Breaking News Part I: Two Shootings at Virginia Tech

While I was sitting in my room going over insurance information, I found out during a phone call with my father that there have been shootings at Virginia Tech this morning, Monday, April 16, 2007. I graduated in May 2006 and no longer live there, but I began to panic and immediately started calling friends who still attend Virginia Tech.

As of 12:45 p.m., 22 fatalities have been confirmed, and more casualties being treated at Montgomery Regional Hospital. The shooter has also been proclaimed dead. One person was killed in West-Ambler Johnson dormitory this morning. Twenty students were killed at the second shooting in Norris Hall, an Engineering building located next to one of the campus landmarks - Burruss Hall. The twenty-second fatality is the shooter. At least 28 victims are being treated, some at Montgomery Regional Hospital; several casualties have been transferred to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for Level 1 Trauma treatment.

Police are trying to make the campus secure while conducting their investigation. Police are currently uncertain about whether the shooter was a student or not; police also do not know if the two shootings were related. Students are finally being evacuated from the campus lock-down that occurred soon after the shootings.

Police have not released details about the investigation on the shootings. There may have been more than one shooter; a suspect was arrested and a shooter was proclaimed dead.

The first shooting took place around 7:15 this morning in the co-ed West-Ambler Johnson dormitory. I immediately called one of my closest friends and former roommate, Tiffany Henry, to make sure she was okay since she lives in West AJ this year. To my immense relief, she answered her cell phone and reported that she was safely locked-down in the D-2 Cafeteria, which is located about 40 yards away from West AJ.

The second shooting took place around 10 a.m. in Norris Hall.

News reporters managed to get access to a video of some policemen shooting on the academic side of campus. The video was obtained from a student's cell phone.