"We Embrace our Community"

We continue to be moved by the events that occurred at Virginia Tech on Monday. We send our deepest wishes for healing for the victims, their families, and their communities. We also wish to assure all our communities, particularly our Asian and Asian American community, as well as our Korean students, that we are committed to creating a learning environment where all our students can experience safety,
respect, and support.

As is true throughout the year, the variety of co-curricular programs we offer reflect the rich diversity of views that exist on our campus and in the world. Many of those programs facilitate freedom of expression, critical thinking, and conscious examination of difference. As the semester soon comes to a close, we hope you continue to engage in dialogue and share knowledge in a manner that embodies civility for yourself and for other individuals. With your participation, we will continue to create a strong spirit of community for Mason students, faculty, and staff.

from,
Peter Stearns, Provost
Sandy Hubler, Vice President University Life

VT Student from Fairfax Writes E-Mail to Washington Post

Phillip Murillas, of Fairfax, Virginia, now a freshman at Virginia Tech, majoring in communication, sent an e-mail to Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post. Achenbach posted the letter to his online blog. The e-mail has received an outpouring of community support.

The letter can be found here.

Broadside Online contacted Murillas to expand on the story detailed in his letter.

He received the first email at 9:29 a.m. "Even then I didn't think it was going to be an off day," Murillas said. "Everything was at an arm's length."

Then the cops started showing up and "everything got a lot more immediate."

Despite the fact that his dorm, Main Campbell Hall, stood about seven minutes from West Ambler Johnston and only about five to ten minutes from Norris Hall, Murillas still felt safe, but "profundly disturbed." He could see the ambulances but did not hear the gunshots.

On his way to class Murillas's friend alerted him of the second email. Murillas ran to the lounge common area to look out over the campus, and then back upstairs to check on his dorm-mates. He posted reassuring messages to his family and friends on Facebook and then checked his friends' IM statuses to make sure they were all accounted for. Those he could not reach through the Internet, he called.

One of the two missing dorm-mates he mentioned in his letter have since been accounted for. The two girls attended their Norris Hall french class that morning. While one girl suffered gunshots to her knee, the other is currently unaccounted for.

edited by Whitney Rhodes: Mon. 16, 9:23pm.

Breaking News: 33 Dead in VT Shootings, VA in State of Emergency

In the continuing story of the shootings at Virginia Tech the death toll continues to grow. The latest number places the total number of deaths today at 33. This includes a shooter, who according to reports has killed himself, and the first two victims, who were killed two hours before the second incident. Reports count as many as 23 injured as well.

As it stands the police are still investigating as to whether there was a single shooter, or if the two incidents were by separate antagonists.

On the political stage Gov. Tim Kaine, President Bush, and Speaker Pelosi have all commented on the incident. Attorney General Gonzales has stated that agents from both the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were already on the campus in order to aid in the investigation.

Gov. Tim Kaine has declared a state of emergency in order to insure that VT can get hold of any required aid.

A list of victims is not expected until sometime tomorrow.

We have received a number of reports from GMU students who have attempted to or have been able to contact friends at VT.

Police said there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks by authorities but said they have not determined a link to the shootings.

The outpouring of emotion on the campus is already apparent. There is a 9p.m. meeting at Eisenhower Hall, a 7p.m. meeting at Hanover Hall, a 10 p.m. meeting at the Multi-Purpose room by Liberty Square. Also important is a midnight candlelight vigil for the victims tonight at the clock tower outside the JC.

In the state of Virginia an of age permanent resident may carry a concealed weapon in any location besides a college campus.

This is the latest and most deadly in a line of college shootings since 1966. Most notable among them was the 1966 University of Texas at Austin shooting in which a sniper was used to kill 16 people and wound 31, a homicidal rampage that went on for 96 minutes. In 1996, Frederick Martin Davidson shot dead the three professors to whom he was presenting his thesis. In Oct. 2002, student Robert Flores, 40, kills his instructor and then returns later with five guns, killing two more instructors before killing himself.

The FBI has released a threat assessment warning other schools to watch out for copycat shootings.

UPDATE: AP Raises Death Count to 30 in VT Shootings

Reports continue to come in on the shootings at the Virginia Tech campus earlier today. The Associated Press has released an update bringing the death count to 30, not including the deceased gunman, which would bring the count to 31.

The two shooting events caused panic and confusion. The first shooting occurred at 7:15a.m. at the West Ambler Johnston coed dormitory. Witnesses say the shooting occurred on the 4th floor of the building. About two hours later a second shooting incident occurred at Norris Hall, an engineering building that, according to authorities, is about a half mile-away from the first attack.

Witnesses on campus reported students jumping out of the windows of a classroom building to escape gunfire. Reports say that Students and faculty members were carrying out wounded themselves without waiting for ambulances to arrive.

SWAT team members were dispached to the campus. The FBI has become involved with the investigation.

Students claim that the lockdown status of the campus was lifted between the shootings and then re-activated.

AP:

"What happened today this was ridiculous. And I don't know what happened or what was going through this guy's mind," student Jason Piatt told CNN. "But I'm pretty outraged and I'll say on the record I'm pretty outraged that someone died in a shooting in a dorm at 7 o'clock in the morning and the first e-mail about it - no mention of locking down campus, no mention of canceling classes - they just mention that they're investigating a shooting two hours later at 9:22."
He added: "That's pretty ridiculous and meanwhile, while they're sending out that e-mail, 22 more people got killed."

