Shooting Rampage At Virginia Tech
I had a bunch of things to take care of today and have been away from the news. This makes me wish I had stayed away. There has been a shooting rampage by a single gunman at Virginia Tech. At least 32 people are confirmed dead at this time, including the shooter.
Police at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., said that the shootings happened at a dormitory and a classroom on opposite sides of the university campus.
"Schools should be places of safety and learning," President Bush said this afternoon from the White House. "When that safety is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community."
Law enforcement officials tell ABC News they believe there was a single gunman, firing at least two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. They said he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.
It is unknown at this time if the guns had standard or extended clips, which can fire as many as 30 shots before the gun has to be reloaded.
The gunman, whose identity has not been released, is among the dead. Campus police would not say whether the shooter had killed himself.
"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions," said university president Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus."
A count by ABC News shows that at least 28 people had been admitted to hospitals, most with gunshot wounds.
18 were at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, and four of them, in critical condition, were taken into surgery. Some had broken ankles, back and neck injuries after jumping from the buildings where the shootings were happening.
This is absolutely horrible.
