V-Tech - Please Pray

Virginia Tech Death Toll Reaches 31

Gunman Opens Fire In Dorm, Classroom
POSTED: 10:15 am EDT April 16, 2007
UPDATED: 4:40 pm EDT April 16, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Government officials tell The Associated
Press the death toll on the Virginia Tech campus has risen to 31,
mostly students.A gunman opened fire in a dorm and a classroom building at
Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 30 people and wounding others
before he took his own life, bringing the death toll to 31,
News4 reported. Related: Raw Video (http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=92039)

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Authorities said they are having trouble identifying the gunman because they can't get any fingerprints off him and he wasn't carrying identification or a cell phone. It was not immediately known if the gunman was a student, but News4 reported that it was an Asian man in his 20s. Investigators offered no motive for the attack.Authorities said that at least 26 people were being treated at three area hospitals for gunshot wounds and other injuries. Their exact conditions were not disclosed, but at least one was sent to a trauma center and six were in surgery.FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said there was no immediate evidence to suggest it was a terrorist attack, "but all avenues will be explored."The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus, with witnesses reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom building to escape the gunfire.Officials said that people are being treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries after the shootings at two locations on campus -- one at a residence hall and another at a classroom building. The conditions of those people were not immediately available. The hospital has mobilized its disaster preparedness team to deal with the influx of patients."Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university president Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."Police said they were going to have a planned evacuation of students, faculty and staff Monday afternoon for anyone who needed to get off of campus.The Associated Press is reporting that Virginia Tech students and an employee said the first e-mail warning they got from the university about the shooting rampage came more than two hours after the first shots were fired, by which time the gunman had struck again.The first shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston residence hall at about 7:15 a.m. Monday. Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, told The Associated Press that the shooting happened on the fourth floor of the dorm, one floor above her room.At least one person died and another was injured in that shooting.That residence hall houses about 895 students."There are policemen in our hallways and we're not allowed to leave our rooms," said student Karin Pedemonte, who was locked down on the first floor in West Ambler Johnston.There was a report of a second shooting at about 10 a.m. at Norris Hall, which is an engineering building. Officials said there were multiple victims in that shooting incident.Law enforcement officials from two different agencies said the gunman chained the doors on the building after he entered it, making it harder for people inside to get out or police to get in.Police said they were still investigating the shooting at the dorm when they got word of gunfire at the classroom building.Officials asked everyone on campus to stay in buildings and away from windows. Some students said they thought the precautions had been lifted by the time the second burst of gunfire was heard. All classes were canceled.Classes are canceled through Tuesday, as well. The campus will be open for administrators.Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before police shot him to death.The massacre Monday took place almost eight years to the day after the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo. On April 20, 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard drove his pickup into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, about 160 miles west of Richmond. With more than 25,000 full-time students, it has the state's largest full-time student population. The school is best known for its engineering school and its powerhouse football team.The rampage took place on a brisk spring day, with snow flurries swirling around the campus, which is centered around the Drill Field, a grassy field where military cadets -- who now represent a fraction of the student body -- once practiced. The dorm and the classroom building are on opposites sides of the Drill Field.A gasp could be heard at a campus news conference when the police chief said at least 20 people had been killed. Previously, only one person was thought to have been killed.Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began marking and recovering the large number of shell casings and will trace the weapon used, according to an ATF official who spoke on condition of anonymity because local authorities are leading the investigation.The university set up a meeting place for families to reunite with their children. It also made counselors available and planned an assembly for Tuesday at the basketball arena.Maurice Hiller, 21, a mechanical engineering student from Richmond, saw police and SWAT team members with guns drawn going toward Norris Hall."This is something just totally beyond anybody's expectations," he said.Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks but said they have not determined a link to the shootings.It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.Last August, 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.
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this news devastates me. i have friends who go to this college. and i can't believe someone would do such a thing. i won't be online for a while...:(
i'm devasted. i have to make sure my friends are all right.
please pray with me to all those students and staff members who lost their lives this morning...
i hope their families are ok.
this is very terrible.
i was at the campus as the time the shooting took place.

