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32 die in America's worst campus shooting
By staff and correspondents in the US
April 17, 2007 09:18am
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Worst campus shooting incident in US history
Gunman took his own life, police say
George W. Bush says nation is grieving
A SHOOTING spree by a lone gunman has left at least 32 people dead at a
Virginia university in the bloodiest school shooting in US history.
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The rampage took place in two separate areas, first at a dormitory as
students had begun criss-crossing the sprawling campus for morning
classes,
and then about two hours later at an engineering and science hall about
800m
away, sparking panic.
Witnesses have said some students were hurt jumping out the windows of a
classroom building to escape the gunfire.
"You could see students carrying what looked like bodies out of Norris
Hall
(the engineering building) and there were ambulances out there that drove
down to pick them up and sped off towards the hospital," student Michael
O'Brien has told Fox News.
A student journalist's video of the chaos was replayed repeatedly on US
television networks, showing people scurrying around the campus and
volleys
of shots ringing out. Dramatic mobile phone video footage also picked up
the clatter of bullets fired in the attack.
Virginia Tech campus police chief Wendell Finchum has said the gunman has
killed himself.
Officials did not have a motive for the attack and did not immediately
know
if the gunman was a student, but students have said multiple bomb threats
had been made against the university in recent weeks, including two
against
the buildings targeted in today's shooting.
The state's governor has declared a state of emergency in the aftermath of
the horrific attack.
The death toll of 32 surpasses the 15 who died in the shooting at
Columbine
High School in Colorado. The eighth anniversary of that shooting is in
three days.
US President George W. Bush has said he is "horrified" by the attack,
while
the university's president has said the shooting is a "tragedy of
monumental
proportions".
Doors chained shut
University police were investigating the first shooting at the dormitory
when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building. It is reported
that
a man and a woman were found dead in that building.
One student has told CNN that the gunman entered the second building,
chained the doors closed and began shooting into each classroom.
"He shot at the class somewhere between eight to 12 times and then left,"
a
student identified as Paul has been quoted as saying.
Police have said the university was not closed down after the first
shooting
because there was evidence that the gunman had fled the campus, although
it
is not clear what that evidence is.
Student Justin Merrifield has said students were alerted to the danger by
campus loudspeakers.
"There was a voice that just kept repeating, 'Gunman on campus, stay
indoors, get away from windows,' over and over, basically," he has said.
One student has criticised how university officials reacted after the
first
shooting.
"I'm pretty outraged that someone died in a shooting in a dorm at 7
o'clock
in the morning and the first email about it had no mention of locking down
the campus, no mention of cancelling classes," he has said on CNN.
"While they sent out that e-mail, 21 people got killed."
A White House spokeswoman has said: "(The President's) immediate reaction
was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims
themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia
who have dealt with this shocking incident."
Virginia Tech president Charles Steger has said: "I cannot begin to convey
my own personal sense of loss over this senseless and incomprehensible
heinous act."
- AFP and Reuters
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