Virginia Tech - Thoughts and Prayers for everyone
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive April 2007:
Virginia Tech - Thoughts and Prayers for everyone
Wow
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/04/reports_of_shoo.html
(see the updates by scrolling down)
?? What did I miss??
So sad
Best to go on an newsweb.
But right now 22 dead 28 injured.
Shooting at 7 in a dorm and then clear across campus a second shooting at 9 something in a classroom
They speculate a lone gunman (senior) upset with a professor.
Wow! VERY sad!
You missed a gunman killing 21 people and injuring others before being killed himself. Tragic.
NYTimes
From staff and wire reports
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A gunman killed at least 21 people in at least two shootings at Virginia Tech University this morning, campus police and officials said. It is the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.
The gunman also is dead, although police are not sure at this hour whether he was shot by officers or took his own life. Many more people appear to be injured; Roanoke television station WSLS reported 28 people were being treated at area hospitals.
High winds in the area made it impossible to fly emergency medical helicopters to the scene.
AUDIO: University president on 'monumental' tragedy
ON DEADLINE: Local coverage and live updates
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university president Charles Steger. He said the suspected gunman "is deceased. There are multiple fatalities."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Va | Hall | BLACKSBURG | US history | Roanoke | University president
"The university is shocked and indeed horrified," he said.
The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
University Police Chief Finchum said the gunman walked into at least one classroom at the engineering building and opened fire. All but one of the fatalities were at the second shooting, he said.
"At this time,we believe there is only one gunman, yes. He is deceased," Finchum told reporters. "We do not know if the shooter was a student or not."
The university told students to stay inside and away from windows as police swept the campus and worked to establish whether the gunman acted alone.
Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
On the website, Tech reported the shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and said there were "multiple victims" at Norris Hall, an engineering building. All entrances to the campus were closed and classes canceled through Tuesday.
CNN broadcast a video, shot on a cellphone by a passerby of police entering Norris Hall. At least 28 shots could be heard on the video.
"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said student Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm where shooting took place.
Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.
"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again."
"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said.
Thomas LaBella, a 20-year-old electrial engineering major from Onancoke, Va., was at a class in Randolph Hall — next to Norris Hall — when the attack took place.
"Some staff came in around 9:30 (a.m.) and told us there had been a shooting and that we should stay put," LaBella said. "They said we should stay in the classroom and stay away from the windows. ... We were kept there until about 12:30 or 12:45."
No one in his class heard the shooting, LaBella said. He spent much of the morning exchanging text messages with friends, exchanging rumors about what was happening. Once outside, he said, "there weren't many people walking around."
Dormitories were on "lockdown," he said. To enter, students must swipe their identification cards to unlock the doors. Normally, the dormitoriess are only locked down at night, he said.
President Bush "was horrified" by the news of the shooting, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Bush's "thoughts and prayers" are with the victims and their families, she said.
"It is difficult to comprehend senseless violence on this scale," Virginia Gov. Timothy Kane said in a statment. "Our prayers are with the families and friends of these victims, and members of the extended Virginia Tech community."
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled 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.
Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
Contributing: The Associated Press; Mark Memmott, Wendy Koch and Randy Lilleston in McLean, Va.
ABC is now saying 29 confirmed dead. Oh my dear lord.
Ginny our oldest dd just heard 32 on CBS.
OHMYGOSH...I'm just now hearing this. How sad!
That is so sad! I hope nothing happens like that, when my daughters are in college! Although, it could even happen now, in high school. It's just that they'd be farther away.
How horrible!
I just got done reading a book, 19 Minutes, about a school shooting. It is just so terrible, when things like this happen.
This is so very tragic and frightening.
33....
My girlfriend's daughter goes there, and was in the freshman dorm where the first shootings occurred. She is okay.... Thank God. Her parents are driving out to get her. This is so horrible.
I just do not understand how/why these things happen.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims.
It's very sad. I live just a couple of hours away. My co-worker's boyfriend attends school there and was in the dorm where the second shootings took place, only on the other side, thank God.
It's horrible. I can only wonder what may have been prevented if they locked down the entire campus after the first shootings...
It's so sad. I wonder if many kids will transfer now. I was listening to the radio while waiting for the kids after school. After 15 minutes of non-stop VT, I finally put on a cd. The kids already knew what had happened. Sarah has a study hall 7th hour and was watching the news coverage on CNN. She admitted though, that they kept repeating the same information over and over.
DH's employee graduated last May and couldn't locate his best friend/old roommate who had class in the building where everything happened. DH just heard that his employee's friend didn't make it. It's so very tragic. I'm at a loss for words.
Jjb, that's so sad
The entire thing is so sad. The president of the school and the police chief were saying yesterday that it would have been impossible to lockdown the school because people were already enroute to the school for classes. I still think they could have done something, anything to lock it down. Put a guard or policeman at ever driveway entrance to tell the people that they need to go home because theres been a shooting.
Of course we can go over would have, could have, should haves till we are blue in the face but it won't change things.
8 years ago Friday was the Columbine shootings. I only know that because it's my birthday too.
