22 die in US varsity attack
2007-04-16 18:43
Washington - At least 22 people, including the suspected gunman, were killed many others were wounded in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech university on Monday, said police and university officials.
The rampage took place in two separate areas of the campus about two hours apart during the morning.
Police said they believed a single gunman was responsible.
"This is a tragedy of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech president Charles Steger told reporters.
It was one of the worst shootings on a university campus in the United States since Charles Whitman went to the top of the tower in the middle of the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, on August 1 1966, and opened fire on people 27 stories below.
He killed 15 people, including his mother and wife the night before, and wounded 31 others.
Virginia Tech, with 26 000 students, is located in the southwest corner of the state, about 390km from Washington.
Police said they were investigating whether the gunman had killed himself or had been killed by authorities.
Most of the shootings took place at a part of the campus called Norris Hall, according to campus police chief Wendell Finchum.