yesterday on a jewelry store, over 50 million dhs (uae currency) worth of jewelry was stolen at gun point
Do you not think it's time for the US to outlaw firearms?
No, I don't think it'll help much. It's more about culture than gun ownership.
Besides, despite these tragic school shootings we should also keep in mind that the murder rate has more than halved in the US in the last 15 years or so. Thats despite the increase in the number of firearms in circulation.
In 1962 prayer and Bibles were banned from the schools even the 10 commandments were taken out. I quess they were afraid the children might actually obey thou shalt not kill. Go figure, and they wonder why these shooting are taking place.
Do you not think it's time for the US to outlaw firearms?
This is very sad news to hear really. I believe its time to outlaw the firearms; this event is excellent evidance. Fireams around is extremely hazardous and very dangerous.
This is very sad news to hear really. I believe its time to outlaw the firearms; this event is excellent evidance. Fireams around is extremely hazardous and very dangerous.
I don't think that. I think they should let prayer and the 10 commandments back in the schools
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