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Post by pelicanguy on Apr 17, 2007 0:10:35 GMT -5
11:08 p.m.
A student from Georgia was one of the first victims shot to death at Virginia Tech on Monday.
Ryan "Stack" Clark was shot in the neck in West Ambler Johnston Hall where the gunman started his rampage, said Vernon Collins, the coroner in Columbia County, Ga.
Collins said the Virginia State Police asked him and a deputy sheriff to notify Clark’s family in his hometown of Martinez, Ga.
His mother, Letitie Clark, "was in shock and disbelief that her son was gone," Collins said. "I had to assure her it was real. It’s the hardest part of the job to make a death notification. There are no words to describe how horrible it is."
Collins said he didn’t know whether Clark died at the scene or at the hospital. He said an autopsy will be conducted by a medical examiner in Roanoke.
According to a page on Tech’s Marching Virginians web site posted in fall 2006, Clark was a fifth-year member of the marching band program and a resident advisor at West Ambler Johnston.
He had expected to graduate in December 2006 and planned to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology with a focus in cognitive neuroscience.
The online Virginia Tech directory lists a Ryan Christopher Clark at 4042 West Ambler Johnston and says he is studying psychology.
-- Reported by John Cramer
8:33 p.m.
President Bush's staff has talked to Virginia Tech officials about the possibility of Bush visiting campus this week, Tech President Charles Steger said at a press conference this evening.
Authorities said they are still trying to determine whether the shootings at West Ambler Johnston Hall and Norris Hall are related. They have identified a “person of interest” in the Ambler Johnston shootings but do not have anyone in custody. That person is cooperating with authorities, they said.
At Norris Hall, 31 people – including the shooter – were killed. Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the scene at Norris was “probably one of the worst things I’ve seen in my life.” Authorities have made a preliminary identification of the shooter but don’t plan to release his name, or that of any of the victims, until tomorrow. Another two, a woman and a male resident assistant, were killed at Ambler Johnston.
8:03 p.m.
Tech police Chief Wendell Flinchum said that an estimated 15 people have been injured from today's shootings.
7:48 p.m.
Tech police Chief Wendell Flinchum said police had made a preliminary identification of the shooter but were not releasing the identity at a press conference that is currently happening. He also said that two weapons had been recovered but declined to say what they were.
7:06 p.m.
Norris Hall, where 31 of today's 33 victims died and 15 more were injured, is a crime investigation scene tonight. Police block passersby from approaching closer than Burruss Hall, Virginia Tech's main administrative building that sits between Norris and the Drillfield.
A long piece of yellow police tape is tangled in a tree and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents seemed to be looking through windows of cars parked near Burruss. No vehicles are being allowed onto campus.
A half dozen police trucks are parked near Norris, and officers are coming and going from the building. Very few other people are outside on that side of campus.
At the Inn at Virginia Tech, a university hotel that has served as a staging area for today's press conferences and for students and family members seeking information, guards at the front door are only allowing friends and relatives of victims to enter. Media representatives are being sent to another door. The Inn is trying to keep rooms available for friends and family.
"Hokies United" an ad hoc group that has brought together Virginia Tech's student organizations during past tragedies, is organizing a candlelight vigil tomorrow night on Tech's Drillfield. The event is open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Students are planning on passing a flame to light 10,000 candles at the event. It will also feature a yet-to-be-named speaker.
Students are building a writing wall so people at the vigil can write messages in support of the victims.
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sweetpie
B.E. Staff Sergeant
Posts: 2,081
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Post by sweetpie on Apr 17, 2007 5:20:42 GMT -5
In a communication age as advanced as we are this is just unbelievable, but this goes to show you how disconnected we are to each other in even the most tight knit places. It is beyond me how this man continued his rampage into another part of the campus and it seemed like the word didn't get out quick enough. Sending e-mails? what is wrong with getting on the phone? I understand the cops would have to assess the situation and try to get a description and spread out to find him but... I mean this carnage that this guy left is just unbelievable. It leaves you thinking how? why?
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Post by pelicanguy on Apr 17, 2007 10:37:01 GMT -5
That is a huge campus, sweetpie: 26,000 acres. What can you do? Like the president said, they acted on the info they had. No one knew that the guy would strike again. You can't predict that.
11 a.m.
The town of Blacksburg has canceled all meetings and events today in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. Parks and rec events will proceed as scheduled, however.
