At least 30 people were killed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in what is now being hailed as the biggest massacre in the United States. Cho Seung-Hui, a 23 year-old student at Virginia Tech, was armed with two guns and killed at least people on Monday morning. The shooting spree stemmed from a conflict he had with his girlfriend, Freshman Emily Hilscher, who was his first victim. The gunman was a South-Korean immigrant, who preferred to be known as Seung Cho.
The West Ambler Hall, a 900-freshmen dormitory, was the site of the first shooting. At 7:15 AM, the police received a call about a shooting and responded to identify the two victims, Hilscher and Ryan Clark, a resident advisor. Clark had responded to noise in the dorm. Between 7:15 AM and 9:45 AM, the police searched for Cho under the presumption that it was an isolated domestic incident. Cho was carrying two handguns, a 9-millimeter and a .22-caliber, both of which were legally obtained. He shot dozens of rounds, leaving those who survived with multiple bullet wounds.
Two hours later, 30 people were killed at Norris Hall, a classroom and engineering building. At least four faculty members and students from four separate classrooms faced Cho at 9:45 AM. He had chained the door, and the police were unable to enter. The targeted classrooms were on the second floor and included Intermediate French, where Cho killed Prof. Jocelyn Couture-Nowak and students, Daniel Perez, Reema Samaha and and Leslie Sherman. The class that had the greatest toll, Elementary German, was next to the French class. Two engineering classes, Advanced Hydrology and Solid Mechanics, also had student and faculty deaths. Some students jumped out of the building as Cho entered.
After Cho killed himself, officers found several knives on his body. Prescription medications related to treatment of psychological problems were also found among his effects. The officials have not specified what drugs they were. A bomb threat against the engineering school buildings was found near Cho’s body. It also mentioned two other bomb threat notes against the campus that were received over the past three weeks.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 14 injured victims at four hospitals, out of an initial estimate of 28, two of whom died. The 14 include two at a Level 1 trauma center in Roanoke, one in critical condition and the other in serious condition.
Classes at Virginia Tech have been canceled for the rest of the week. Virginia Tech President, Dr. Charles Steger, announced that Norris Hall will remain closed for the rest of the semester.
