(CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 31 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history.
"Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said during a news conference in Blacksburg.
Police believe there was only one gunman, Flinchum said.
Spokespersons for hospitals in Roanoke, Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Salem told CNN that they were treating 29 people from the shootings.
Sharon Honaker with Carilion New River Medical Center in Christiansburg said one of the four gunshot victims being treated there was in critical condition.
"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."
The killings mark the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, surpassing attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966.
One person was killed and others were wounded at multiple locations inside a dormitory about 7:15 a.m., Flinchum said. Two hours later, another shooting at Norris Hall, the engineering science and mechanics building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported.
The first reported shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a coed dormitory that houses 895 students. The dormitory, one of the largest residence halls on the 2,600-acre campus, is located near the drill field and stadium.
Amie Steele, editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, said one of her reporters at the dormitory reported "mass chaos."
The reporter said there were "lots of students running around, going crazy, and the police officers were trying to settle everyone down and keep everything under control," according to Steele.
Kristyn Heiser said she was in class about 9:30 a.m. when she and her classmates saw about six gun-wielding police officers run by a window.
"We were like, 'What's going on?' Because this definitely is a quaint town where stuff doesn't really happen. It's pretty boring here," said Heiser during a phone interview as she sat on her classroom floor.
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."
"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.
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 bombs -- killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
I saw the news reports this morning and was deeply saddened. What a tragedy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.. It's about learning to dance in the rain."
I just heard on the news that a student claims it started as a boyfriend fighting with his girlfriend early this morning and when the RA went to help and sort it out, the boy shot the RA as well as his girlfriend and then later went on a rampage in the buildings.
I have a few friends that went to VTech but thankfully are now back at school here in town. I can't imagine being a parent. Our local news has contacted all the Vermont kids at VTech and they're all okay, thankfully.
My prayers go out to those affected. It's just awful.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Favorite quote from 2007: Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
That's sad Iris. I hope they get favorable news soon.. It's so hard because the victims are someone's daughter, son, friend, etc.. so heartbreaking for all connected to them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.. It's about learning to dance in the rain."
Iris, I hope your friends are ok! How scary for everyone.
The link I posted is a cell phone video from a student on campus. You can see the police moving in and the sound of gun fire. I can't imagine being there for that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Favorite quote from 2007: Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
This is such a tragic event. I can even begin to imagine being there or having a friend or loved one there. So scary!
My heart goes out to all involved and I pray for comfort, safety and peace for all the victims, their families' as well as anyone who lost a friend or loved one and just all the students at VA Tech.
I had seen an earlier report that only mentioned a dorm. I figured I would probably not know anyone in a dorm, but now that I know it has affected an engineering building as well, I feel much more anxious. Gidget, that link isn't working for me. Is there another link that might work?
**************************** California Christmas this year.
CNN Video This isnt a direct link, because I couldn't get it to direct link, but the video is on the right side. "Gunfire on University Campus"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Favorite quote from 2007: Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
That must be aweful for a parent to not know for sure if their kid is alive. On CNN about an hour ago they said that they dont know who all the victims are...
/\__/\ (>' '< ) (,,)(,,) Bob for world domination!
They're holding another press conference at 7:30 eastern time. I watched the conference at 4:30 and it made it sound like there were two gunmen and two separate incidents but the police won't confirm a single thing yet.
What a horrific thing to have happen on your campus.
Originally posted by sheepgirl: That must be aweful for a parent to not know for sure if their kid is alive. On CNN about an hour ago they said that they dont know who all the victims are...
Yeah, I saw that too. They also said that most of the bodies are still in the academic building because it's still a crime scene and the coroner's office hasn't released all the bodies yet.
Imagine being a parent or friend and not being able to get ahold of your child or friend...I can't imagine.
I also saw that (one of the?) alleged gunman (gunmen?) -- the Asian kid -- can't be identified because he blew off his own face and wasn't carrying any form of ID and then when they tested his fingerprints they didn't match up to anything in AFIS....
As horrific as it sounds, I'd like to learn a lot more detailed information because of the whole "psychological autopsy" that they keep talking about. A psychological autopsy basically is where they gather tons of info about the perpetrator(s) and try to dissect his (their) life to figure out what triggered the horrific actions and see if it was out of pure hatred, a psychological disorder, etc. I took a forensic psychology class and it really intrigues me to learn about what goes on in a perpetrator's mind.
Thanks Gidget. I actually now have seen it on my local station, but will watch it there too. I've been crying tears of relief. A member of my extended family is an engineering student there, but I now know she is fine. I have really been on edge. I am still not sure about another person I care very much about who has ties to the engineering building. I am trying to contact him. Apparently, a German class was attacked. My daughter's friend's sister is also fine. My family and I have many ties to VA Tech.
**************************** California Christmas this year.
Arts, I hope you hear from the rest of your people soon. I really feel for all of the family and friends who haven't heard anything yet. I was also thinking earlier about how I would feel as a parent. I mean, I don't even have kids but I have a nephew and if I don't know what I would do if didn't know where he was. I hope they release names soon so that at least the loved ones will know something.
ok, many many of my friends go to virginia tech since it is close to home. Please everyone pray. Everyone I can think of that I know is safe, but I probably will know some of the dead. Please everyone pray. I'll update you since that is all on tv tonight.
Originally posted by jplsbabygrl: ok, many many of my friends go to virginia tech since it is close to home. Please everyone pray. Everyone I can think of that I know is safe, but I probably will know some of the dead. Please everyone pray. I'll update you since that is all on tv tonight.
Oh my God how awful! I'll pray that all of your friends are safe! (((Arts))) I hope everyone you know is ok, too.
/\__/\ (>' '< ) (,,)(,,) Bob for world domination!
I appreciate all the concern people here have expressed. Jplsbabygirl and iris, I will certainly be praying for all those involved in this, and I hope that your friends and acquaintances will be fine. I've counted at least 10 of Jon's fans here on this forum who live in Virginia. Then he has even more fans on his MySpace who are from here. Plus, Virginia Tech is such a huge school that this will also affect people from all over. I know that several people on here are former VA Tech students.
I do feel for the Va Tech chief of police and other administrators who are now being faulted for not shutting down the campus sooner. Although I think they should have immediately closed the campus and notified students that a gunman was on the loose, I think these decisions are hard to make when you are faced with them. You can't assume that the gunman has left. However, hindsight is always much clearer. I think all the campus leaders involved need some compassion too in this difficult situation.
**************************** California Christmas this year.
I feel really bad for officials getting a bad rap for this because there's no way that they could know that a domestic violence dispute could lead to a mass murder, you know?
It honestly seems like there are two separate situations going on here that just happened to take place on the same day. The police were saying not too long ago things that lead VERY strongly towards the fact that these two violent acts are separate and that there is someone out there that knows what happened...I just saw that the police are interviewing "persons of interest" right now relating to the first shooting. Remember, the domestic dispute only the girlfriend and the RA were shot...The boyfriend, according to dormmates, is not dead and was not the shooter of the second incident.
I'm very interested in what will happen in the coming days.
Arts, I hope things work out with all your friends and their friends!
Arts, I hope you hear from the rest of your people soon. I really feel for all of the family and friends who haven't heard anything yet. I was also thinking earlier about how I would feel as a parent. I mean, I don't even have kids but I have a nephew and if I don't know what I would do if didn't know where he was. I hope they release names soon so that at least the loved ones will know something.
