Virginia Tech Massacre Is Worst in U.S. History

Calling today’s shooting at Virginia Tech “incomprehensible” and a “tragedy of momentous proportions,” President Charles W. Steger addressed the nation about the massacre that took place on his campus early this morning. At total of 33 people have died, including the shooter, making today’s tragedy the worst mass killing in U.S. history. Another 29 victims have been wounded, many of them critically.

Steger began by reporting that President Bush had called him earlier to express his and Laura Bush’s condolences to the families of the victims.

Steger also called the killings “heinous” and said he wanted to repeat his disbelief and horror at the events that transpired. “I am at a lost to explain the carnage,” he added. Authorities have not confirmed the name of the gunman because he did not carry identification. Police are also in the process of identifying the victims and anticipate releasing a list of the dead and wounded sometime tomorrow. University officials are asking students to contact their parents to inform them of their status.

One of the shootings occurred early in the morning in a dormitory room that took the life of two students, one man and one woman. Two hours later, a second shooting took place across campus in an engineering classroom. Authorities still do not know if the two shootings are related and they have obtained assistance from federal agencies to investigate further.

Officials said the campus was not locked down after the first shooting because the information that campus police received after the incident indicated that the shooting was isolated to the dormitory. As a result, students were not notified of the shooting for two hours. The administration felt it best to keep as many students in places that they thought were safe, and that included classrooms.

We had information from witnesses and evidence at the scene that the shooter was no longer in the building and not on campus,” Steger said. Police investigating the first shooting thought it was “domestic in nature.” They also reported there was no shootout between officers and the gunman, who authorities said killed himself in the engineering building. Preliminary reports say that some of the doors to that building were chained shut.

Authorities added that they do not know the approximate age of the killer and reported that there are no suspects in custody and no one has been arrested. Some of the deceased remained in Norris Hall as the news conference ended.

The shootings fall on the heals of a campus bomb threat that occurred on Friday. When questioned by reporters about the threats and about what the university could do to prevent future tragedies on campus Steger responded, “We cannot have an armed guard in every classroom every day of the year.”

On being asked why the campus was not locked down after the first shooting, Steger replied that the university has about 9,000 students living in dormitories and about 14,000 students who commute to campus. “We had to decide what would be the safest thing. We have a communication system.” he said. “It is hard to communicate with people traveling to campus and we had no reason to suspect that any other incident was going to occur. As soon as we learned what was going on at Norris Hall, we conducted a sweep of every building on campus.”

Virginia Tech uses an electronic access system with card keys to enter the dormitories. Only residents are given electronic access to those areas; guests may enter with the permission of residents. However, the university’s academic buildings, which include classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and administrative facilities, are not normally locked except at night. Even then, officials said, there are many people with keys.

When asked about what the administration could have done in hindsight, Steger said, “We have to start thinking about how we begin the healing process. We have done everything possible to deal with the situation.” Steger added that the administration will continue to look at additional procedures to employ in the future. “We are putting our energies into the tragedies that the families are suffering,” Steger said.

Campus officials are in the process of notifying families of the victims, who along with members of the campus community will be offered counseling services to deal with the tragedy. A campus-wide convocation will take place tomorrow afternoon where Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is expected to attend. The Governor’s office released a statement in which he expressed reaction to the shootings. “It is difficult to comprehend senseless violence on this scale,” Kaine said. “Our prayers are with the families and friends of these victims, and members of the extended Virginia Tech community.”

Parents seeking information about the condition of their children may call the Office of the Dean of Students at (540) 231-3787.