http://198.82.160.236/where_we_are/maps/documents/vt_main_map_lowres.pdf
I see 9 major parking lot complexes around the perimeter of the campus.
Any one of which could have become the scene of a mass shooting had classes been cancelled after the first incident. Which, of course, would produced large numbers of reporters asking, "why did you cancel classes, wouldn't they have been safer in the classrooms?"