S.Korean student blamed for U.S. shooting rampage
BLACKSBURG, Va. (Reuters) - A student from South Korea was the gunman who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech university, police said on Tuesday. They gave no motive for the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history.
Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior who was a legal U.S. resident, and said one of two guns found was used in both shootings on Monday at the sprawling rural campus in southwestern Virginia.
Cho killed himself at Virginia Tech after opening fire on students and staff in four classrooms in an apparently premeditated massacre. Two people were shot to death two hours earlier at a dormitory.
Police said Cho was studying English literature.
“The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved in both shootings,” said Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police. “It’s certainly reasonable for us to assume that Cho was the shooter in both places.”
Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell, he said.
“The gunman was discovered among several of the victims in one of the classrooms,” Flaherty said. “He had taken his own life.”
Cho was a South Korean citizen who has lived in the United States since 1992, said U.S. immigration spokesman Chris Bentley. He and his family lived in Centreville, Virginia.
STRICKEN CAMPUS
Twelve students remained hospitalized in stable condition on Tuesday, officials said.
The campus, where there are more than 25,000 full-time students, reeled with shock and grief.
“I don’t even know if any of my friends were killed, because it was so hard to get in touch with anyone last night,” said Brittany Jones, a 19-year-old Tech student from Urbanna, Virginia.
“Even if they weren’t, it wouldn’t make it any less sad. You don’t expect this to happen at your school. We’re just kids,” she said early on Tuesday as she watched members of the university’s military corps drill before class.
Some of the uniformed cadets were crying and hugging one another on the drill field, which was to host a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night in memory of the shooting victims.
Television images of terrified students and police dragging out bloody victims revived memories of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado and were likely to renew heated debate about America’s gun laws.
“There were leg, arm, head, face (injuries), the more critical ones actually had head or facial shots. There were chest shots, leg shots, arm shots. He was just shooting to kill,” said Dr. Joseph Cacioppo, an emergency room physician who treated the wounded.
Many students expressed anger that they were not warned of any danger until more than two hours after the first attack at a dormitory - and then only in an e-mail from the university.
University President Charles Steger and law enforcement officials on Monday defended their response to the shootings, but at a news conference on Tuesday they did not discuss their response to the shootings or take questions.
“We are doing everything possible to move forward,” Steger said. Classes were canceled for the week and Norris Hall, where most deaths occurred, is closed for rest of the school term, he said.
President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush were to attend a memorial service at Virginia Tech later on Tuesday.
“We understand that there is going to be and there has been an ongoing national discussion and debate about gun control policy,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
But she said the focus now was on families, the school and the community.
Police said the gunman appeared to have used chains to lock doors and prevent victims from escaping. Fifteen people were wounded, including those shot and students hurt jumping from windows in a desperate attempt to flee the gunfire.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims.
Source
He’s 23 years old and he’s been in US since 1992, which means that he’s been in US since he was 8 years old. He may not have US citizenship, but he’s as good as American. And this article (and many others probably) call him “S.Korean student” … *** sigh ***