It's now being called the deadliest school attack in U.S. history. Several have been killed and several were wounded in two shootings on the Virginia Tech university campus in Blacksburg today.
New reports are now saying that as many as 33 have been killed and at least 29 have been wounded.
One was killed in a dormitory and several were wounded and killed at another shooting in an engineering building on campus. Both shootings were at opposite sides of the campus and the shootings happened two hours apart.
The university released a statement saying:
Police have one shooter in custody, and as part of routine police procedure they continue to search for a second shooter,"
Updates now reveal that officials believe it was one shooter that did both shootings. The shooter is now confirmed dead and they just confirmed that he took his own life.
Blake Harrison, a student on his way to class near Norris Hall witnessed it and said
"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," 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,"
The dormitory has 895 students and is one of the largest on campus. Students at the dorm panicked while trying to flee gunfire, resulting in one student jumping out a window at the top of the building and breaking a leg. Another girl jumped out and was just laying on the ground in bad shape.
There had been reports of bomb threats earlier this month that resulted in classes being cancelled and Torgersen Hall evacuated on April 2nd.
Police are warning students to stay indoors and away from windows and lock their doors until further notice. All classes are canceled at the school. Everyone who lives off campus has been told to stay away.
This is the second time in a year that the campus has been closed because of a shooting. In August 2006, an escaped inmate killed a hospital guard off campus and ran onto school property to hide.