Also, Blacksburg Transit is operating a special shuttle until 5 p.m. today between campus and the Inn at Virginia Tech. It can be boarded at Washington and Spring streets near Cassell Coliseum, or at the Inn.
10:20 a.m.
A bomb threat directed at Virginia Tech engineering school department buildings was found Monday at the scene of the mass shooting at Norris Hall, an engineering building, according to a search warrant affidavit filed this morning in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
The affadavit said the suspect in the shootings, who has been named as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, was believed to have multiple firearms, including but not limited to Walther P22 and Glock 9mm handguns. The affadavit goes on to say that an investigation has revealed the suspect recently purchased a handgun at a Roanoke firearms store.
"It is further reasonable to believe suspect is the author of the bomb threat note," reads the affadavit written by a Virginia State Police special agent.
The warrant was taken out to search a dorm room at 2121 Harper Hall for tools, documents, computer hardware, weapons, ammunition, explosives, instructional manuals for criminal acts of mass destruction, writing utensils and/or paper similar to that used to communicate threats to Tech's campus in the recent past.
-- Reported by Shawna Morrison
10:16 a.m.
Classes at Virginia Tech will be canceled for the remainder of the week, the university announced this morning. Tech will be open for administrative functions on Wednesday.
9:34 a.m.
Authorities identified the deceased shooter in yesterday's Virginia Tech massacre as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a South Korean native in U.S. as a resident alien. His residency was in Centreville and he was staying at the Harper residence hall on Tech's campus.
No possible motive was disclosed.
"The only thing that we know about him is that he was a loner and we are having difficulty finding information" about him, university spokesman Larry Hincker said.
Authorities said they are not releasing names of the victims until all have been identified.
President Bush and Gov. Tim Kaine are going to appear at 2 p.m. memorial service at Cassell.
Tech President Charles Steger and the university's police chief, Wendell Flinchum appeared at the 9 a.m. press conference where the shooter was identified but declined to field reporters questions on security measures taken in the two hours between the first and second shootings Monday, a gap that has been questioned by students, parents, and the media.
Flinchum said the second shootings started as police were questioning a male associate of a female victim of the first shooting.
Results of ballistic tests conducted at a federal lab in Maryland overnight confirmed that the same weapon was used in both on campus shooting events on Monday, a detail that proves they incidents were related, Flinchum said.
Authorities assert response to shootings was timely -- A full report on the morning press conference
-- Reported by Albert Raboteau
9 a.m.
Scott Hill, chief executive officer of Montgomery County Regional Hospital, said this morning that nine victims of yesterday's shooting at Virginia Tech, all students, remain at Montgomery Regional.
All are in stable condition, including three who were in critical condition last night. Another three victims are in stable condition at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem. One of those is expected to be discharged later today. Hill was unsure of the conditions of patients taken to Carilion New River Valley Hospital and Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Four patients at Montgomery Regional underwent major surgery yesteday, Hill said, and two had minor sugery.
Hill refused to say how many of the 22 victims taken to Montgomery Regional and Lewis-Gale yesterday have died, though he did say the vicitms of yesterday's first shooting came the Montgomery Regional. Those students were killed.
The survivors' families are at their bedsides and their friends are being allowed to visit, if the families approve, but Hill said the hospital is trying to limit visitors today so the victims can rest.
Speaking to a herd of reporters and a wall of 10 television cameras, Hill praised the work of his staff and offered condolences to the victims, their friends and families.
"Our hearts go out to the families and the folks at Virginia Tech that are dealing that are dealing with this tragic situation," Hill said.
-- Reported by Tim Thornton
7:48 a.m.
The eyes of the world are on Blacksburg this morning. About 60 television trucks are parked at the end of Virginia Tech campus. The media crush is so great that only one reporter per news organization is being allowed into the room where press conferences are being held.
"We are just going to reach the capacity too fast," a woman posted at the door told a line of reporters from newspapers including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Fox's Geraldo Rivera was among the reporters in the pressroom.
Morning news coverage by organizations including the BBC has questioned why stronger security measures were not taken after the earlier violence Monday.
Douglas said the crush of reporters means media access to the 2 p.m. memorial service at Cassell Coliseum will be limited to pool coverage.
-- Reported by Albert Raboteau
7:30 a.m.