I heard about this...
It's sick man...

^ i know

champa u don't need to tell us to pray, its da only humane thing to do, of course we will

i know...
i'm just so devastated...:(
can't believe it.
i still haven't heard from some of my friends...
hope they are ok...
*tears*

its so sad :(

thanks guys for making me feel better.
its devastating.
more news about the killer was released today.
he was from centreville, virginia (my current residence) and attended centreville high school (my current school) and westfield high school (aman's current school).
they released his picture as well and you would never guess that someone like him would do a horrible thing.
thankfully and fortunately my friends are ok but my friends' friends were impacted. some were shot and some are injured...can't believe what their families have to go through.
i went down to tech today and the atmosphere was so...:(
i can't even say.
very unfortunate for something like this to happen at a great university.
but i guess things are never told when they happen. tech students and staff are still shocked about the events. unbelieveable. :(

got this off yahoo...


Va. Tech gunman writings raised concerns
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting


BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was described Tuesday as a sullen loner whose creative writing in English class was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.

News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.

Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began.

Police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set him off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.

On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people gathered in the basketball arena, and when it filled up, thousands more filed into the football stadium, for a memorial service for the victims. President Bush and the first lady attended.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger received a 30-second standing ovation, despite bitter complaints from parents and students that the university should have locked down the campus immediately after the first burst of gunfire. Steger expressed hope that "we will awaken from this horrible nightmare."

"As you draw closer to your families in the coming days, I ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who are never coming home," Bush said.

A vast portrait of the victims began to emerge, among them: Christopher James Bishop, 35, who taught German at Virginia Tech and helped oversee an exchange program with a German university; Ryan "Stack" Clark, a 22-year-old student from Martinez, Ga., who was in the marching band and was working toward degrees in biology and English; Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, Va., who was majoring in animal and poultry sciences and, naturally, loved animals; and Liviu Librescu, an Israeli engineering and math lecturer who was said to have protected his students' lives by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman.

Meanwhile, a chilling portrait of the gunman as a misfit began to emerge.

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said she did not know Cho. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as "troubled."

"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."

She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.

The Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site that he left a note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances. Citing unidentified sources, the Tribune said he had recently shown troubling signs, including setting a fire in a dorm room and stalking some women.

ABC, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the note, several pages long, explains Cho's actions and says, "You caused me to do this."

Investigators believe Cho at some point had been taking medication for depression, the Tribune reported.

Classmates said that on the first day of an introduction to British literature class last year, the 30 or so English students went around and introduced themselves. When it was Cho's turn, he didn't speak.

The professor looked at the sign-in sheet and, where everyone else had written their names, Cho had written a question mark. "Is your name, `Question mark?'" classmate Julie Poole recalled the professor asking. The young man offered little response.

Cho spent much of that class sitting in the back of the room, wearing a hat and seldom participating. In a small department, Cho distinguished himself for being anonymous. "He didn't reach out to anyone. He never talked," Poole said.

"We just really knew him as the question mark kid," Poole said.

The rampage consisted of two attacks, more than two hours apart — first at a dormitory, where two people were killed, then inside a classroom building, where 31 people, including Cho, died after being locked inside, Virginia State Police said. Cho committed suicide; two handguns — a 9 mm and a .22-caliber — were found in the classroom building.

One law enforcement official said Cho's backpack contained a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol. Cho held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident, federal officials said. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony.

Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell said his shop sold the Glock and a box of practice ammo to Cho 36 days ago for $571.

"He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious," Markell said. Markell said it is not unusual for college kids to make purchases at his shop as long as they are old enough.

"To find out the gun came from my shop is just terrible," Markell said.

Investigators stopped short of saying Cho carried out both attacks. But ballistics tests show one gun was used in both, Virginia State Police said.

