The deadliest shooting incident in the nation’s history shut down buildings and drew law enforcement officers Monday at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

On the Hill, the shooting had people dialing loved ones in the area and considering campus safety.

Thirty-three people were killed, and at least were 30 injured during a shooting yesterday morning at Virginia Tech, according to a Washington Post article updated at 6:36 p.m. Monday. The shooting is the deadliest such spree in United States history, the article stated.

Western will host a candlelight vigil at 10 tonight to honor the victims, according to the Campus Activities Board. It will probably take place at the Guthrie Bell Tower.

Authorities said the first shooting took place shortly after 7 a.m. in West Ambler Johnston dormitory, the Post stated. The second shooting took place shortly before 10 a.m. at Norris Hall, according to a source in the Post article.

Two students were killed at the dorm, and 31 people including the gunman were killed at Norris Hall, according to the Post article.

The shooter was unidentified as of Monday evening. Wendell Flinchum, campus police chief at Virginia Tech, said in a New York Times article that the gunman took his own life.

Blacksburg City Police and the Blacksburg Fire Department referred all questions to Virginia Tech officials.

Virginia Tech public relations officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

Capt. Mike Dowell, public information officer for campus police, said there’s no immediate threat to Western, but officials are constantly looking for new ways to promote campus safety.

“This is a terrible situation that could face any university, any place,” he said.

Western’s precautions against such an event happening on the Hill include officers carrying weapons, even when they’re off duty.

But preparedness costs money, he said. Campus police have to get money for more specialized training, weapons and equipment to deal with emergency situations.

President Gary Ransdell said Western has procedures in place to deal with situations similar to those that occurred at Virginia Tech.

Ransdell said administrators will be communicating with faculty and staff about the situation during the next few days.

“A college campus is a microcosm of society,” Ransdell said. “It’s a public place. Our faculty, our staff and our students always need to be aware of their surroundings.”

He said campus police officers will undergo training this summer to help deal with similar situations. The training was planned before the shooting occurred.

No changes to Western’s safety procedures are planned or needed, he said.

There are about 25 campus police officers and about 100 city officers with an emergency response team that would respond if a similar incident occurred at Western. Kentucky State Police and sheriff’s department officers would also respond.

Taylor Elder, a sophomore from Suffolk, Va., said he has many cousins and friends at Virginia Tech.

Elder said all of his friends are fine, but he was worried until he heard from them.

Elder said his cousin, who was in class at the time, called him between the shootings to say he was all right and that classrooms were locked down.

Kiersten Crombie, a freshman from Franklin, Tenn., said she planned to try contacting her cousin who attends Virginia Tech to make sure he was all right. She said she was pretty sure her cousin was fine.

Alex Fortson, a Western visitor and future transfer student, said he was also confident that his friends at Virginia Tech. would be all right. But he wanted to check on them as soon as he could get Internet access.

Fortson said he spent time at Virginia Tech working with the African affairs advocates there. He was on campus Monday to show the Invisible Children documentary scheduled for that night.

Josh Armstrong, a spring 2006 Western graduate, is a university relations photographer at Virginia Tech. Armstrong was the Herald’s assistant photo editor in spring 2006.

Armstrong said he was behind yellow police tape on the edge of the shooting’s aftermath snapping pictures of police swarming around the crime scene.

Armstrong said he hadn’t heard about the shooting until he got to work. Listening to headphones on his walk there, he noticed police cars around him. He was said he was almost jumping out of their way.

“I literally must have just walked by it,” he said.

After he got to work his coworkers told him what was happening, and the death count increased sharply.

“My coworkers and I were just sitting there with our jaws open,” he said.

One half of campus was evacuated at noon and the other half was evacuated at 12:30, he said.

“Pretty much the only cars on campus were police cars and ambulances,” he said.

Hunter Wilson, an August 2006 Western graduate, helped cover the shooting from the Roanoke Times newspaper office. As an online producer for the Times, he posted stories, photographs and audio content about the shooting. Wilson was Herald photo editor in fall 2005.

As of 3 p.m. Central time yesterday, there were more than 200,000 page views on the stories about the attack on the Times’ website. At 3:30 p.m., Wilson said he hadn’t had time to think about the violence.

James Armstrong, a Virginia Tech student, said he usually walks past Norris Hall after class in McBryde Hall. But yesterday, he had to pick up engineering software for his computer from Torgerson Hall.

“I heard the clapping sound of gunfire from down at Norris,” James Armstrong said.

He said he had a perfect view from Torgerson of everything that was happening.

“It was overwhelming,” he said. “I felt like I was watching a movie.”

People ran away from the mayhem. Five or six ambulances drove past police cars. He said he heard the sound of automatic weapons.

“My friend and I looked at each other and knew that someone was looking over us because both of us usually walk right there,” he said.

A makeshift memorial at Virginia Tech had been erected to the victims of the shooting late Monday night.

Two women hugged, crying near the wall of the war monument and chapel.

The chapel was about 20 yards away from a large “VT” figure on the drill field. Students left notes on the figure, writing on orange pieces of tape. Others dodged or accommodated several reporters on the field.

Most of the lights were out in West Ambler Johnston Hall, where two students were killed.

But students peeked their heads out of the windows of other dorms to watch the scene below.

Virginia Tech officials are planning a convocation for 2 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum to help university community members deal with the tragedy, according to the university’s Web site.

Reach the reporters
at news@wkuherald.com.