Virginia Tech Shootings!!!!!

April 16, 2007 2:43 p.m. EST


Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Staff Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Bush on Monday said he was "horrified" by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech Monday that left at least 31 people dead and at least 29 wounded. The shooting has been called the deadliest shooting in United States history.

The gunman was among those killed, but it was not known Monday afternoon whether he killed himself or was shot by police.

White House deputy secretary Dana Perino said: "He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident.

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed."

Perino said the Federal Government was monitoring the situation and state and local authorities were investigating, adding that federal assets were available if Virginia should request them.

The shootings were initially reported at 7:15 at a coed residence and then two hours later at an engineering building on the opposite side of the campus.

Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum said the students were killed in a classroom with the exception of one student who was killed in a dorm.

The shootings were the deadliest incident of campus violence in the history of the U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Henry Reid both expressed condolences and called for a moment of silence around 2:00 EST.

President Bush is to give an on-camera statement Monday at 4:15 EST.

By DEB RIECHMANN

WASHINGTON Apr 16, 2007 (AP)? President Bush was described Monday as shocked and saddened by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the deadliest incident of campus violence ever in this country.

"He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. "His thoughts and prayers are with them."

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," Perino said, noting that Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings held a conference on school gun violence last October. "Certainly, bringing a gun into a school domitory and shooting ? is against the law and something someone should be held accountable for," Perino said.

In the House, which returned Monday from a two-week recess, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., interrupted proceedings to lead a moment of silence in remembrance.

A gunman opened fire in a dormitory and classroom at Virginia Tech, situated in the city of Blacksburg in southwest Virginia, killing at least 21 people. The gunman was killed but it was unclear whether he was shot by police or took his own life. After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed and classes were canceled through Tuesday.

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus first at about 7:15 a.m. at a coed residence hall that houses 895 people and about two hours later at an engineering building. One student was killed in the dorm and the others were killed in a classroom, according to Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum.

She said that federal assistance is available if Virginia authorities request help. Perino said it was premature to discuss whether Bush would travel to the Blacksburg area.

Student reports 'mayhem'
Student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but he heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.

"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said.

Waldron described the scene on campus as "mayhem." (Watch a student's recording of police responding to loud bangs )

"It was kind of scary," he said. "These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top-story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."

Madison Van Duyne said she and her classmates in a media writing class were on "lockdown" in their classrooms. They were huddled in the middle of the classroom, writing stories about the shootings and posting them online.

The university is updating its more than 26,000 students through e-mails, and an Internet webcam is broadcasting live pictures of the campus.

The shootings came three days after a bomb threat Friday forced the cancellation of classes in three buildings, WDBJ in Roanoke reported. Also, the 100,000-square-foot Torgersen Hall was evacuated April 2 after police received a written bomb threat, The Roanoke Times reported.

Last August, the first day of classes was cut short by a manhunt after an escaped prisoner was accused of killing a security guard at a Blacksburg hospital and a sheriff's deputy.

After the Monday shootings, students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows, police at the university said.

"Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where they are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus," a statement on the university Web site said.

The university has scheduled a convocation for 2 p.m. ET Tuesday. In Washington, the House and Senate observed moments of silence for the victims and President Bush was reportedly "horrified" by news of the attacks.

"His thoughts and prayers are with them, and we are monitoring the situation," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Before Monday, the deadliest school shootings came in 1966 and 1999.

In the former, Charles Joseph Whitman, a 25-year-old ex-Marine, killed 13 people on the University of Texas campus. He was killed by police.

In 1999, 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris -- armed with guns and pipe

Absolutely horrific!!! I feel grief for the families of the victims and students on campus.

A prayer for those who lost their lives, and to those who suffer their loss. We are in deep with troubled times. God help us.

...this is extremely sad.

Something is going to come out of this. I hope it's something good. I wonder if the terrorists see this crap, and laugh at us being so "security" minded! Pretty soon we will be in a state of Martial Law if this crap continues.

People are going to be afraid to teach school or be bus drivers. I know this one is college but man...you put your ass on the line to go anywhere to work these days. If the guns don't get us, the stress will...BLAH 😛

HORRIFIC & SENSELESS! my heart & prayers to all the families left to pick up the pieces & those injured.. 😢

This shit was crazy! That's why emotions are such a dangerous thing!

It was a senseless killing, a man lost his mind and decided he wanted to shoot up a damn school how heartless.

I wonder did he have signs of unstableness before this incident.

I am just to through with this whole incident. I can't even watch it anymore it is just to damn depressing.

I just pray that the family's of these young adults get through this.

Terrible. Saw it on the morning news and of course the papers..totally shocking. It reminded me of the Beslan School siege about 3 years go..disaster about 3 years ago..I saw the whole event unfold on TV. Was at home with a broken foot at the time..It was horrific to see all those kids locked up in a room with the bombers.

An extract "It started with children laughing and ended in gunfire and slaughter -a 53- hour siege that horrified the world"

What is this crazy world coming to..

I'm sick of these idiotic people. Shoot yourself first! If life is so bad...go somewhere else we don't need you around here.

We need prayer in schools again, simple as that.

That's totally fucked up, though if Virginia Tech allowed law abiding students to carry self defense firearms on campus, then Cho Seung-Hui would've been dispatched by a good samaritan soon after he opened fire on the students.

When you disarm law abiding citizens, they become easy marks for criminals who could care less about the laws. Disobeying laws is the whole point of being a criminal.

Of course, all astrology should be taken with a grain of salt, but I was curious to see what his chart looked like so I looked it up on astro.com..and it would seem to be accurate. With a sun in Capricorn, moon in Cancer and ascendent in Aries some excerpts are below.

