some more info from yahoo.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.


"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
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..

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."

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.

No Canadians were among the casualties, said Foreign Affairs spokesman
Alain Cacchione in Ottawa.

Cacchione said there were Canadians at the campus but could not confirm
an exact number. He said e-mails have been sent to those known to be
there, offering consular assistance if needed.

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.

Televised reports 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 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.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day released a statement expressing
sympathy for the families and friends of the victims. "The shock and
horror of this act has reverberated throughout Canada ... As neighbours
we share your grief; as friends we mourn your loss."

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.

Abra, I truly do not believe that is an excuse for that absurd behavior.
We have all been under pressure at times, and it is horrible .
I have been so out of my mind nuts before, and I never would have even
thought of killing innocents.
Stress is no excuse to go on a rampage such as this. Not even hatred. No
excuses, period. These people have never been diagnosed to be crazy or
insane at all. Just mad, mostly, and hurt.
Kat

and you ask why

just read here

there acts live on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and
on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on

Kat wrote:
"Abra, I truly do not believe that is an excuse for that absurd
behavior."

I didn't say it was an 'excuse'. There is no excuse.

I simply implied that the competitive nature of our society is a huge
factor in driving people off the deep end.

If your conclusion is correct that some people are just sick, then it
really doesn't matter what we do, some people will always just be born
with defective brains and going crazy will always be a factor of the
human condition.

All you're saying there is that it's totally unavoidable and a natural
result of the human condition.

You may be right. But I believe that our social competitive pressures
contribute to the situation.

Education does NOT NEED TO BE COMPETITIVE.

That’s a completely incorrect assumption that our society can’t seem to
shake. Besides that, it isn’t working anyway. Even forgetting about
people cracking and killing other people, there are still a LOT of
people falling through he cracks of our poorly-designed educational
systems. Perhaps moving on to just become common criminals because they
failed to make it legitimately.

A sad day in VA....and the world today. May peace find it's way to
Blacksburg today...and to the hearts of those that so sorely need it.

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - A student from South Korea was the
gunman who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech university, police said on
Tuesday. They gave no motive for the worst shooting rampage in U.S.
history.


Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior who
was a legal U.S. resident, and said one of two guns found was used in
both shootings on Monday at the sprawling rural campus in southwestern
Virginia.


Cho killed himself at Virginia Tech after opening fire on students and
staff in four classrooms in an apparently premeditated massacre. Two
people were shot to death two hours earlier at a dormitory.


Police said Cho was studying English literature.


"The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same
shooter was involved in both shootings," said Steven Flaherty,
superintendent of the Virginia State Police. "It's certainly reasonable
for us to assume that Cho was the shooter in both places."


Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell,
he said.


"The gunman was discovered among several of the victims in one of the
classrooms," Flaherty said. "He had taken his own life."


Cho was a South Korean citizen who has lived in the United States since
1992, said U.S. immigration spokesman Chris Bentley. He and his family
lived in Centreville, Virginia.


STRICKEN CAMPUS


Twelve students remained hospitalized in stable condition on Tuesday,
officials said.


The campus, where there are more than 25,000 full-time students, reeled
with shock and grief.


"I don't even know if any of my friends were killed, because it was so
hard to get in touch with anyone last night," said Brittany Jones, a
19-year-old Tech student from Urbanna, Virginia.


"Even if they weren't, it wouldn't make it any less sad. You don't
expect this to happen at your school. We're just kids," she said early
on Tuesday as she watched members of the university's military corps
drill before class.


Some of the uniformed cadets were crying and hugging one another on the
drill field, which was to host a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night in
memory of the shooting victims.


Television images of terrified students and police dragging out bloody
victims revived memories of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in
Colorado and were likely to renew heated debate about America's gun
laws.


"There were leg, arm, head, face (injuries), the more critical ones
actually had head or facial shots. There were chest shots, leg shots,
arm shots. He was just shooting to kill," said Dr. Joseph Cacioppo, an
emergency room physician who treated the wounded.