The Salvation Army brought a truck from Roanoke to serve meals to victims to families, emergency workers and others gathered at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Richard White, a captain of the organization, estimated 500 meals had been served so far, about 10 of which were brought to a grief-sticken family staying upstairs at the Inn at Virginia Tech. "There's not a lotyou can say," White said.
7:18 a.m.
According to Virginia Tech student newspaper's Web site, collegiatetimes.com, the following are the names of confirmed fatalities in Monday's shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus.
Maxine Turner Vienna, Va. Senior, Chemical Engineering
Henry Lee Roanoke Freshman, Computer Engineering
Matt La Porte Dumont, N.J. Freshman, University Studies
Jamie Bishop Instructor, Foreign Languages and Literatures (German)
G.V. Loganathan Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Juan Ortiz Graduate Student, Civil Engineering
Jarrett Lane Narrows Senior, Civil Engineering
Ryan Clark Columbia County, Ga. Senior, Biology, English, Psychology
Leslie Sherman Sophomore, History and International Studies
Caitlin Hammaren Sophomore, International Studies and French
Liviu Librescu Professor, Engineering Science & Mechanics
Kevin Granata Professor, Engineering Science & Mechanics
Reema Samaha Centreville Freshman
Emily Hilscher Woodville Freshman, Animal and Poultry Sciences, Equine Science
CNN reported today that Ross Alameddine, a student from Saugus, Mass., was another shooting victim.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday night that authorities are investigating whether the gunman was a 24-year-old Chinese man who arrived in the U.S. last year on a student visa issued in Shanghai. Police believe three bomb threats on the campus last week may have been attempts by the man to test the campus' security response, the newspaper reported.
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Post by pelicanguy on Apr 17, 2007 11:23:48 GMT -5
12:01 p.m. At mid-day today, Blacksburg's South Main Street looks much the same as it always does. Traffic is manageable. Businesses are open. But the flag at A Cleaner World drycleaner is at half mast. Farther down the street, in downtown Blacksburg, it looks a little like a Virginia Tech Game Day. Plenty of students are crossing streets and walking along sidewalks. Almost every one of them is wearing an orange or maroon shirt or sweatshirt. Near Cassell Coliseum, there are marching band members on the sidewalk and more crowds of orange-and-maroon-clad students. Not unlike Game Day, there's already a tremendously long line at the front doors of the coliseum. But these people waiting along Washington Street and down Spring Street are in line for the 2 p.m. convocation to mourn Monday's mass shooting that killed 33 people, including a shooter identified as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, a senior majoring in English at Tech. Someone is holding a sign that reads "Support Steger," a reference to Tech President Charles Steger, who with other officials has drawn criticism for the decision to continue classes after two students were found shot Monday morning. Two hours later, 31 more died by gunfire and 15 were injured, some as they leapt from classroom windows to escape. By the coliseum, someone else holds a flag that reads "4-16-07 VT United." Reporters are interviewing students. Uniformed members of the Corps of Cadets are gathering. Two fighter jets blast overhead, perhaps a precursor to President George Bush's planned attendance of the memorial event this afternoon. Rachel Fleischmann, a 20-year-old Tech junior from Baltimore, and Maggie Peirce, a 21-year-old sophomore from Woodbine, Md., arrive at the coliseum in the back of a friend's pickup truck. They are carrying a plastic container of orange-and-maroon ribbons safety-pinned together into small loops. They plan to pass them out to people in line. Peirce says, "We were up until 2 a.m. making these. We want to unite the students. A lot of bad things have been said about the school and we want people to know this is the best school." They didn't personally know anyone involved in the shootings, though a friend's roommate was killed in Norris Hall, they say. Fleischmann says that on their ride to the coliseum, they saw what they thought was Air Force One landing at the Montgomery-Virginia Tech Executive Airport, presumeably delivering the president. "It's an honor for he and Mrs. Bush to be here," Fleishmann says. "We're excited they're here." -- Reported by Ralph Berrier Jr. 11:26 a.m. Dateline correspondent and Virginia Tech grad Hoda Kotb's "Not at My Alma Mater" essay is here: insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/
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Post by pelicanguy on Apr 17, 2007 13:04:18 GMT -5
1:57 p.m.
The remainder of Tech's spring football session, including Saturday's Spring Game, has been canceled, Virginia Tech announced on its Web sites. Tech was scheduled to practice Wednesday and Friday before holding the Spring Game on Saturday.
