School Killer Described By Witnesses As Asian Male, Around 19 Years Old

The worst school shooting rampage in U.S.history left a trail of dead bodies and a slew of unanswered questions at Virginia Tech on Monday.  

A lone gunman first opened fire in a dormitory, killing two people, before heading across campus and prematurely snuffing out the lives of 30 more.  

The death toll reached an unprecedented 33 when the still-unidentified killer took his own life.  

At least fifteen others were injured, some seriously.

The shooter’s motives and identification remain a mystery, but witnesses say he looked to be about 19-years-old.

Trey Perkins was sitting in German class in Norris Hall when the second round of shooting started.

Perkins said the man first shot the professor in the head and then turned the gun towards the students with a “very serious but very calm look on his face.”

“Everyone hit the floor at that moment,” the 20-year-old student recalled.  

“And the shots seemed like it lasted forever.”

Erin Sheehan, who was also in the class, said the  gunman “peeked in twice, earlier in the lesson, like he was looking for someone before he started shooting. But then we all heard something like drilling in the walls, and someone thought they sounded like bullets.”

“(The gunman) was just a normal-looking kid, Asian but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something.”

“I saw bullets hit people’s body.”

“There was blood everywhere.”

The first two murders took place at the West Ambler Johnston dormitory, but that was just the start of the unbelievable wave of carnage that investigators are still trying to piece together.  

Two hours passed between the first incident and the second outbreak at the Norris Hall engineering building, where the death toll shockingly climbed.  

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger addressed criticism that the school didn’t handle the situation properly following the first outbreak of violence.  

Some students have complained about the school’s slow response, saying the first word they received from the university about the initial shooting was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage.   By that time, the gunman struck again, with ferocious efficiency.

It’s not clear why more precautions weren’t taken, but it seems authorities believed the man had left campus and posed no further threat.

“We had information from witnesses and evidence at the scene that the shooter was no longer on campus,” Steger said during a grim press conference.  

“We 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. You don’t have hours to reflect on it.”

There were also early reports that the violence at the West Ambler Johnson dormitory was domestic in nature, possibly leading authorities to believe it was an isolated incident.  

“We knew we had two people shot,” said Chief Wendell Flinchum.   “We secured the building. We had info that led us to believe the building was secure and that the person had left the building.”

Flinchum also confirmed that some of the doors at Norris Hall were chained from the inside, allowing the gunman to pick off his targets while preventing police from entering.  

“Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” Steger said. “The university is shocked and indeed horrified.”

Although it seems probable that one gunman was responsible for both attacks, police wouldn’t confirm a connection.

“We have one person that’s deceased, that was the shooter, we do not know if the two incidents are connected,” adds Flinchum.   ” We are trying to determine if they are, or aren’t related.”

“We do not know if the shooter was a student or not, the case is still under investigation.   As far as the victims, some were students.”

Flinchum wouldn’t reveal how many weapons the gunman carried, but one law-enforcement official said he had two pistols and multiple clips of ammunition.

Chaos reigned after the initial shooting. “They had us under lockdown,” freshman Aimee Kanode recalls. “They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again.”

Footage from the scene shows students being hustled out of the buildings, and armed police patrolling the campus with guns drawn.

Subsequent reports indicate some students jumped out of third or fourth floor windows, trying to escape the threat of the assailant as he fired at people.

“There was gunshots,” one student recalls. “It was right behind the building I was in … and these two kids panicked and jumped out of the top storey window and I guess he broke his ankle and the other girl wasn’t in good shape.”

Hospital ERs in the small town are said to be crowded with victims, although the extent of all the injuries isn’t clear. Panicked parents of students are trying to find out information about the victims.

All classes are cancelled and most have been evacuated from the scene.

In a tragic irony, Virginia Tech’s website prominently features its motto – “invent the future”.

At least 33 victims saw theirs cut short on Monday.

The shooting brings back horrible memories for Canadians. It was just last September that gunman Kimveer Gill entered Dawson College in Montreal, opening fire on terrified students. When it was over, one lay dead and 19 more were injured.

Gunman fits classic ‘spree killer’

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School Shootings

Sadly, this incident isn’t the first such tragedy and it appears it won’t be the last. Here’s a look back at some other moments of terror and the lives they took so senselessly.

April 16, 2007 — Deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history as gunman opens fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. The toll is 33 dead, including the gunman, who committed suicide.

Oct. 2, 2006 — A 32-year-old gunman enters an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and holds 10 girls hostage before shooting them. Five girls are killed, and five more wounded. The gunman also kills himself.

Sept. 13, 2006 , Montreal , Quebec — One gunman opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, leaving a student dead and 19 more injured.

Nov. 8, 2005, Jacksboro, Tenn. — One 15-year-old shot and killed an assistant principal at Campbell County High School and seriously wounded two other administrators.

March 21, 2005, Red Lake, Minn. — Jeff Weise, 16, killed grandfather and companion, then arrived at school where he killed a teacher, a security guard, 5 students, and finally himself, leaving a total of 10 dead.

Sept. 28, 2004, Carmen de Patagones, Argentina — Three students killed and 6 wounded by a 15-year-old Argentinian student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires.

Sept. 24, 2003 , Cold Spring, Minn. — Two students are killed at Rocori High School by John Jason McLaughlin, 15.

April 24, 2003, Red Lion, Pa. — James Sheets, 14, killed principal Eugene Segro of Red Lion Area Junior High School before killing himself.

April 14, 2003 , New Orleans , La. — One 15-year-old killed, and three students wounded at John McDonogh High School by gunfire from four teenagers (none were students at the school). The motive was gang-related.

April 29, 2002 , Vlasenica , Bosnia – Herzegovina — One teacher killed, one wounded by Dragoslav Petkovic, 17, who then killed himself.

