22 Killed in Campus Shooting

[MadBadger]

They are picking up coverage from a sister station I believe WSLS. I believe I also heard that the shooter is dead, but do not quote me with that. 28 other people injured.

[MadBadger]

1. Update

At least 20

[chimpymustgo]

2. Damn. Gunman now dead.

I heard one of the students say he'd heard 30-40 shots. Unbelievable - that many fatalities.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. This is horrific.

:(

Sister and brother-in-law went there.

[Bunny]

8. Never mind

[Sydnie]

9. Update - 22 dead

although that is not yet "official".

[Oilwellian]

3. My husband works with a kid who goes to class in Norris Hall

We're still trying to determine if Norris Hall is the engineering and mechanical building for students at VA Tech...if so, this kid would have been in the building at the time. He is due to graduate next month and start working w/my husband as a mining engineer. We're praying he wasn't caught up in this.

[BurtWorm]

5. The AP and WaPo are reporting one dead, at least 17 injured.

[Eugene]

6. 22 killed in shootings at Virginia Tech (AP)

Source: Associated Press

22 killed in shootings at Virginia Tech

By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Gunfire erupted in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech
on Monday, killing 22 people, the police chief said. The gunman was killed.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting

[Debau2005]

10. MSNBC is also reporting 22 dead including gunman.

[NightWatcher]

7. holy fuck

this just got huge.
How many were killed at Columbine? Not to compare the two however.
What happened to the 1 or 2 number?

[MadBadger]

11. OUt of nowhere

All of the sudden they went from one dead to 20 people dead including the shooter.

[nebenaube]

12. oh they are indeed comparable.... n/t

[WiseButAngrySara]

35. 12 students killed and 1 teacher. 24 wounded. ....n/t

[soothsayer]

13. i sure hope they are confusing 'injured' with 'killed'---that's horrific.

2 different shooting sites? not sure if they're related?

[MadBadger]

14. They still say only one shooter

So that would mean they are related. I do not hope they are confusing injured with killed. Because that would be worse.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

15. Light a candle for the victims, families and friends of VT students.

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng

[Dhalgren]

19. I just talked to my son who is following it on TV. The first shooting was

sometime after 7 this morning in a residence hall - 1 or 2 killed. Then the gunman went to ground - was being searched for. Then he pops back up in a classroom full of students, around 9am, and kills 20 or so - that's when the gunner was killed. So far that's all I know...

[Nederland]

25. What do you want to bet

That the right wingers will now talk about how this wouldn't have happened if teachers were armed...

:eyes:

[Kagemusha]

16. For the people who wonder how America would react to a normal day in Iraq...

Guess now we'll see? Because this is some serious body count.

[TahitiNut]

39. EXACTLY ... it's normal where we sent our military. (Karma?)

Even the healthiest sense of empathy is leavened with a "better there than here" ... or "there but for the Grace of God."

[Breeze54]

17. Wow! I read they caught the idiot!

22 Dead In Virginia Tech Shootings

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/12158092/detail.html

Shooter Deceased, School President Says

UPDATED: 12:27 pm EDT April 16, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va. --

Virginia Tech's campus police chief says at least 22 are dead after a shooting the university.

Officials said one person was killed and another was wounded in the first shooting,
at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a huge campus dormitory that houses nearly 900 students.

Virginia Tech officials said there were "multiple victims" in a second shooting,
at Norris Hall -- an engineering building. Government officials with knowledge of the
shooting said there were "seven to eight" casualties in the second shooting.

The Blacksburg campus is still locked down and classes are canceled.
The university community was ordered to stay inside.

Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, Va., told The Associated Press that the
shooting happened on the fourth floor of the dorm, one floor above her room. Kanode said
students are "locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on."

Faculty and staff on the Burruss side of the Drillfield are being released and asked to go home
effective immediately. Faculty and staff on the War Memorial side are asked to leave at 12:30 p.m.

According to the school's Web site, the school has closed Monday and classes will be cancelled
Tuesday, April 17. The university will remain open for administrative operations.

All students, faculty, and staff are required to stay where they are until police execute
a planned evacuation. A phased closing will be in effect today; further information will
be forthcoming as soon as police secure the campus.

Tuesday, there will be a university convocation/ceremony at noon at Cassell Coliseum.
The Inn at Virginia Tech has been designated as the site for parents to gather and
obtain information.

--------------------------

One gunman arrested in Virginia Tech shooting

Authorities looking for possible second shooter

Associated Press
Last updated: Monday, April 16th, 2007 08:43:00 AM

BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA -- Police have arrested a suspected gunman
in a shooting at the Virginia Tech campus Monday morning.

http://www.kxly.com/news/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=559&story_id=10194

------------------------

[MadBadger]

18. Still say Suspet Dead

MSNBC's Screen still says

Va Tech Shooting: At Least 20 Dead, 28 injured, Suspect Dead

[Breeze54]

20. That's what was confusing...more than one gunman??

:shrug:

[MadBadger]

21. He has been confirmed dead

News COnference now

[MadBadger]

22. News Conference is right now

[Breeze54]

26. TY!

I don't have cable and my local just broke in for the story..here they go again

..."more than 22 killed - 28 possible victims.... Gunman killed."

So sad for the families. Sheesh!