I doubt the students will transfer..maybe some but still it's a tragic thing that probably won't happen again- at least not at VT.
I think they should have tried a little harder to lock down that campus. Block the roads and don't let them come on campus.
I don't know, as a parent of a college student- I think he is safe, but you never know for sure.
This is so terribly sad thoughts and prayers to all...and Bea Thank God she wasn't injured!
This is horrible...
I'm so depressed today. This campus massacre at Virginia Tech has really unnerved me. A friend's daughter is a freshman there, and lives in the dormitory where the first killings occurred. She is fine, thankfully. So many innocent kids were murdered. It is a reminder also of the many kids in uniform who are coming back in body bags from Iraq. We can't afford this waste of our brightest and our best. Why is life so cruel at times? God bless these families. I can't imagine their grief.
Even in tragedy there are shining lights of heroism. A 76 year old Holocaust survivor, Professor Liviu Librescu, held the door to his classroom shut with his body while his students escaped through windows. This brave man died when the killer shot through the door, but many students undoubtedly owe their lives and safety to him.
Terribly sad, what is wrong with this world? With people? What pushes a person to do this sort of thing??? I can't even imagine their pain.
Yesterday, I saw the figure 3577 flash across the screen, for young lives lost in Iraq. I don't like that, either.
Monday Morning
With youthful energy they tread
The campus paths towards morning class.
With windblown hair and shoulders hunched
They greet their many friends who pass.
Inside their classrooms they relax,
Warming chilly hands and feet.
Another week of toil begins
With many lessons to complete.
So concentrating on their work
They do not heed the sounds that start.
Construction noises they suppose.
The evil does not warn their heart.
Then through the door a madman bursts
With guns in hand and empty eyes
Who murders with unfeeling ease
And leaves as students bleed and die.
How do we process tragedy;
This crazy killing, lives cut short?
What sense is there that we can grasp?
How can we find a way to sort
Through all these feelings which collide,
This fear, this hate and keen distress
That threatens now to smother us
And joy within our souls suppress?
This senseless massacre pervades
Our hearts with dread and hopelessness.
Exploring through my poetry
I try to grasp and then express
The strong emotions that I feel.
These sentiments I organize,
And through my writing I find peace
With language even hate defies.
B.V. Dahlen
I have just been overwhelmed by all of it. The boys and I were in a sandwich shop when I saw the breaking news on TV, and I thought, "Not again".
I don't know what it is about April. Columbine happened in April, the Oklahoma bombing was in April, and other school shootings have happened in the Spring, as well.
We have had a rash of young people die in our local area recently, from various causes. This just adds to the pain in my heart.
Let's keep the deceased, their families, the survivors and the perpetrator in our prayers. It is a terrible thing.
And yes, the soldiers coming home everyday as bodies, weigh heavily on me as well. It just reminds me so much of the Vietnam War.
I, too, am unnerved, Bea. It seems like we just get over one tragedy and another happens. Here in RI, we had just dealt with 9/11 (as did the world) and we had the Station Night Club fire. It was one of the worst nightclub fires in US history, and THE worst in the state. 100 died and another 100 were grievously injured. Rhode Island is so small that everyone was touched by it.
I don't know what is happening to the world.
As usual, too, I am appalled by the insensitivity of the news media in the questions that they ask.
Do read this touching, and heart-warming piece in The Tennessean, written by a VT student about the convocation held there today. Tennessean
I watched the ceremony yesterday and was depressed for most of the day. Today, I had to avoid the TV, so I kept busy running errands and stuff, but then I heard about it on the radio.
He was so seriously disturbed. I wish something had been done to stop him.
It's all sad I think if someone tried to help him more,this wouldn't have happened. He had so many cry for helps and nobody reached out more.I have such mixed feelings...I feel awful for the victims and their families...It's a nightmare for everyone.I also feel angry and sad for his actions.Mental health is so hard to understand and Its hard to understand why things like this happen.It's just really tragic for everyoneIts affected everyone around the world.
I just read this story from our local news website. A fan of our local minor league baseball team was one who died.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=74050
My dad and I argued last night over the would have/could have/should haves of this and all school securtites.
I think he and I both are anxious as we think of my DS going to school next year. (kindergarten)
In my mind though, it boils down to this. How far do you go? We already lock our schools and allow entrance only after announcing yourself. Do we send our kids (young and old) to school in bullet proof vests and shields? Do we keep them home and school them through television only?
It's scarey but scarier to think of what comes next.
Our school isn't locked during the day. Actually I think only the front door is unlocked and you are supposed to stop in the office before venturing to a classroom.
This has creeped me out all year. My youngest daughters class is the first one you start down the hall (past the office of course). I feel like they COULD be sitting targets.
You just have to have faith, I guess, that everything will be fine.
My oldest is a student at the University of Alabama and just for today- they all Hokies. The prayer time was 11 am in front of Denny Chimes.
I was in the grocery store line today and People magazine is already out about it. The clerk told me that she heard that one of the victims was a survivor of Columbine. Just unreal.
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