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Virginia Gunman Kills At Least 32 At Tech Campus
Breaking News: Virginia Gunman Kills At Least 32 At Tech Campus
Virginia USA
- Students at Virginia Tech in the United States are
demanding to know why thousands were left in danger without
being made aware a gunman had opened fire at a university
dorm and was on the loose for two hours before continuing
his killing spree at a second campus location.
The Associated Press reported a gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 33.
AP reported students had complained that there were no public-address announcements or other warnings on campus after the first burst of gunfire. They said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage - around the time the gunman struck again.
Virginia's Roanoke Times is reporting in a rolling blog-style eye-witness accounts of the shooting: 'Gene Cole has worked in Virginia Tech's housekeeping services for more than two decades. He was on the second floor of Norris Hall this morning and saw a person lying on a hallway floor. As Cole approached, a man wearing a hat and holding a black gun stepped into the hallway. "Someone stepped out of a classroom and started shooting at me," Cole said. He fled down the corridor, then down a flight of steps to safety. Most of this morning's casualties occurred in Norris. "All I saw was blood in the hallways," Cole said.'
Eyewitness Audio: (click here to listen)White House Audio: (click here to listen) US president George Bush commits to assistance: "My administration would do everything possible to assist with the investigation, and that I pledged that we would stand ready to help local law enforcement and the local community in any way we can during this time of sorrow."
White House spokesperson Dana Perino told reporters US president Bush had been told of the shootings: "The President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting -- I don't want to say numbers because I know that they're still trying to figure out many people were wounded and possibly killed, but obviously that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for."
Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said: "Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions.
"The university is shocked and indeed horrified," Steger said.
Scoop Audio: (click here to
listen) to Virginia Tech president Charles Steger's
statement.
Scoop Video: (click here to view)
White House press briefing on shooting
ENDS
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