Days before the Anniversary of Columbine, Another Campus Mass Shooting

Scores Dead at Virginia Tech

Monday morning students had to dive for cover in a confused shooting incident at Virginia Technical University, near Roanoke Virginia. On a day such as this students are eager to return to classes after spring break. In spite of the passing storm, most talk on campus was about the Don Imus firings, and the language of rappers like Ludicrous, Nelly, or Snoop Dog. At last report, 28 people were wounded and 37 people had been killed, including one gunman. Eyewitnesses reported the gunman was of Asian descent. The university police reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. local time 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 police were investigated the first shootings when word broke about the second attack. Police are trying to sort out the confusion and may be seeking another shooter.

"We are locked down. We can''t leave the building. I''m hearing reports of another shooting, multiple victims across campus." Called one student to his parents. "We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on,"

The school just reopened from Friday after a bomb threat. This was the second such bomb threat this month. The university has posted a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in this incident. In another incident in the last August, another shooter closed the campus, and killed two people. The campus was also closed last year due to an escaped convict.

^{Law and order advocates have argued for the right of students to carry guns for self defense, and last year, such legislation was defeated in the Virginia Assembly.}