32 die in deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history

At least 32 die in college shooting BLACKSBURG, Virginia – A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 31 people in the deadliest campus shooting in US history.

The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 32, but it was unclear if he was shot by police or took his own life. “Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger.”The university is shocked and indeed horrified.”The name of the gunman was not immediately released, and investigators offered no motive for the attack.It was not immediately known if the gunman was a student.FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said there was no immediate evidence to suggest it was a terrorist attack, “but all avenues will be explored”.The bloodbath took place at opposite sides of the 1 050-hectare campus, beginning at about 07:15 a.m.(11h15 GMT) at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.Before Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in US history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire.He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police.In the Columbine High School bloodbath near Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.The deadliest mass shooting in US history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard drove his pickup into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.A gasp could be heard on Monday at a campus news conference when the police chief said at least 20 people had been killed.Previously, only one person was thought to have been killed on the campus, which has 25 000 full-time students.The death toll later climbed.Nampa-AP”Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger.”The university is shocked and indeed horrified.”The name of the gunman was not immediately released, and investigators offered no motive for the attack. It was not immediately known if the gunman was a student.FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said there was no immediate evidence to suggest it was a terrorist attack, “but all avenues will be explored”.The bloodbath took place at opposite sides of the 1 050-hectare campus, beginning at about 07:15 a.m.(11h15 GMT) at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.Before Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in US history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire.He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police.In the Columbine High School bloodbath near Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.The deadliest mass shooting in US history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard drove his pickup into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.A gasp could be heard on Monday at a campus news conference when the police chief said at least 20 people had been killed.Previously, only one person was thought to have been killed on the campus, which has 25 000 full-time students.The death toll later climbed.Nampa-AP