Fox News is reporting that there are at least 20 fatalities and as many wounded in a shooting at VA Tech. Two seemingly separate incidents occurred on the campus this morning, the first in the early morning hours at a residential hall where one person was shot dead and an undisclosed number were wounded. Several hours later, at around 10:00 am, what was reported as an Asian man with a semi-automatic handgun rampaged through one of the engineering buildings, killing an additional 19-20 people.
The campus had received bomb threats this month, the latest last Friday which led to the closure of another engineering building. There are conflicting reports as to whether the two shootings were related or done by the same person. The second shooter has been reported deceased by several sources.
There are unconfirmed reports that the 10:00 shooter was looking for his girlfriend. The police have stated that the campus is secured, but are staging evacuations to be safe.
We’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: ABCNEWS.com is reporting death toll at 25. Fox is running a vid clip a an Asian man, presumably not the dead shooter, handcuffed and being guarded by police.
UPDATE: Fox reports death toll at 32.
Gateway Pundit has maps, local coverage and more info.
UPDATE: F.B.I. was on scene to investigate whether or not this was a terrorist attack. At this time there is no evidence that it is.
UPDATE: The college paper has online info here.
There are already gun control questions in the media; ironically, it’s been reported on Free Republic that a bill that would have eligible allowed students and employees carry firearms, and thus defend themselves form the depraved gunman, had just been shot down in the VA General Assembly. The law obviously wouldn’t have gone into effect in time to save these innocent victims, but the proponents of the law, and gun control advocates are already preparing to make their cases on the backs of this tragedy.
According to the Counterterrorism blog, NBC news is making a point of describing the shooter as a “young American male”, at this point the identity is still unconfirmed. They also state that F.B.I involvement in cases like this is just a standard practice since 9-11.
UPDATE: Ace has a good round up, plus a link to an article that says there were two shooters.
Atlas Shrugs has an interesting comment thread.
UPDATE: Reports are the shooter was a Asian man in his 20’s. He was wearing a black coat and red hat, it is not known yet if he was himself a student.
Freepers are on full offensive.
Pajamas Media has the whole story.
UPDATE: Final death toll is 33. Police are still seeking a person of interest in the first shooting. College administration didn’t begin evacuation of campus after first shooting, leading to tragic killing of 30 more students that day.
UPDATE: Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the shooter may have been a Chinese National here on a student visa! If this is the case the two 9mm pistols he had could not be purchased legally by him, so he either purchased them illegally or has an accomplice who purchased the guns for him! Either way law enforcement needs to follow up on this.
Hot Air questions how a Chinese national on a student visa got the guns, and is reporting that the serial numbers were filed off. A clear indication that the the guns were either stolen or purchased by an accomplice.
UPDATE: The shooter was a S. Korean national with permanent resident status.