As it stands, the latest death count makes this the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Official VT Statement Acquired off Website

UPDATE: We have finally gained access to the report posted earlier today on the VT website, I'm attaching it below:

Shooting at Virginia Tech / Statement by President Charles W. Steger
By Larry Hincker

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16, 2007

The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions. There were two shootings on campus. In each case, there were fatalities. The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus. I want to extend my deepest, sincerest and most profound sympathies to the families of these victims which include students There are 22 confirmed deaths.

We currently are in the process of notifying families of victims. The Virginia Tech Police are being assisted by numerous other jurisdictions. Crime scenes are being investigated by the FBI, University Police, and State Police. We continue to work to identify the victims impacted by this tragedy. I cannot begin to covey my own personal sense of loss over this senselessness of such an incomprehensible and heinous act The university will immediately set up counseling centers. So far centers have been identified in Ambler Johnston and the Cook Counseling Center to work with our campus community and families.

Here are some of the facts we know:

At about 7:15 a.m. this morning a 911 call came to the University Police Department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded. Victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area in the region to receive emergency treatment.

We will proceed to contact the families of victims as identities are available.

All classes are cancelled and the university is closed for the remainder of today. The university will open Tuesday at 8 a.m. but classes are cancelled. The police are currently staging the release of people from campus buildings.

Families wishing to reunite with the students are suggested to meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech. We are making plans for a convocation tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon at Cassell Coliseum for the university community to come together to begin to deal with the tragedy.

Podcast:: Statement by President Steger (3.1 MB; Length 3:21)

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Counseling is available in the Bowman Room in the Merriman Center (part of the athletic complex) for employees who seek assistance following today's events.

Faculty and staff on the Burruss side of the Drillfield are being released and asked to go home effective immediately. Faculty and staff on the War Memorial side are asked to leave at 12:30 p.m.

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Virginia Tech has closed today Monday, April 16, 2007. On Tuesday, April 17, classes will be canceled. The university will remain open for administrative operations.

There will be an additional university statement presented today at noon.

All students, faculty, and staff are required to stay where they are until police execute a planned evacuation. A phased closing will be in effect today; further information will be forthcoming as soon as police secure the campus.

Tomorrow, there will be a university convocation/ceremony at noon at Cassell Coliseum. The Inn at Virginia Tech has been designated as the site for parents to gather and obtain information.

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In addition to an earlier shooting today in West Ambler Johnston, there has been a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall.

Police and EMS are on the scene.

Police have one shooter in custody and as part of routine police procedure, they continue to search for a second shooter.

All people in university buildings are required to stay inside until further notice.

All entrances to campus are closed.

UPDATE: 25 Dead, At Least 22 Injured at VT Shooting

The count of 25 dead and at least 22 injured has been confirmed by ABC.

Reports have the FBI joining in the investigation.

"He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all of the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, concerning President Bush's reaction.

AP:

Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.

"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again."

"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said. Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, "We are all in lockdown. Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible."

UPDATE: Death Count Reaches 25 in VT Shooting

Reports from CBS have updated the death count in the VT shooting from 22 to 25 as of 12PM Central Time. At the current count this makes the shooting the deadliest campus attack in U.S. History. VT's public announcement earlier today only confirmed 20.

A shooter is now reported as dead, but it is now unclear if the shooter took his own life or if he was killed by police attempting capture.

"The university is shocked and indeed horrified." said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger.

According to the AP report:

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

The Norris Hall shooter is the one who has been reported as deceased. He may or may not have been a student at VT. It now appears that there may have only been a single shooter.

Steger has reported multiple fatalities. Victims, some of whom are students, have been moved to area hospitals for treatment.

Broadside's sympathies and hopes are with the VT families.

EDIT: According to FOX23 Classes were canceled at VT for Monday and Tuesday and counselors were going to be made available to the students. This has yet to be confirmed by any other source.

Breaking News: 22 Dead In Virginia Tech Shooting [2]

Online reports are still coming in as to the shooting earlier today on the Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus. A 12:40PM note on the VT website (which as of this posting remains highly unstable) stated that there were two shooting incidents on campus with a confirmed death count of 22 thus far. The Associated Press also states another 21 so far counted as injured.

Reports are unclear as to the number of shooters, some claim a single shooter, others say two. It has been stated that the police perused and shot dead a single shooter, there are claims that a second arrest has been made as well. Attacks were made both at dorms and in a classroom area. The police have stated that there was only a single shooter involved.

The VT website reported shootings at West Ambler Johnston, a residence hall that houses 895 people, and Norris Hall, an engineering building.

All classes have been canceled, faculty and staff have been released, students state that the campus is currently in 'lockdown.'

Reporters for the VT campus newspaper reported "mass chaos" and stated "lots of students running around, going crazy, and the police officers were trying to settle everyone down and keep everything under control,"

At least one of the two reported incidents involved a shooter who was reported as heavily armed and apparently want from room to room shooting.

Updates will be posted as more information is made available.

Breaking News: 22 Dead In Virginia Tech Shooting

CBS11's Report
680News Report
MarketWatch Report
Post Chronicle Report
EDIT: New York Times Report

NOTE: As of last attempt VT's website is unstable due to an assumed high influx of visitors.

UPDATE: A recent attempt has gained us access to VT's website, the following statement was posted on the front page:

Two shootings on campus today have left 22 confirmed dead, including students.

Families wishing to reunite with students are suggested to meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech. The university is planning a convocation for tomorrow at noon at Cassell Coliseum for the university community to come together to begin to deal with the tragedy.

Counseling is available in the Bowman Room in the Merriman Center (part of the athletic complex) for employees who seek assistance following today’s events.

All faculty and staff have been released and asked to go home effective immediately.

The university will open tomorrow at 8 a.m. but classes are cancelled.