1:52 p.m.
As Virginia State Police officers kept the crowd back along Blacksburg's Spring Street, a motorcade of about 10 black vans, accompanied by motorcycle police, whizzed by on the way to Cassell Coliseum. This likely was President Bush, said onlookers, or maybe the governor or senators. Or maybe all of them.
As soon as the motorcade turned behind the coliseum, police stepped back and the crowd sprinted for Lane Stadium, which is taking the massive overflow from the already-filled Cassell basketball arena.
At 2 p.m., a convocation to mourn the victims of Monday's shootings is to begin inside Cassell.
-- Reported by Ralph Berrier Jr.
1:25 p.m.
Cho Seung-Hui bought one of the two handguns used in yesterday’s Virginia Tech massacre at a Roanoke gun shop.
John Markell, owner of Roanoke Firearms on Cove Road, said today that three agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives visited his shop yesterday. One of the agents told him that the Glock 19 that Markell’s shop sold Cho about five weeks ago was used in the mass shooting.
Markell said he was not in the shop when Cho bought the gun but said nothing stood out about the purchase. Cho produced a Virginia driver’s license, a checkbook with a matching address and an immigration card. Cho was a resident alien from South Korea.
Cho paid $571 for the gun and a box of 50 9mm bullets, Markell said.
-- Reported by Reed Williams
1:21 p.m.
Montgomery County schools will be closed Wednesday, Superintendent Tiffany Anderson announced in an e-mail this afternoon.
Several of the victims of Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech were parents of students in the school system, Anderson's e-mail said.
The school system is offering its counseling services to the Red Cross to help people affected by Monday's events.
Schools are closed today. Continuing the closure, Anderson wrote, "will allow teachers and administrators to have a workday where they can plan how best to support all of our students given the tragedy."
-- Reported by Tim Thornton
1:11 p.m.
Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium has been opened to the overflow crowd from the shooting memorial event set to begin in at 2 p.m. at Tech's Cassell Coliseum.
People are crowding onto the field in a throng that begins at the north end zone beneath the giant video screen and stretches across midfield to about the opposite 30 yard line. People also are taking seats in the stands.
Everyone is looking toward the video screen, which presently displays the color bars of a test pattern and the words "Va Tech Convocation 2:00 pm 4-17-07".
-- Reported by Ralph Berrier Jr.
12:59 p.m.
Over 7,000 people are already inside Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum, and a line outside stretches down Washington Street, curves around the tennis courts and disappears toward Lane Stadium and the Cranwell International Center. On Spring Street, the line was past Lane Stadium.
A convocation ceremony to mourn the victims of yesterday's campus shooting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. President George Bush, Gov. Tim Kaine and other dignitaries plan to attend.
Three friends, all freshmen at Tech, were at the very end of the immense line. Wearing Tech T-shirts and standing near the international center, Matt Banick, an 18-year-old from Centreville; Nihar Samal, an 18-year-old from Rockville, Md.; and Kevin O'Connor, a 19-year-old from Vermont, said they wished the event was being held in much-larger Lane Stadium.
"This looks exactly like Game Day," Banick said of the crowd. "I'm not surprised to see this. It's a close campus."
The three said that if they can't get into the coliseum, they plan to go back to Pritchard dormitory, where they live, and watch the event on television.
O'Connor had a digital camera slung around his neck. "If I can't get pictures inside," he told his friends, "I'll get pictures of the line."
-- Reported by Ralph Berrier Jr.
12:32 p.m.
Although CNN reported another death among the victims of Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech, area hospitals say no one else has died today.
The official death toll from the shootings remains at 33 people.
Eric Earnhart, spokesman for Carilion hospitals, said three victims remain at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in stable condition. One of the victims taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital died yesterday. Two remain at the hospital. One is listed in serious condition, the other as critical.
Suzanne Barnett, spokeswoman for Montgomery Regional Hospital, said nothing has changed at her facility or at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem since the hospitals issued an 8 a.m. update. Nine victims remain at Montgomery Regional Hospital. All are in stable condition, including three who were in critical condition Monday night. Another three people are in stable condition at Lewis-Gale, and one of these is expected to be discharged today.
Montgomery Regional has scheduled another update between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
-- Reported by Tim Thornton
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