[meldroc]

23. Please don't tell me we're going to go through more authoritarian hell because of this...

I'm sorry for the people who got killed. I really am.

But what are we going to see come out of this? LOCKDOWN!!!!

Can't bring your drinks into class. Walk through the metal detectors. Take off your shoes. Break out your ID! Ausweiss bitte! Oops, did you pull out a cell phone? YOU'RE EXPELLED!!! Cell phones can detonate bombs! We can't allow them anymore. God help you if you come to campus with a pocketknife... Zero tolerance! Do what you're told! OBEY!

Just what this country fucking needs. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Quite frankly, I'd rather risk getting shot.

[MadBadger]

24. Save your anger

until at least Tomorrow. Jeez.

[meldroc]

27. You know it's going to happen.

[MadBadger]

28. Talk about it tomorrow, or the next day.

[meldroc]

34. I'm going to talk about this today.

I've seen it over and over and over again, and quite frankly, I'm sick of authoritarian mini-Hitlers exploiting (yes, EXPLOITING) these tragedies to curtail our liberties.

Maybe it is too soon to talk about this. That's the point. I'm going to talk about this. Already, we have one person in this thread suggesting we need to ban weapons on campus (breaking news, they're already banned on most college campuses in the U.S.)

Like I said, I feel for the people who were killed and their families, but I feel obligated to speak out NOW! That's part of the authoritarian spell is to exploit fear. And right now is when everyone is experiencing the most fear, after a shock of this magnitude. Right now. Recognize it and accept it, then we can dispel this fear, before it takes control of us.

Read all about this sort of reaction in Bob Altemeyer's The Authoritarians.

We're all in a heightened state of fear because of an idiot with a gun, and as a result, we're going to have right wing authoritarians, especially the ones in the White House, calling for an end to more of our liberties. Bush, Cheney, Rove, Chertoff and the rest of them are going to exploit this tragedy shamelessly. You know it in your hearts. They're going to demand measure after measure after measure, all intended to keep us safe, but in the end, if we do what they ask, they will turn our college campuses into prisons.

That's why I'm speaking up NOW, while the shock is fresh, to try to break that spell.

Do you want the legacy of those college students who died today to be yet more bars on our doors and windows. Do you want your kids to live on campus without liberty? I sure don't.

Think about it.

[NightWatcher]

31. one slight note

Guns are not allowed in dorms or on campus. I remember that we had one issue of a drunk student firing a gun in the air at school and after this all dorms got searched for guns.

Colleges are different that the rest of the nation. There need to be no guns allowed at all on campus. I am pro-gun, but only by legal aged adults with training. Colleges are controlled areas.

NO GUNS AT SCHOOLS- TEACHERS, STUDENTS- ETC. Only cops.

[MadBadger]

29. MSNBC just upped it to 22

I guess in agreement with some of the other news services.

[Skidmore]

30. Oh, no. Something similar happened at UI at least a decade ago.

I'll never forget that day as long as I live. Prayers for the living and the dead and their families.

[MadBadger]

32. It looks like

Students are walking around outside on their "latest video"

[MadBadger]

33. Nice Job MSNBC

They went to the WH briefing where they commented on the shooting. Afte that, Perino started into another attack on the dems and Congress about the War. MSNBC cut away from them.

[Norquist Nemesis]

41. CNN's putting up a banner on WH statement

:banghead:

[SusanaMontana41]

36. Horrifying

My thoughts are with everyone at VaTech and those who love them.

:cry:

[MadBadger]

37. It isnt hard to get into a locked dorm

Especially at massive campuses. Anybody who has ever been to college should know this.

[Oilwellian]

38. 22 dead, 28 injured

An outright slaughter, possibly of an entire classroom. We just learned my husband's friend is ok...he's in lockdown but ok.

[MadBadger]

40. NBC news reports Shooter Committed Suicide

[Breeze54]

42. That's what I don't understand...

How can the police report they arrested him and now he's committed suicide?? :shrug:

snip-->

Tragedy of monumental proportions at Virginia Tech

Associated Press
Last updated: Monday, April 16th, 2007 10:11:15 AM

http://www.kxly.com/news/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=559&story_id=10194

"It isn't clear if the gunman was shot by police or took his own life."

[Kagemusha]

43. Initial reports are often false or confused.

People report what they think they know and it gets passed on to the media.

[Breeze54]

45. Yeah, but police would know if they arrested him, wouldn't they?

I would think they would!

I often hear/read in these kinds of cases that the "shooter was arrested"
only to hear afterwards that "the shooter committed suicide."

Just sayin'....

[Kagemusha]

46. Police are a collection of individuals, not an amorphous blob.

What one policeman knows is not necessarily communicated accurately via the game of "telephone". Here's an example of things that a person on the scene might say:

"Suspect is down!"

"Suspect has been neutralized."

"Suspect is apprehended."

"Suspect is under control."

There's a lot of room here for misunderstanding and for false information to be passed to the dispatchers, or up the chain of command at the scene, and so on. There is also a lot of pressure to tell the media that the crisis is over, so much that confirmation that a specific outcome has been reached is glossed over in the rush to confirm that the event has ended.

What "police" know would vary with the invididual and the veraticity and accuracy of the information he/she has received.

[Clark2008]

44. Low 30s now.

How awful.

[countryjake]

47. MSNBC has just now reported the death toll at 31...

according to government sources.