VA Tech Statement

A couple of college related boards: here and here video and audio of O'dell here.

From first link above: check it for updates

2:52pm: President Bush is scheduled to speak on the shooting at 4:15pm, and a Virginia Tech press conference will follow at 4:30pm. The shooter was found in the basement of Norris Hall. Death toll is now reported to be 31, many students are receiving critical care.

2:03pm: The US Justice Department is reporting 32 fatalities in the shooting incident.

1:48pm: Derek O'dell, a sophomore biology major was in a classroom on the second floor of Norris Hall when the shooter came in and began to shoot. He let off a full round before leaving. O'dell was one of 10-15 people shot in the class, and was hit in his upper arm. According to O'dell, the shooter was an Asian male in his twenties wearing a maroon hat and a black coat.

Previous posts have the breaking news, but this is going to raise questions. A prepared statement from the President of VT.

Now here are some of the facts as we know them. At about 7:15 this morning, a 911 call came to the university police department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later, the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded.

The shooter in Norris Hall is deceased. There are multiple fatalities. The number of fatalities has not been confirmed. Victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area in the region to receive emergency treatment. And we will proceed to contact the next of kin as the victims' identities are available. All classes are canceled and the university is closed for the remainder of the day.

If this is a single shooter, someone is going to have to explain why classes went forward with a shooter on the loose on campus. Information is still too sketchy to draw conslusions.

Comments

[southdakotaboy]

If someone decided to not cancel classes because of some sort of pc stupidity they need to go to jail.
This is a wake up call that we need to have quick response teams on our college campuses, they are targets just waiting to be hit.

[Kelvin]

George Bush is speaking about this? Is he planning to invade and liberate 'Asia'???

[Phoenix]

I'm kind of speechless with horror. Half the kids from my town go to Tech. My daughter goes to a university nearby, and half her friends are at Tech.

oh ugh. :( I'm so sad.

Someone asked about lockdown... It's standard operating procedure to keep chaos from insuing and to keep the kids safe. I don't understand how the first shooting took place so long before the second without a lockdown. It will come out, I guess. The guy could have hidden anywhere. That campus is huge.

I feel so sorry for the students, I can hardly stand it. And the parents? whoa..... Too sad to contemplate. I'm trying to imagine if a cop showed up at my door to tell me my daughter was shot dead in her justice class. I'd rather be dead than to hear it and to have to continue living with the horror of her helplessness.

[Hard Right]

Hey Kelvin, what to show what a POS you are. Innocent people have been murdered and all you can do is show us how crippled you are by your leftwing mental illness/hatred. Thanks for proving what we say about you lefties.