Virginia Tech University/MCTOn Monday, April 16, twenty-three-year-old senior English major, Cho Seung-Hui, went on the biggest shooting rampage in U.S. history on Virginia Tech’s campus.
At approximately 7:15 Monday morning, Cho entered the co-ed dormitory West Ambler Johnston Hall, killing resident assistant Ryan Clark, as well as another student whose name has yet to be released. A campus-wide email was released more than two hours later at approximately 9:26 a.m. notifying students of the previous shootings. Campus officials at that time believed the gunman had left the campus and made the decision to keep scheduled classes resumed for the day.
A few minutes later, in Norris Hall which is the campus’s Science and Engineering building, Cho continued his shootings on more then 50 people, including students as well as faculty members. As of Tuesday morning, 33 victims were pronounced dead, as well as nineteen still admitted to the hospital for both critical and non-critical injuries.
Reports have been released that the gunman used two guns during the rampage; a 9mm and a 22 caliber.
“Cho was a loner and authorities are having trouble finding info about him,” associate vice president for university relations Harry Hinker said.
Numerous students, faculty members and doctors who had worked on the injured have been interviewed since this tragedy occurred and the reoccurring phrase used by all has been that the incident is “simply brutal”. President Bush attended a convocation held on campus on Tuesday afternoon and has continued to show his support for the Virginia Tech campus community. A vigil was also held on Tuesday night.
