Hi, Nascar!

If you think of the odds, your kid is VERY safe; no need to worry....

It is the unusual that grips our attention....


Oceans

i have to say i have a very good friend in virginia and im glad he's
wasnt in that school but i do fell saddend for everyone's who's lost a
loved one

if you goto yahoo there are 5 videos on there in regards to this.1 prof
WAS killed.1 student broke a leg jumping out a window.

This tragedy is just too awful. What a terrible waste of innocent lives.
My prayers are with the family and friends of those people who died and
were wounded.

ok.if i already posted this article i am sorry.but the #33 caught my
eye.BLACKSBURG, Va. (CP) - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm
and then, two hours later, shot up a classroom across campus Monday,
killing 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. The
gunman committed suicide, bringing the death toll to 33.


Students 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 Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed that
the shooting at the dorm 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.


He defended the university's handling of the tragedy, saying: "We can
only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You
don't have hours to reflect on it."


Investigators offered no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was
not immediately released, and it was not known whether he was a student.


The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus.


Witnesses reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom
building to escape the gunfire. SWAT team members with helmets, flak
jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. Students and faculty
members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for
ambulances to arrive.


The massacre took place at opposite sides of the 1,050-hectare campus,
beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed dormitory
that houses 895 people, and continuing at least two hours later at
Norris Hall, an engineering building about a kilometre, authorities
said.


Two people were killed in a dormitory room, and 31 others were killed in
the engineering building, including the gunman, police said.


"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of
monumental proportions," Steger said. "The university is shocked and
indeed horrified."


Steger said the university decided to rely on e-mail and other
electronic means of notifying members of the university, but with 11,000
people driving onto campus first thing in the morning, it was difficult
to get the word out.


He said that before the e-mail went out, the university began
telephoning resident advisers in the dorms to notify them, and sent
people to knock on doors to spread the word.


Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum would not say how many
weapons the gunman carried. But a law-enforcement official, speaking on
condition of anonymity because the investigation was incomplete, said
that the gunman had two pistols and multiple clips of ammunition.


Police said they were still investigating the shooting at the dorm when
they got word of gunfire at the classroom building.


Some students bitterly questioned why the gunman was able to strike a
second time.


"What happened today this was ridiculous," student Jason Piatt told CNN.
"While they send out that e-mail, 20 more people got killed."

Students and Laura Wedin, a student programs manager at Virginia Tech,
said the first notification they got of the shootings came in an e-mail
at 9:26 a.m., more than two hours after the first shooting.

The e-mail had few details. It said: "A shooting incident occurred at
West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and
are investigating." The message warned 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.

Everett Good, junior, said of the lack of warning: "I'm trying to figure
that out. Someone's head is definitely going to roll over that."

"We were kept in the dark a lot about exactly what was going on," said
Andrew Capers Thompson, a 22-year-old graduate student from Walhalla,
S.C.

At least 26 people were being treated at three area hospitals for
gunshot wounds and other injuries, authorities said. Their exact
conditions were not disclosed, but at least one was sent to a trauma
centre and six were in surgery, authorities said.

The Cranwell International Center at Virginia Tech said there were 16
Canadians there as of August 2006. It's uncertain how many are still
there, as some may have left since last summer.

CBC Nova Scotia said three exchange students at Virginia Tech, all from
the Maritimes, were reportedly safe. They have been contacted by the
Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, N.S. They started their
exchange at Virginia Tech in January and were expected to return home
next month.

A Canadian student at Virginia Tech said when contacted earlier Monday
that he hadn't moved from his dorm room since the shooting rampage
began.

Yoann Re, 18, said he saw police officers yelling at students who were
walking around one of the dorms where the shootings took place, telling
them to run as fast as they could to a nearby building.

Re, a tennis player from Quebec, said police ordered students to stay in
their rooms, away from windows, and lock their doors.

Until Monday, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in
Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck
into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

The massacre Monday took place almost eight years to the day after the
Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo. On April 20, 1999, two
teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their
own lives.

Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage
that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where
Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle
from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before he was
shot to death by police.

Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
southwestern Virginia, about 260 kilometres west of Richmond. With more
than 25,000 full-time students, it has the state's largest full-time
student population. The school is best known for its engineering school
and its powerhouse Hokies football team.

The rampage took place on a brisk spring day, with snow flurries
swirling around the campus.

The campus is centred around the Drill Field, a grassy field where
military cadets - who now represent a fraction of the student body -
once practised. The dorm and the classroom building are on opposites
sides of the Drill Field.

A White House spokesman said U.S. President George W. Bush was horrified
by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of
Virginia. "The president believes that there is a right for people to
bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino
said

After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed, and
classes were cancelled through Tuesday. The university set up a meeting
place for families to reunite with their children. It also made
counsellors available and planned an assembly for Tuesday at the
basketball arena.

Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two
weeks but they have not determined a link to the shootings.

It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed
because of a shooting.

Last August, the opening day of classes was cancelled and the campus
closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off
campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the
manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus. The accused gunman,
William Morva, faces capital murder charges.

-

A list of some major violent incidents at North American schools:

April 16, 2007: Deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history as gunman
opens fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech University in
Blacksburg, Virginia. The toll is 33 dead, including the gunman, who
committed suicide.

Oct. 2, 2006: A 32-year-old gunman enters an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel
Mines, Pa., and holds 10 girls hostage before shooting them. Five girls
are killed, and five more wounded. The gunman also kills himself.

Sept. 13, 2006: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in
Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people.

Aug. 30, 2006: 19-year-old man in Hillsborough, N.C., kills father, then
opens fire at Orange High School, wounding two students before
surrendering to police.

March 14, 2006: 14-year-old boy in Reno, Nev., bring's father's revolver
to Pine Middle School and wounds two classmates.

Jan. 13, 2006: 15-year-old boy at Milwee Middle School in Longwood,
Fla., holds class hostage at gunpoint before being fatally shot by
police. It is later learned his weapon was a pellet gun.

Nov. 8, 2005: Student at high school in Jacksboro, Tenn., shoots and
kills assistant principal. Principal and another assistant principal
wounded.

March 21, 2005: 16-year-old boy in Red Lake, Minn., fatally shoots
grandfather and grandfather's partner at home, then goes to Red Lake
High School, where he kills five students, a teacher and a security
guard before committing suicide.

May 7, 2004: Two men, 18 and 24, shoot and wound four students at high
school in Randallstown, Md.

March 30, 2004: Student at Wallace High School in Gary, Ind., shot to
death in school parking lot by classmate.

Feb. 3, 2004: 14-year-old boy in Palmetto Bay, Fla., stabs and slits
throat of 14-year-old classmate at Southwood Middle School.

Feb. 2, 2004: 19-year-old man shoots to death 17-year-old boy at Ballou
Senior High School in Washington, D.C.

Sept. 24, 2003: 15-year-old boy shoots two classmates at Rocori High
School in Cold Spring, Minn. One dies same day, other dies two weeks
later.

April 24, 2003: 14-year-old boy shoots principal to death in school
cafeteria in Red Lion, Pa., before killing himself.

March 5, 2001: 15-year-old freshman opens fire with .22-calibre pistol
at Santana High School in Santee, Calif., killing two students and
injuring 13 others.

Jan. 10, 2001: 17-year-old gunman fires shots at Hueneme High School in
Oxnard, Calif., before taking female student hostage. He is later shot
and killed by police.

May 26, 2000: 13-year-old honours student shoots and kills teacher on
last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla.

April 20, 2000: Four students and one staff member wounded in knife
attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ont. Occurs on first
anniversary of Columbine massacre.

Feb. 29, 2000: Six-year-old boy shoots six-year-old girl to death in
Grade 1 classroom at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township,
Mich. Because of his age, boy is not charged.

Dec. 6, 1999: 13-year-old student fires at least 15 shots at Fort Gibson
Middle School in Fort Gibson, Okla., wounding four classmates.

Nov. 19, 1999: 12-year-old boy shoots 13-year-old girl in head at school
in Deming, N.M. Girl dies next day.

