http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55220


Shanghai student eyed in Virginia Tech probe
Officials investigating slaughter of 32 say man arrived in August from China
Posted: April 16, 2007
1:38 p.m. Eastern


© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Virginia Tech campus

Authorities investigating the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech today, the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, are targeting a Chinese man who arrived in the U.S. last year on a student visa, a source told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Investigators have not linked the 24-year-old to any terrorist group, the paper said.

The man, with a visa issued in Shanghai, arrived Aug. 7 in San Francisco on United Airlines. Three reported bomb threats on the campus last week might have been attempts by him to test the campus' security response, the source told the Sun-Times.

The gunman found dead today by authorities from apparently self-inflicted wounds was described by an injured student to MSNBC as a college-aged Asian with a maroon hat and black leather jacket.

Officials said at a news conference this afternoon there were two separate shooting incidents on the Virginia campus, hours apart, but it is still unclear whether they were related. The first 9/11 call came at 7:15 a.m. from a residence hall where two people reportedly had been shot.

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It took authorities more than two hours to notify the campus, by e-mail, of the first incident.

Asked by reporters to explain, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said initial information led officials to believe it was an isolated event and that the shooter had fled the campus. Only the residence hall, West Ambler Johnston, was locked down, he said.

University President Charles Steger defended his handling of the tragedy, saying he and other officials "had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur."

"We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time," he said. "You don't have hours to reflect on it."

Steger said it was difficult to inform everyone on campus, with about 11,000 people arriving in the morning.

A gunman was found dead at the scene of the second shooting, at Norris Hall, an engineering school building.

Two were killed at West Ambler Johnston and 31 died at Norris Hall, including the shooter.

Flinchum told reporters, however, he did not know the identity of the gunman, who had no ID with him. Later, ABC News reported authorities were having difficulty identifying the shooter because he shot himself in the face.

Earlier, Steger said the grieving campus was quickly organizing a convocation of faculty, staff and students.

"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," he said. "The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus. ... I cannot begin to convey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless of such an incomprehensible and heinous act."

The deadliest U.S. campus shooting, until today, took place at the University of Texas in 1966 when 16 people were killed by Charles Whitman, who opened fire from a clock tower. In 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students at Columbine High School near Denver.

But today's shooting is the deadliest mass shooting of any kind in U.S. history, a prominent criminologist told the Roanoke Times.

James Alan Fox of Northeastern University in Boston said the death toll, which stands at 33, surpasses the 22 people killed in 1991 when a gunman opened fire at a cafeteria in Killeen, Texas.

Officials at Virginia Tech said the second incident took place about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering school building.

ABC News reported students and an employee say the first e-mail warning they got from the university came at 9:26 a.m. By that time, the gunman had struck again.

Another ABC News report said there were two separate bomb threats in the past two weeks at Virginia Tech that targeted engineering buildings.

The first was in early April and the second at the end of last week, which prompted evacuation of students and staff. The university had offered a $5,000 reward for information.

The 2,600-acre campus in Blacksburg, in the western part of the state near West Virginia and Tennessee, has more than 28,000 full-time students.

Virginia Tech student Blake Harrison witnessed the chaos while on his way to a class near Norris Hall.

"This teacher comes flying out of Norris, he's bleeding from his arm or his shoulder ... all these students were coming out of Norris trying to take shelter in Randolph [Hall]. All these kids were freaked out," Harrison said, according to Fox News.

The students and faculty were barricading themselves in their classrooms.

The shooter was "wearing a vest covered in clips was just unloading on their door, going from classroom to classroom ... they said it never seemed like it was going to stop and there was just blood all over," Harrison said.

The shooter had two handguns and several clips of ammunition, according to NBC News. Flinchum confirmed an earlier report that the shooter chained the doors of a classroom to make it almost impossible for the students to escape.

University officials closed the campus at least for today and tomorrow and directed families and students to meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech.

Last August, classes were canceled on the opening day at Virginia Tech when an escaped gunman, William Morva, allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the campus area.

President Bush said he was "horrified" after hearing news of the shootings, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"It is difficult to comprehend senseless violence on this scale," said Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in a statement. "Our prayers are with the families and friends of these victims, and members of the extended Virginia Tech community."