Shots fired at Virginia Tech (AP: 33 dead, 15 wounded)

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=248 ^

[LexHoskin]

Gunman on Campus; Stay inside your building, away from windows; Shooting incident at West Ambler Johnston Hall

[dragnet2]

Been working outside all night, and I expected there to be more information. There is still no ID, which means I doubt he was a student. Someone, somewhere, would have recognized him.

Agree. It's suggests that he was not connected to this campus. Too many witnesses, too many saw him, yet still no name. Only thing I have heard, or read what someone reported here was that MSNBC said the shooter was a Chinese national, here on a student visa.

[NormanTuttle]

Who is wanusmaximus? Does he have a connection to the shooting?

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Dunno, he might have procured them on the street.

[glock rocks]

There is no way to stop a determined killer from creating havoc in a public place, unless we live under martial law.

Bull. Unless you live in Maryland. A few determined armed citizens can put the kaibash on it. It was a determined off duty concealed carrier who lived 50 miles away that put down the one man jihad in Utah.

[AdrianR]

IF TRUE....Both the State Department consular official overseas (who granted this person’s travel to US authorization at a US Embassy or Consulate) and then the ICE official who actually stamped his entry in his passport at his port of entry—and let him into the USA, should both be made public. That is, if this person is a non-citizen who was on a visa in the United States. Failure to perform full background checks and perform the usual due diligence, may have lead to the deaths of all those students.

I doubt whether they ever do full background checks on student visa applicants (unless they come from Iran). And filtering out a very small number of people like this from 500,000 foreign students who come to US is basically like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[RDTF]

I don’t really think he would have posted his cell phone video and then done that TV interview if he was up to no good.

[bnelson44]

MSNBC says the “person of interest” is cooperating with police, is not in custody, and is not believed to be under suspicion. Federal and state cops all say they think it’s the work of a lone gunman.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18134671/

hat tip:
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/16/at-least-22-dead-28-wounded-in-shooting-at-virginia-tech/

[Windcatcher]

AQ training tape?

[bnelson44]

MSNBC says the “person of interest” is cooperating with police, is not in custody, and is not believed to be under suspicion. Federal and state cops all say they think it’s the work of a lone gunman.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18134671/

hat tip:
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/16/at-least-22-dead-28-wounded-in-shooting-at-virginia-tech/

[CharlesWayneCT]

That’s because they are news media and thrive on controversy.

I felt this morning differently than I do now. You can’t shut down a city of 26,000 people because somebody shoots two people in a dorm room.

[oceanview]

he bought the guns illegally. let’s see the details regarding whether the doors normally have chains on them.

we have to find out the connection to the first victims to see how it all fits.

[Jedidah]

No.

The thought of a campus full of armed 18-25 year olds scares me to death.

I’ve had kids in college for 12 straight years now. Great years. Lots of good friends, but I get the willies just thinking of some of them (whom I will NOT name)having access to weapons. Perish the thought. The stuff of nightmares.

The issue here is NOT gun control or availability of weapons. The fact that the perp had a gun is not the issue. The fact that VTech students were not armed is not the issue.

Guns are merely a method. The guy could have used pipe bombs or other explosives. He could have set fire to the dorm in the middle of the night. The possibilities for mayhem are endless.

The issue is evil. There are, and have always been, evil people who will use whatever means available to do harm.

Already VTech administration is getting criticism for not notifying students immediately when the shooting started. In other words, the college is under fire for not sufficiently anticipating tragedy.

I hate the blame game. The only guilty party here is the gunman, and, perhaps, anyone who knowingly aided him.

And maybe April. What is it about April? Columbine, Murrah Building in OKC, Branch Davidians, etc., and now VTech.

Evil abounds, and none of us are immune. Watch the company you keep, guard your hearts and keep them pure. No one is guaranteed tomorrow.

[Dante3]

Interesting that he might be Chinese. Although college shootings are relatively rare compared to high school, it has been mentioned that a number have involved those from Asia. I recall three other cases:

*At the University of Iowa more than ten years ago, a Chinese physics student shot five people to death, among them two professors involved in highly sensitive research. He wounded one person, permanently paralyzing her. Then he committed suicide. Some believe he was under orders from a foreign government.

*A law student from Nigeria shot two faculty members and a student in 2001 at Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia.

*Not too long ago there was a shooting at a college in Ohio by someone from India or Pakistan?

[omega4179]

This is a failure of both liberal campus laws and the police state, I really dont think gun control advocates can get any political mileage here.

[redgolum]

But on a hand gun, you still need to fill out the paperwork at a gun show like you would in a store (at least the states where I have been to one, Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas).

Buying a Kevlar vest (if that is a confirmed thing) is very hard to do after the Hollywood shoot out. I know some that have, but only because they were either in the Army and had the paperwork to prove it, or their kids were and it was shipped direct to them. You just can walk into Sams and pick one up.

But even if he did buy the stuff at a gun show, when did he get the chains? This was NOT a “snapped” ex boyfriend. He was planning this for a while.

[combat_boots]

“The student who did the filming is a Palestinian, a former resident of Saudi Arabia and student at Virginia Tech according to an interview with him. If I were the police I would like to talk to him for a bit. He was right outside the facility when the shooting started.”

You are f*ing kidding me.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Hey - I saw the interview with the female student (almost bald) who was in her German Class when the Shooter came in and started shooting and people were going down - including the professor, teacher - and she feigned death - the shooter left - then came back (evidently hearing the survivors talking) shot some more - then left again - and the 2-4 people still okay propped up against the classroom door to block the shooter out - who then started shooting through the door. This student said there were like 20 plus people in the classroom who had “gone down” - either dead or injured. 2-4 uninjured.

[Jet Jaguar]

Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Thanks for the links.

[dragnet2]

I doubt whether they ever do full background checks on student visa applicants (unless they come from Iran).

That is a little disturbing.

What type of visas were the 911 terrorist issued?