Click to play videoVirginia: In one of the deadliest campus shootings ever, a gunman went on the rampage in Virginia Tech University, gunning down 32 students and then taking his own life.
University officials said the gunman went on the deadly shooting spree on the campus early on Monday morning and among his victims were mostly students.
“Well, today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider monumental proportion. The university is shocked and indeed horrified that what this would befall us,” said President of Virginia Tech, Charles Steger.
Steger says police were called to a University dormitory around 0715 hrs (local time) on Monday morning after students reported hearing as many as 40 shots being fired.
'Silent, thorough'
Nearly two hours later, a second shooting was reported at a campus building that houses the engineering department.
Erin Sheehan, a student, described the gunman as a young man wearing a short-sleeved tan shirt and black ammunition vest.
"He was very silent," said Sheehan, one of only four students in her 25-student German class who were not shot. "He seemed very thorough about it."
According to another woman who survived by pretending to lie dead on a classroom floor, the gunman was dressed "almost like a Boy Scout.”One student recorded the sounds of the shooting on his cell phone.
“The first thing I saw is when the policeman started taking their guns out. Then I knew this was serious,” said Virginia Tech student Jamal Albarghouti.
During the second shooting, another student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.
"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said, adding, "It was kind of scary. These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top-story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."
Campus police say the gunman is among those who died. They also recovered two firearms from the site.
University officials say they are notifying victims' families.
"All I can do is pray for his family now," said Courtney Dalton, a 18-year-old student who worked at West End Dining Hall and lost one of her friends.
Bushspeak
Meanwhile, a White House spokesperson described US President George W Bush's reaction to the news.
“He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors, and all the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.
Bush said that the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the deadliest campus violence ever in this country, affects every student across the nation.
"Schools should be places of safety, sanctuary and learning," Bush said in reaction to the deaths of more than 30 people on the campus. "When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community."
"I told them that Laura and I and many across our nation are praying for the victims and all the members of university community that have been devastated by this terrible tragedy," Bush said in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
 |
|
 |
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
