Virginia Tech Massacre
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:37 pm
[url=\"http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3045574\"]Massacre at Virginia Tech: 32 Confirmed Dead (READ FULL STORY HERE)[/url]
April 16, 2007— At least 32 people are dead in what may be the biggest mass shooting in modern American history — and the death toll may rise.
Police at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., said that the shootings happened at a dormitory and a classroom on opposite sides of the university campus.
\"Schools should be places of safety and learning,\" President Bush said this afternoon from the White House. \"When that safety is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community.\"
Law enforcement officials tell ABC News they believe there was a single gunman, firing at least two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. They said he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.
It is unknown at this time if the guns had standard or extended clips, which can fire as many as 30 shots before the gun has to be reloaded.
The gunman, whose identity has not been released, is among the dead. Campus police would not say whether the shooter had killed himself.
Two Shootings
\"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions,\" said university president Charles Steger. \"The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus.\"
A count by ABC News shows that at least 28 people had been admitted to hospitals, most with gunshot wounds.
18 were at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, and four of them, in critical condition, were taken into surgery. Some had broken ankles, back and neck injuries after jumping from the buildings where the shootings were happening.
Four others were at Lewis Gale Medical Center if Salem, Va.
The Carilion Hospital System, which has a number of hospitals in the Blacksburg area, said it had admitted six people total — all of whom were being treated for gunshot wounds. Shirley Holland, a spokesperson, said three are in critical condition at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, a facility equipped with a trauma center about 45 minutes from Blacksburg.
Another three are in stable condition at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, about 20 minutes from campus.
It was too windy to evacuate the injured by helicopter, so the victims were all sent to hospitals by ambulance. Spokespeople said there is currently not a pressing need for additional blood donations.
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the first shooting took place just after 7 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a large dormitory. At least one person was killed there.
Police were investigating the first shooting when more shots were fired at Norris Hall, an academic building across campus. At least 20 people are known to have died there.
It is not clear what happened between the two shootings — what could have been a gap of two hours. The buildings where they happened are about half a mile apart, a distance one can walk in about ten minutes, according to Alex Mengel, a freshman at the school.
Eyewitness: \'40 or 50 shots\'
Engineering student Josh Wargo, a junior at Virginia Tech, said he was sitting in class when students began to hear \"loud banging noises\" followed by screaming. He said many students panicked. Some began to jump out of a window two stories above ground level.
\"We heard almost 40 or 50 shots,\" Wargo told ABC News. \"They were going on from the time we heard them and jumped out the window until almost two minutes later.\"
\"When I landed, I was in a daze, standing outside of the building,\" Wargo said. \"Then I heard shots going through glass — that\'s when it hit me that I had to get out of there.\"
Gina Om, another Virginia Tech junior, was at the Montgomery Regional Hospital to be with a friend who had been shot.
\"It\'s kind of surreal right now,\" Om said. \"I\'ve always thought Virginia Tech was very safe…one of the reasons why my mom liked this school.\"
April 16, 2007— At least 32 people are dead in what may be the biggest mass shooting in modern American history — and the death toll may rise.
Police at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., said that the shootings happened at a dormitory and a classroom on opposite sides of the university campus.
\"Schools should be places of safety and learning,\" President Bush said this afternoon from the White House. \"When that safety is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community.\"
Law enforcement officials tell ABC News they believe there was a single gunman, firing at least two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. They said he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.
It is unknown at this time if the guns had standard or extended clips, which can fire as many as 30 shots before the gun has to be reloaded.
The gunman, whose identity has not been released, is among the dead. Campus police would not say whether the shooter had killed himself.
Two Shootings
\"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions,\" said university president Charles Steger. \"The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus.\"
A count by ABC News shows that at least 28 people had been admitted to hospitals, most with gunshot wounds.
18 were at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, and four of them, in critical condition, were taken into surgery. Some had broken ankles, back and neck injuries after jumping from the buildings where the shootings were happening.
Four others were at Lewis Gale Medical Center if Salem, Va.
The Carilion Hospital System, which has a number of hospitals in the Blacksburg area, said it had admitted six people total — all of whom were being treated for gunshot wounds. Shirley Holland, a spokesperson, said three are in critical condition at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, a facility equipped with a trauma center about 45 minutes from Blacksburg.
Another three are in stable condition at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, about 20 minutes from campus.
It was too windy to evacuate the injured by helicopter, so the victims were all sent to hospitals by ambulance. Spokespeople said there is currently not a pressing need for additional blood donations.
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the first shooting took place just after 7 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a large dormitory. At least one person was killed there.
Police were investigating the first shooting when more shots were fired at Norris Hall, an academic building across campus. At least 20 people are known to have died there.
It is not clear what happened between the two shootings — what could have been a gap of two hours. The buildings where they happened are about half a mile apart, a distance one can walk in about ten minutes, according to Alex Mengel, a freshman at the school.
Eyewitness: \'40 or 50 shots\'
Engineering student Josh Wargo, a junior at Virginia Tech, said he was sitting in class when students began to hear \"loud banging noises\" followed by screaming. He said many students panicked. Some began to jump out of a window two stories above ground level.
\"We heard almost 40 or 50 shots,\" Wargo told ABC News. \"They were going on from the time we heard them and jumped out the window until almost two minutes later.\"
\"When I landed, I was in a daze, standing outside of the building,\" Wargo said. \"Then I heard shots going through glass — that\'s when it hit me that I had to get out of there.\"
Gina Om, another Virginia Tech junior, was at the Montgomery Regional Hospital to be with a friend who had been shot.
\"It\'s kind of surreal right now,\" Om said. \"I\'ve always thought Virginia Tech was very safe…one of the reasons why my mom liked this school.\"