April 26, 2002 , Erfurt , Germany — 13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself.

Feb. 19, 2002, Freising, Germany — Two killed in Eching by a man at the factory from which he had been fired; he then traveled to Freising and killed the headmaster of the technical school from which he had been expelled. He also wounded another teacher before killing himself.

Jan. 15, 2002 , New York , N.Y. — A teenager wounded two students at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.

Nov. 12, 2001 , Caro , Mich. — Chris Buschbacher, 17, took two hostages at the Caro Learning Center before killing himself.

March 30, 2001 , Gary , Ind. — One student killed by Donald R. Burt, Jr., a 17-year-old student who had been expelled from Lew Wallace High School.

March 22, 2001 , Granite Hills , Calif. — One teacher and three students wounded by Jason Hoffman, 18, at Granite Hills High School. A policeman shot and wounded Hoffman.

March 7, 2001 Williamsport , Pa. — Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, wounded student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School; she was depressed and frequently teased.

March 5, 2001 , Santee , Calif. — Two killed and 13 wounded by Charles Andrew Williams, 15, firing from a bathroom at Santana High School.

Jan. 18, 2001 , Jan, Sweden — One student killed by two boys, ages 17 and 19.

Jan. 17, 2001 , Baltimore , Md. — One student shot and killed in front of Lake Clifton Eastern High School.

Sept. 26, 2000 , New Orleans , La. — Two students wounded with the same gun during a fight at Woodson Middle School.

May 26, 2000, Lake Worth, Fla. — One teacher, Barry Grunow, shot and killed at Lake Worth Middle School by Nate Brazill, 13, with .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol on the last day of classes.

April 20, 2000 , Orleans , Ont. — Four students and one staff member wounded in knife attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ontario occurs on first anniversary of Columbine massacre.

March 10, 2000 , Savannah , Ga. — Two students killed by Darrell Ingram, 19, while leaving a dance sponsored by Beach High School.

March 2000, Branneburg , Germany — One teacher killed by a 15-year-old student, who then shot himself. The shooter has been in a coma ever since.

Feb. 29, 2000 , Mount Morris Township, Mich. — Six-year-old Kayla Rolland shot dead at Buell Elementary School near Flint, Mich. The assailant was identified as a six-year-old boy with a .32-caliber handgun.

Dec. 7, 1999 , Veghel , Netherlands — One teacher and three students wounded by a 17-year-old student.

Dec. 6, 1999, Fort Gibson, Okla. — Four students wounded as Seth Trickey, 13, opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at Fort Gibson Middle School.

Nov. 19, 1999 , Deming, N.M. — Victor Cordova Jr., 12, shot and killed Araceli Tena, 13, in the lobby of Deming Middle School.

May 20, 1999 , Conyers , Ga. — Six students injured at Heritage High School by Thomas Solomon, 15, who was reportedly depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend.

April 28, 1999 , Taber , Alberta — 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alberta.

April 20, 1999, Littleton, Colo. — 14 students (including killers) and one teacher killed, 23 others wounded at Columbine High School. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had plotted for a year to kill at least 500 and blow up their school. At the end of their hour-long rampage, they turned their guns on themselves.

Feb. 8, 1999 , Verdun , Quebec — Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun, Quebec. No one injured.

June 15, 1998 , Richmond , Va. — One teacher and one guidance counselor wounded by a 14-year-old boy in the school hallway.

May 21, 1998 , Springfield , Ore. — Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. His parents were later found dead at home.

May 19, 1998, Fayetteville, Tenn. — One student killed in the parking lot at Lincoln County High School three days before he was to graduate. The victim was dating the ex-girlfriend of his killer, 18-year-old honor student Jacob Davis.

April 24, 1998 , Edinboro , Pa. — One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. Andrew Wurst, 14, was charged.

March 24, 1998 , Jonesboro , Ark. — Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods.

Dec. 15, 1997 , Stamps, Ark. — Two students wounded. Colt Todd, 14, was hiding in the woods when he shot the students as they stood in the parking lot.

Dec. 1, 1997, West Paducah, Ky. — Three students killed, five wounded by Michael Carneal, 14, as they participated in a prayer circle at Heath High School.

October 1997, Monreal , Quebec — 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal language school for immigrants.

Oct. 1, 1997, Pearl, Miss. — Two students killed and seven wounded by Luke Woodham, 16, who was also accused of killing his mother. He and his friends were said to be outcasts who worshiped Satan.

March 1997, Sanaa , Yemen — Eight people (six students and two others) at two schools killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri.

Feb. 19, 1997 , Bethel , Alaska — Principal and one student killed, two others wounded by Evan Ramsey, 16.

March 13, 1996, Dunblane, Scotland — 16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack.

Feb. 2, 1996 , Moses Lake , Wash. — Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class.

October 1994, Toronto, Ont. — Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades.

June 1993, Vancouver, B.C. — Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver in drive-by shooting.

February 1990, Burlington , Ont. — Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at General Brock High School in Burlington, Ontario.

December 6, 1989 , Montreal , Quebec — Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of Montreal’s Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself.

October 1978, Winnipeg , MB — 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg.

May 1975, Brampton , Ont. — Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13 others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario before turning gun on himself.

Aug. 1, 1966: Former marine Charles Whitman climbs to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower at the University of Texas in Austin and carries an arsenal with him. He began randomly picking off victims, some blocks away. It takes police hours to reach the top of the tower, where they finally kill Whitman. His mother is later also discovered murdered, Whitman’s first victim. He complained of severe headaches and a fantasy of killing people that would not go away. 

Up until Monday, it was the worst shooting at a school in U.S. history.