And two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been announced, said Cho's fingerprints were found on both guns. The serial numbers on the two weapons had been filed off, the officials said.

Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said it was reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in both attacks but that the link was not yet definitive. "There's no evidence of any accomplice at either event, but we're exploring the possibility," he said.

Officials said Cho graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003. His family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse in Centreville, Va.

Two of those killed in the shooting rampage, Reema Samaha and Erin Peterson, graduated from Westfield High in 2006, school officials said. But there was no immediate word from authorities on whether Cho knew the two young women and singled them out.

"He was very quiet, always by himself," neighbor Abdul Shash said. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet.

South Korea expressed its condolences, and said it hoped that the tragedy would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation." "We are in shock beyond description," said Cho Byung-se, a Foreign Ministry official handling North American affairs.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the week. Norris Hall, the classroom building, will be closed for the rest of the semester.

Many students were leaving town quickly, lugging pillows, sleeping bags and backpacks down the sidewalks.

Jessie Ferguson, 19, a freshman from Arlington, left Newman Hall and headed for her car with tears streaming down her red cheeks.

"I'm still kind of shaky," she said. "I had to pump myself up just to kind of come out of the building. I was going to come out, but it took a little bit of 'OK, it's going to be all right. There's lots of cops around.'"

Although she wanted to be with friends, she wanted her family more. "I just don't want to be on campus," she said.

Until Monday, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before he was shot to death by police.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Manning in Centreville, Va.; Matt Barakat in Richmond, Va.; and Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey and Justin Pope in Blacksburg contributed to this report.

i knew reema :(
a sweet girl

i'm sorry rani...i'm here for u...

thanks mirta
<3

http://photobucket.comMonday, April 16

7:15 a.m.
A 9-1-1 emergency call to Virginia Tech Police reports a shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall, leaving one person dead and one injured. The second person later died.
7:30 a.m.
Investigators were following up on leads concerning a person of interest in relation to the double homicide. Investigators from VT PD and Blacksburg PD were actively following up on various leads. Meanwhile, Cho returns to his dorm room to re-load and leaves a "disturbing note."
8:00 a.m.
Classes begin.
8:25 a.m.
Virginia Tech leadership team meets to develop a plan on how to notify students of the homicide. Meanwhile, police stop the unidentified "person of interest" in a vehicle off-campus and detain him for questioning.
9:00 a.m.
Virginia Tech leadership team is briefed on the latest events in the ongoing dormitory homicide investigation.
9:05 a.m.
Cho seen in Norris Hall, an Engineering building. Cho chains the doors shut from the inside.
9:26 a.m.
E-mails go out to campus staff, faculty, and students saying there has been a shooting on campus (in reference to the Dorm shooting).
9:45 a.m.
Students in the engineering building Norris Hall call police to report more shots have been fired.[75] Cho kills thirty more people before turning the gun on himself. Police have breached the barricaded doors, but the shooter is dead before police arrive.
9:50 a.m.
A second e-mail announcing: "A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows" is sent to all Virginia Tech email addresses. Loudspeakers broadcast a similar message.
10:17 a.m.
A third e-mail cancels classes and advises people to stay where they are.
10:52 a.m.
A fourth e-mail warns of a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall, saying the shooter has been arrested and that police are hunting for a possible second shooter. The entrances to the campus buildings are locked.
12:00 p.m.
At a press conference, authorities said there may have been more than twenty-one people killed and twenty-eight injured.
12:42 p.m.
University President Charles Steger announces that police are releasing people from buildings and that counseling centers are being set up.
4:01 p.m.
President Bush speaks from the White House regarding the shooting.
7:30 p.m.
A final confirmation that there have been thirty-one deaths at Norris Hall, including the shooter.
Tuesday, April 17

9:15 a.m.
Virginia Tech Police Department releases name of shooter as Cho Seung-Hui and confirms the death toll of 33.
9:30 a.m.
Virginia Tech announces that classes would be canceled "for the remainder of the week to allow students the time they need to grieve and seek assistance as needed."
2:00 p.m.
A convocation ceremony is held for the University community at the Cassell Coliseum.
8:00 p.m.
A candlelight vigil is held on the University Drillfield.

thanks mirta
<3

ur welcome hun...

i got gooosebumps all over me everytime i read about this!!

its horrifying :(

yes i knw...
urghhh whyyy do ppl have 2 doo dat for????
goshhhh!!!!

i know
:(

Many questions rise…
Why V. Tech? Why us? Why not other people?

