Virginia Tech Tragedy Unfolds
Track events as gunman massacres 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, gunning down victims in two attacks two hours apart before killing himself. (Times are approximate)
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7:15 a.m.
First 911 call. Report of shooting at a dorm on the Virginia Tech campus.
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9:01 a.m.
Cho Seung-Hui, later identified as the gunman in the massacre, mails a package containing photos and videos of him brandishing guns and delivering a snarling, profanity-laced tirade about rich "brats" and their "hedonistic needs," at a Virginia post office. The package arrives at NBC's headquarters in New York two days after Cho killed 32 people and committed suicide.
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9:26 a.m.
First e-mail sent to students, staff. Subject: "Shooting on campus." Announces "shooting incident" at West Amber Johnston. Urges campus community "to be cautious." "Suspicious" activity should be reported.
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9:45 a.m.
911 call about second shooting. Incident at Norris Hall.
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9:50 a.m.
Second e-mail sent to students, staff. Subject: "Please stay put." States "a gunman is loose on campus." Urges people to stay in buildings. Also to stay away from windows.
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10:17 a.m.
Third e-mail sent to students, staff. Subject: "All classes canceled; Stay where you are." Says everyone should remain indoors. Urges people not to come on campus.
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10:53 a.m.
Fourth e-mail sent. Subject: "Second Shooting Reported." Says "multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall." Announces "police have one shooter in custody." Adds that police are making "routine" search for a second shooter.
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noon
Virginia Tech holds news conference. Officials announce "multiple fatalities." "Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."
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7 a.m.
In broadcast interviews, school president Charles Steger said that a Virginia Tech student was the gunman in at least the second ofthe two campus attacks.
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9:30 a.m.
The Virginia Tech Police Department identified Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior English in the university's English department and resident alien from South Korea, as the man behind the massacre.
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2 p.m.
A convocation to remember the victims of the massacre is held on campus. "Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate," said President Bush, who attended the event. "They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they're gone — and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates and a grieving nation."
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8:30 a.m.
There was another scare on campus as police in SWAT gear with weapons drawn swarmed Burruss Hall, which houses the president's office. The threat of suspicious activity turned out to be unfounded, said a Virginia State Police spokeswoman, and the building was reopened. But students were rattled.
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10 a.m.
Cho Seung-Hui, the gunman blamed for the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, had previously been accused of stalking two female students at Virginia Tech and had been taken to a mental health facility in 2005 after an acquaintance worried he might be suicidal, police said.
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9:30 a.m.
Virginia Tech officials announced that the students who died in the shooting rampage will be awarded posthumous degrees in the field in which they were studying. Commencement ceremonies are set for May 11.
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noon
Silence fell across the Virginia Tech campus and bells tolled in churches nationwide in memory of the 32 victims of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine declared Friday a statewide day of mourning for the victims.
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Thousands of Virginia Tech students and faculty filled the center of campus to pay solemn tribute to the victims of last week's massacre — listening quietly as a bell tolled for the dead on the day classes resumed at the grief-stricken school.
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Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine issued an executive order requiring that a database of people who are prohibited from buying guns include anyone found to be dangerous and ordered to undergo involuntary mental health treatment. The order closes the loophole that allowed mentally disturbed Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho to acquire the guns he used to kill 32 students and faculty members.
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Families of some of the Virginia Tech victims demand representation on the panel, saying they feel ostracized from the investigation. They are later denied representation, but Gov. Kaine asks that panel member Carroll Ann Ellis, a victim advocate, serve as a liaison to the families.
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Family members of several victims attend another panel meeting and plead with panel members to assign accountability for the tragedy. They also ask for a federal commission to be appointed.
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Virginia Tech releases the findings of its own internal review of the shootings, and recommends more monitoring of troubled students, locks on classroom doors and other security measures.
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The governor's panel holds final a closed-door meeting to put finishing touches on its report.
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The panel releases its report, concluding that Virginia Tech officials might have saved lives if they had notified faculty and students sooner about the first two shootings. It also criticizes school officials for not addressing Cho's mental problems.
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Credits:
CBS/AP
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