Mars, the ruler of your life events, is found located in the seventh house. This indicates a life full of events and changes, and a fighting disposition of the native which can create open and powerful enemies. There is a tendency to become involved in wars and conflicts, both public and personal...

Mars opposition the Ascendant shows that you attract people who threaten you. You do not really have that much self-confidence; your aggressive actions are an attempt to convince yourself that you do.

Meeting others in competition is how you learn to assert yourself constructively, with greater self-control and discipline. Naturally argumentative, you are not the easiest person to get along with. You must learn to be more compromising if you want peace and harmony. Making concessions shows strength of character, not weakness, and if you realize this, you will be respected for your maturity.

In personal relationships, your offensive tactics force you to raise your defenses when the going gets rough.

But an attitude of superiority often masks feelings of inferiority or inadequacy. You have a lot of creative energy you should express. Remember, it is what you do rather than what you say you can do that is important. Develop more self-control, or you will run into many troublesome situations that could be extremely difficult to resolve. You generally get what you want when you want it, and you do not tolerate refusal of your demands.

Did someone mention the sign of this psychotic killer?

"He was pretty much a loner. He was friendly, he'd wave at you, but I never saw anybody with him,"

Those are the worst.

We were asked this week for our cell numbers at school.

Anyway, Dominos has stopped delivering pizzas on campus esp. to the labs

Why?

Oh they think that a gunman might have the guns delievered or something or they are just being super cautious?

Because they texted the students at VT...and I guess they didnt have that system here.

Why wont they deliver on campus...although most places stop delivering at 1:00 am.

Message posted by: Roxijam on 4/21/2007 5:24:19 PM ip: xxx.xxx.xxx.172
well blow me down......he's a capricorn!! january 18th 1984.

they dont handle stress well...

LMAO!..Its that depression!

I think the kid had issues with being who he was...constantly being rejected etc. I knew a cappy guy who was bullied at school..eventually he learnt martial arts and was able to stand up for himself and as a result now he has 4 successful businesses and is very charming young man..you can do something about it...Responsibility lies with the individual however bad his life maybe...take control and do something about it instead of crying...

Everyone deals with their adversity differently.

Some turn into motivation ...some use it to keep their fuel of hate going.
he chose the latter unfortunately.

Yeah...pretty sad. What a waste of life..

Message posted by: Roxijam on 4/21/2007 7:19:33 AM ip: xxx.xxx.xxx.172

"tall dark and aries.........i just dont understand why law abiding citizens should have the right to carry firearms.

they only need them in the first place because there is no criteria for who should and who should not carry firearms....everyone has the right.....including all the loons and psychos........the very people law abiding people have to arm themselves against in the first place."

Of course there's criteria as to who can have them or not, such as age and criminal record. If you're a felon or not right in the head and it shows up on the background check, then you're denied. If you get someone else to buy it for you (straw purchase) and get caught in possession of it, then it's a pretty serious charge. Besides, if you take away guns, then people will find other ways to kill each other, just look at the knife culture in the UK for example. The shooter also could've killed just as many people if he started throwing Molotov cocktails. If he did that would you want gasoline and glass bottles to be banned? If you take away guns in the U.S. now, then more people would be victimized by gun crime, because criminals who don't obey the laws would still have them, and they'll see a bunch of possible victims. There's an old saying: "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns," not to mention our right to bear arms is protected by our Constitution, our supreme law of the land.

Another thing, take Switzerland for example. Their government ISSUES ASSAULT RIFLES to all law abiding males 18 years or older if they don't have one already so that they can maintain their citizen militia. Switzerland is also one of the safest places to live in Europe, if not the world.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you take away guns in America, those who gave up their guns will be at the mercy at those who didn't, and if you have a well armed general public, then the criminals are better kept in check because they don't want to get shot. There wasn't a well armed general public at Virginia Tech, and at least 33 people were at the mercy of one guy who didn't give up his guns to get on campus.

An eye for an eye and the world goes blind!..

Perhaps, but I'd rather be able to shoot back when I'm in danger.

And instead of "eye for an eye," it's more like "it's either you or him." Either way I refuse to not be able to defend my life with lethal force if need be. Hell, often times you don't need to fire a shot, you could just let it be known that you're armed and your potential attacker could back off.

Message posted by: bluestars03 on 4/21/2007 11:24:28 PM ip: xxx.xxx.xxx.96

"Things like this sadden me and scare me. It is become more frequent, less surprising, and it seems few things are happening to control the situation aside from fighting guns with more guns, knives with knives..which is obviously proving unsuccessful."

The thing is, the very reason the Virginia Tech students weren't able to fight back was because there was nobody that was armed that could've counteracted the shooter, no students, no police beforehand, no security, or no teachers, otherwise he could've been stopped. The best way to fight criminals with guns is to allow good citizens to possess them, there's no other way that doesn't involve stuff that you'll read about in 1984 by George Orwell.

Well I've always had that eye for an eye thing anyway..doesn't bother me..you fuck with me, I will fuck you over ten-fold..period!

But in this case, the dude clearly had issues within himself...instead of dealing with them like a man, he decided the world should pay for them...moron!..

That kind of mentality makes no sense to me whatsoever and I have no remorse for people like that...they take up valuable resources on this planet..

Gandhi was sly....

Nivea Q10 is crap for hands

LOL...Yeah I guess...there was just something very irritating about him...

How are you? Is Mr Aqua still in Darfur? lol

God yeah that must be awful....You would probably die if you stayed with me...I am not a domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination...

I do need to find something good...I only bought the pile of crap cos ppl recommended it in the magazine..The only thing so far thats proved any worth is the vitamin E hand cream from the Body Shop...