The answer to that question is not with me but with those people who were involved. But even if we ask those criminals, we should also understand and think about what they have been going through before this crime. What was eating them from the inside that led them to this?


Do you have the answer to this question?


Every person goes into depression in this world; every person has something that has been eating them inside. EVERYONE…NO ONE IS PERFECT...NOT ME OR YOU

We should console the families that have lost their loved ones. We should lead them out of depression and show them the way. If we stay strong, live strong and give strength to those families and friends then the chain of strength will be strong and no one can break this chain. We all have to support and stay with each other, this community is a big family with different religions but we are all the same.


**********

I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me


**********

Mein jari hoon, wapas nahi ari hoon
Aur bhoolna nahi mujhe

Mein jari hoon, ek jahan jari hoon
Woh pyaar mujhe mil jayengain

Mein jari hoon

Sneha, for something like this to happen to such a great college is just terrible. And for that college to be in the state you live in, is even worse. And for that college to have many of your friends attend is by far horrible.
As for Cho. I can understand his anger because when he was in middle and high school and every time he spoke, kids would laugh at him because he did no know proper english. That was wrong and his hatred grew to such an extent that he did this horrible crime. But what did these 32 people have to do with him? They did not bother him in any way. Reema and Erin did attend the same school but they didn't even know each other. So why go kill 32 random people who barely even knew him? Why? I mean they are so innocent and just imagine what their families are going through. Today is Reema's funeral. And two days ago there was a memorial held for her. Her sister and father are staying strong. Her mother and brother are the weakest. Her brother stated that Reema was like a best friend to him, and for her to go away like this....:(
I can't even finish my sentence because it's so awful and sad. She was so young.
And this goes for all the other 31 victims. They were all so innocent. So why them?
They go to the college of their dreams to pursue their career and for something like this to happen to them...it's just horrible?
I sympathize with Cho's family too. They are devasted and never had thought their son/brother would do such a thing.
This world is full of hatred. As Danu di said, where there is hatred, there is also love.
But innocent people. Why? Kyun?
It stabs you more when you know the person.
Reema was so beautiful, so gorgeous, so talented...
And so were all the other victims, I'm sure.
It's heartbreaking.
Now one week has gone by since this incident and still it is very hard for many to forget what happened. All my friends returned to Tech today to resume classes and the whole atmosphere has changed there.
Well all I can say is we can't change what happened. Reema and the other 31 other victims are in a place where they were be in peace. They won't have to face the hatred of this world. They are looking down on us with their beautiful smiles.
*tears*
But I miss her...Reema.
Right now the best we can do is have strengh and courage. Nothing more. And as time goes by things will get better, hopefully.
:(

Fairfax County Virginia Tech Victim Laid To Rest

Services Held For Victims Throughout Week

McLEAN, Va. -- Funeral services were held on Monday for Westfield High School graduate Reema Samaha, who was shot and killed in last week's massacre at Virginia Tech.Samaha was one of the six victims from Fairfax County killed in the shootings. Her funeral was held Monday morning at Holy Transfiguration Melkite-Greek Catholic Church in McLean.Samaha was a freshman theater major at Virginia Tech and an accomplished dancer. Her family has expressed its condolences to the other students and professors, as well as the Cho family and the entire Korean community.

thats the way rani,
courage and strength
and like i said if there is strength no one can break your courage

Sneha, having strength and courage and giving strengh and courage is pretty much all we can do since we can't change what happened in the past.