A gunman who shot at least 32 people to death and wounded two dozen others at Virginia Tech this morning killed himself inside a classroom building, The Roanoke Times reported, citing the university’s president and the campus police.
The death toll has risen throughout the day, and the newspaper said the incident appeared to be the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The shootings began in a dormitory, West Ambler Johnston Hall, where two people were killed and seven or eight others were wounded, and ended two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building. Virginia Tech warned all students and others on the campus to beware. “A gunman is loose on campus,” read an announcement on the university’s Web site. “Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.”
The university’s Web site was often inaccessible today because of the number of users seeking information on the scene. Late today, the university set up an alternate Web site to provide news and information about the tragedy and its aftermath.
The gunman was not identified. It was not known if he was a student, or what his motive was. The university closed the campus and canceled classes.
Virginia Tech’s president, Charles W. Steger, said this afternoon that “the university is shocked and indeed horrified that this would befall us.” In a statement, Mr. Steger said that the university had been “struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions.” In the statement, he said victims were still being identified and next of kin notified.
This is the second time in a year that the university, in Blacksburg, Va., has dealt with a gunman. On the opening day of classes in August 2006, an escaped prison inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard and escaped to Virginia Tech’s campus. During the manhunt a deputy was killed on a trail just off campus. —Lauren Smith
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