US university shooting kills 33

Tuesday April 17, 2007 12:16 AM

By HANK KURZ Jr.

Associated Press Writer

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - On a university campus of 2,600 acres, with more than 26,000 students, ironclad security is not a practical goal. Even so, tough questions swiftly surfaced as to how effectively Virginia Tech authorities responded to Monday's horrific massacre.

Why were campus police so sure the threat was contained in one dormitory, when most of the killings occurred two hours later in a classroom building?

Why did they think the assailant might have left the campus after those initial shootings?

Why was there a lag of more than two hours after the first shootings before an alarm was e-mailed campuswide - around the time another, more deadly burst of carnage occurred? And more generally, some security experts wondered, was the school's crisis planning and emergency communications system up to the task?

Clearly, something went terribly wrong.

Bombarded with security questions at a news conference, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed the shooting at the West Ambler Johnston dorm, first reported about 7:15 a.m., was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.

``We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur,'' he said.

The dormitory was locked down immediately after the shooting, Steger said, and a phone bank was activated to alert the resident advisers there so they could go door-to-door warning the 900 students in the dorm. Security guards deployed at the dorm, he said, and others began a sweep across campus.

Asked why he didn't order a lockdown of the entire campus, Steger noted that thousands of nonresident students were arriving for 8 a.m. classes, fanning out across the sprawling campus from their parking spots.

``Where do you lock them down?'' Steger asked.

He said security on campus will be tightened now, but offered no details.

``We obviously can't have an armed guard in front of every classroom every day of the year,'' he said.

Overall, Steger defended the university's response, saying: ``You can only made a decision based on the information you know at that moment in time. You don't have hours to reflect on it.''

Some students were upset that the gunman was able to strike a second time, saying the first notification they got of the shootings came in an e-mail at 9:26 a.m. The e-mail mentioned a ``shooting incident'' at West Amber Johnston, said police were investigating, and asked students to be cautious and contact police about anything suspicious.

Student Maurice Hiller said he went to a 9 a.m. class two buildings away from the engineering building, and no warnings were coming over the outdoor public address system on campus at the time.

``I was troubled with the fact that two hours elapsed from the first shooting,'' said Brant Martel, 23, a junior. ``I just feel they were a little slow on their response.''

But Edmund Henneke, an associate dean of engineering who was in the building where the second round of shootings occurred, said criticism of the authorities' response was unfair.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6563013,00.html

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (CNN) -- At least 33 people, including a gunman, were killed Monday during shootings in a dorm and a classroom building at Virginia Tech, university officials said.

Two people were killed at a dormitory about 7:15 a.m., while another 30 people were killed about two hours later at Norris Hall -- the engineering science and mechanics building -- university officials said.

University police Chief Wendell Flinchum said police were still investigating whether the two incidents are related. Investigators are not ruling out a second shooter, Flinchum said.

More
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

Noted while watching FOX, CNN, and CBS:

The mainstream media, frustrated with statements from police are making a lot out of the lack of a two-hour "lockdown" between the two killing incidents.

Experts are parroting the story that students are angry for not being notified and warned to seek cover, but no students have been on air as yet saying so without prodding.

A security expert blamed the Virginia Tech administration for not implementing a lockdown particularly after bomb threats happened in the last week, and also an incident (not clarified yet) that took place on the first day of the school year. Who was she and why is she so focused on placing blame on administrators and not the killer(s). [Police will not conclusively say yet that there was a lone killer].

Paula Zahn just prodded a student to make a judgement about the need for a lockdown-- which he reluctantly agreed could have been implemented.

The president of the Virginia Tech student body emphasized that students were not wanting to place blame but wanted to find a way to heal.

The graduate student who said he was a Palestinian from the West Bank who had lived in Saudi Arabia and filmed the police seige on the Norris campus building with his Nokia cell phone was just on Larry King. King asked him probing questions and ended the interview when the student began to talk about leaving the Middle East where violence was more common for what he thought would be a peaceful community in Blacksburg, VA.

Another mainstream story thread is about the ease with which people can purchase firearms in VA. It was mentioned a few minutes ago that a trade show had occurred nearby Blacksburg about a week ago at which over 400 firearms were sold.

When our country is losing its Constitutional protections under the current government administration it is extremely important that people pay close attention to the facts and the mainstream reports.

Sadly, part of the news today is the news itself. The shootings are terrible.

What other stories are being pushed away to make room for this story now?

It is important for us all to pay attention.

Channel 5 CBS reports links of suspect shooter to San Francisco and Shanghai.

This link says nothing about the San Francisco link:

BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist

"Authorities were investigating whether the gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history was a Chinese man who arrived in the United States last year on a student visa.

The 24-year-old man arrived in San Francisco on United Airlines on Aug. 7 on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said."

Va. Tech Gunman Was Student From S.Korea

By ADAM GELLER
AP National Writer
Published April 17, 2007, 8:32 AM CDT

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A Virginia Tech senior from South Korea was behind the massacre of at least 30 people locked inside a campus building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, the university said Tuesday.

The Virginia Tech Police Department identified him as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior in the English department.


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