Many students expressed anger that they were not warned of any danger
until more than two hours after the first attack at a dormitory -- and
then only in an e-mail from the university.

University President Charles Steger and law enforcement officials on
Monday defended their response to the shootings, but at a news
conference on Tuesday they did not discuss their response to the
shootings or take questions.

"We are doing everything possible to move forward," Steger said. Classes
were canceled for the week and Norris Hall, where most deaths occurred,
is closed for rest of the school term, he said.

President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush were to attend a
memorial service at Virginia Tech later on Tuesday.

"We understand that there is going to be and there has been an ongoing
national discussion and debate about gun control policy," said White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

But she said the focus now was on families, the school and the
community.

Police said the gunman appeared to have used chains to lock doors and
prevent victims from escaping. Fifteen people were wounded, including
those shot and students hurt jumping from windows in a desperate attempt
to flee the gunfire.

Authorities have not released the names of the victims.

i have been keeping an eye out for more info on this tragedy.will post
more if i find.

What seems to be wrong with the world now is when others treat other
people like pieces of ****, then discontention breeds up in them, it
gives birth to depression and the end result is... this

I just watched the CNN news, and it described the shooter as "a
depressed loner". Hey guess what so am I. But I'll hurt myself before
I hurt others. So theres going to be a nice back lash against depressed
peoples, I can feel it coming.

I find it hard to believe that he shot himself when he had body armor
on. That protects you from bein shot, so if he was goin to shoot
himself, why put on the body armor? I believe (may be true, may not)
that it's just like the high school kids that shot up their schools,
dude probably got made fun of because he was oriental and a loner. I
think he just lashed out and got them back, and didn't care who was in
the way. I went to school in Sacramento, where school shootings are not
infrequent, just not talked about much. I remember when one dude at our
school got shot and killed durin a drug robbery, and no news coverage
came out about it. There's a lot of kids who actually think about doin
sh*t like this, and that's pretty freakin crazy, cuz folks know now if
they keep pushin and bullyin, this is what will eventually happen. If we
treat everyone we come across with respect and compassion, maybe sh*t
like this wouldn't have to happen.

OH! I also just thought about this......... this guy was freakin SMART!!
Why do you think he shot only two people in the first shootings?
Distraction. With everyone payin attention to that side of the campus,
and the lack of notification by university officials, he had ample time
to go to the other side and do whatever the hell he wanted. Damn.

redmange no disrespect intended here but i have to ask.were you a
murderer in a past life? i learned about the element of distraction when
i was going for police sciences.

that is soooooo terrible...i was just watching about it a little bit ago
on television... very sad... so many people lost and for no reason
whatsoever....

A YOUNGSTER WAS KILLED THAT WENT TO SCHOOL WITH MY SON!

KINDA PUTS THINGS IN A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE WHEN YOU ACTUALLY KNOW ONE
OF THE VICTIMS!

MY SON IS IN COLLEGE AND I WORRY EVERYDAY THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS WILL
HAPPEN AT HIS SCHOOL! SAD...VERY VERY SAD!!!

((((((((((((((JOE))))))))))))))

Let us not wonder for the Bible fortold:

1 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with
will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement,
slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness,
4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures
rather than lovers of God, (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

It did mention about "having no natural affection", in which the gunman
in the VA Killing had it. He must had a messed up mind too.

Anyway, my condolences to the victims' families. That was another sad
story.

This Friday marks the anniversary of the Columbine massacre. There has
been some serious threats made online for a school just east of Toronto.
The threats indicates that 12 students would be killed that day as well
as one teacher.The police admit the goulish Columbine date is always
accompanied by these kind of threats and they have no choice but to
beleive them and take it very seriously. Police have charged a 16 year
old student who allegedly issued the threat. He won't be at school on
that grim anniversary but police will be, in case someone else decides
to take him up on his supposed plan.