VA shootings - two separate incidents, two hours apart?

[fryguy]

So the gun man was able to walk across the campus, presumably as police was flooding into the area, with a weapon or weapons and begin the rampage anew some two hours later? Crazy.

[soothsayer]

1. looked for GF in dorm, shot roomie and RA, then went to look for her

in her first class, didn't know where it was, started shooting up classrooms. Shot himself when cornered. That's one story anyway. On edit channel 9 WUSA in DC saying only 1 person KILLED in the dorm, all the others at the norris building in classrooms, so this could still be true.

[NightWatcher]

3. that's a long time between incidents and a high mortality rate

32 fatalities for a single gunner is unprecedented.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. Where did you get that chain of events?

I'm not doubting you, but I have found about four competing stories so far.

[malaise]

12. I just heard a student saying they were really

upset that the campus sent them email about the first shooting two hours later and never shut down the campus.

[WiseButAngrySara]

So this is true about the GF being the cause? Insane. ....n/t

[fryguy]

10. what was the school doing for the two hours???

you'd think as soon as the first report from the dorm came in they would have been on the look out or locking down the buildings or something....just seems crazy that someone could shoot people in one building and then meander (my word, but I'm guessing it isn't a two hour walk across VT's campus) to another building without any alarm being raised.

[supernova]

2. 2 separate incidents

I heard that, but I didn't know it was the same person. I was left wondering if it were two shooters for different "reasons."

Horribly sad. :-(

[soothsayer]

4. That would be sooooo unlikely..... but who knows.

[underpants]

6. Could it have been that he did the first shooting at 7 AM then went to the classroom

and waited OR it was pistols which are easily hidden.

just a thought

[slj0101]

11. I agree.

It's not as if this person had a sign hanging on them that said "I am a shooter." He could blend in quite well among the thousands of other students.

[soothsayer]

26. verrrrrry large campus

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Doesn't seem terribly surprising.

Lots of students running around, lots of buildings and hallways, and cover.

Seems to me it would be rather easy to flee a crime scene undetected.

[slj0101]

8. I'm not familiar with the VT campus,

nor do I know how many public safety officers they have working there on a single shift. With that in mind, if their situation is the same as other places these days, there may have been cuts in the amout of first responders. It's quite possible that the police may have been understaffed. It wouldn't take much for emergency crews to have their hands full with one incident, yet alone a second one just a couple hours later.

[underpants]

20. I think college campuses mostly focus on rape and assaults in terms of security

since that is the most likely serious crime that will occur there. You can't prepare for everything-or ever really prepare for one/a few individuals-so you go towards the most likely worst case scenario.

I drive through VCU all the time. I would guess there is security in the dorms but when I lived near there (and was a student) I used to pop into different buildings to soak up the AC on long hot summer runs. With the massive flow of people every hour or 75 minutes (Tues and Thurs) you can't stop everyone. Add in bookbags and the new sense of independence and you really are just trying to control the herd.

[soleft]

9. any comment from Bush yet?

[fryguy]

13. he's 'horrified'

so much so that he couldn't even make the announcment that he is 'horrified' himself:

"He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," said.


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1631946620070416

[Connonym]

16. so horrified or so drunk?

&$%#!!!

[Connonym]

14. W sez

Bushe's response to the shooting: "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed

[paparush]

19. Your joking, right?

[brentspeak]

23. Ya beat me to it

I should have read your post before posting mine.

[Connonym]

24. From the WH spokessman(woman/person)...

http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/04/16/StateNational/At.Least.20.Dead.In.Va.Tech.Shooting-2844042.shtml

[brentspeak]

22. Yeah, he wanted to take this opportunity to plug some NRA talking points:

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," Perino said, noting that Bush and Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings held a conference on school gun violence last October. "Certainly, bringing a gun into a school domitory and shooting ... is against the law and something someone should be held accountable for," Perino said.

I'm sure the 30+ victims all died peaceably knowing that Bush is mindful of their killer's right to bear arms.

[Elidor]

15. Why the hell was the school not on lockdown after the first shooting?

As I posted in another thread, with one dead and others wounded in the dorm, and no info on the shooter...classes go on as normal? That is totally fucked. There is no way in hell students should have been in class two whole hours after the first shooting.

[Justice]

17. The first shooting alone should have shut down the school

never mind any other details. You have a shooting in a dorm, shooter is missing - shut down the school.

[Roxy66]

18. When do classes start?

Were classes in session when the first shooting occured? If not they should never have let students come to class.

[Wheezy]

21. 31 confirmed dead now... :( :( n/t

[ecstatic]

25. Same incompetence Giuliani displayed when he didn't order evacuation of the towers

Of course nobody called him on it and he is still regarded as a "hero" of 911.