May 20, 1999: 15-year-old boy opens fire at Heritage High School in
Conyers, Ga., with .357-calibre Magnum and rifle, wounding six students.

April 28, 1999: 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at
W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta.

April 20, 1999: Two heavily armed teenagers rampage through Columbine
High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher
before committing suicide.

April 16, 1999: High school sophomore fires two shotgun blasts in school
hallway in Notus, Idaho. No one injured.

Feb. 8, 1999: Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun,
Que. No one injured.

May 21, 1998: 17-year-old boy kills parents, then goes to high school in
Springfield, Ore., on shooting rampage, killing two teens and wounding
more than 20 people.

May 19, 1998: 18-year-old honours student opens fire at high school in
Fayetteville, Tenn., killing classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend.

April 24, 1998: 15-year-old boy opens fire at eighth-grade dance in
Edinboro, Pa., killing teacher.

March 24, 1998: Four girls and teacher shot to death and 10 people
wounded during false fire alarm at middle school in Jonesboro, Ark.,
when two boys, 11 and 13, open fire from woods.

Dec. 1, 1997: Three students die and five wounded at Heath High School
in West Paducah, Ky., after 14-year-old boy opens fire.

October 1997: 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal
language school for immigrants.

Oct. 1, 1997: 16-year-old boy in Pearl, Miss., shoots two students to
death and wounds seven others after stabbing his mother to death.

Feb. 19, 1997: 16-year-old boy takes shotgun and bag of shells to school
in Bethel, Alaska, killing principal and student and wounding two
others.

October 1994: Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in
Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades.

June 1993: Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver
in drive-by shooting.

Aug. 24, 1992: Valery Fabrikant, professor at Concordia University in
Montreal, goes on shooting rampage at school, killing four colleagues
and wounding one.

February 1990: Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at
General Brock High School in Burlington, Ont.

December 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of
Montreal's Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself.

October 1978: 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at
Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg.

Oct. 27, 1975: Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter,
shoots six people at Ottawa's Saint Pius X school and then kills
himself. One wounded student dies just over a month later. Poulin had
killed a girl at a youth home before he went to the school.

May 1975: Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13
others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., before turning
gun on himself.

I can't put my emotions into words, anger and disgust come close, but
its not the whole feeling. I pray for all those affected, may the souls
of the departed rest in peace.

amen.dam.amen.

OMG!!!!!! This is soooooo tradgic..What kind of sick animal would kill
innocent people like that...He was one twisted S.O.B.!!!!!!!!


My prayers go out to all of the victims and their families in their time
of need!!!!!!!!!!!!

Horrible...tragic...senseless

The question is: Why was he allowed to wonder all over the campus for
two hours!!??

The question is: Why was he allowed to wonder all over the campus for
two hours!!??

The question is: Why was he allowed to wonder all over the campus for
two hours!!??

The question is: Why was he allowed to wonder all over the campus for
two hours!!??

The question is: Why was he allowed to wonder all over the campus for
two hours!!??

the police were right there.they have to feel like crap that this guy
was right under their noses and they let him go

Hind sight 20/20

Good Lord...It did it again. Dang pc. The student sthemselves in an
effort to save themselves locked themselves in and jumped to safety.
This is nuts. I wish I knew the answer.
There is 32 dead, I think and 21 critically injured!
The gunman killed himself with a semi automatic pistol and he is
unrecognizable.
Kat

What is going on with this post thing? I didn't even hit send. It gave
me how many repeats??

i can't even convey the emotions going through my head. its so horrible.
unimaginable to be in that situation or have a loved one in that
situation. My heart goes out to everyone that is affected by
this.......... :(:(:(:(

For people who are asking why this kind of things occurs. I think part
of the answer is the competitive pressures that we put on students.
People seemed surprise when someone cracks and goes off the deep end
like this. I’m actually surprised that it doesn’t happen more often than
it does. Once a person cracks they can do anything. They are no longer
thinking rationally.

It’s so sad and so heartbreaking And so avoidable!!!