India, Israel Mourn Va. Professors Killed

Families in India and Israel on Tuesday mourned two professors among the 32 people killed in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, while the leader of Australia slammed U.S. gun culture.

Monday's massacre was the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, with the unidentified gunmen cutting down his victims in two attacks before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.

An Israeli lecturer killed at Virginia Tech saved the lives of several students by blocking
the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman, CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports.

Liviu Librescu, 76, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer, taught for 20 years at Virginia Tech, far away from terrorist attacks in Israel — only to die a violent death in the U.S.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," said Joe Librescu from Tel Aviv, Israel. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 and then moved to Virginia in 1985 for his sabbatical, but had stayed since then, said Joe Librescu, who himself studied at the school from 1989 to 1994.

The lecturer's wife told an Israeli Web site that she received e-mails from students who said he saved their lives.

Another foreign professor was also killed. Indian-born G.V. Loganathan, 51, a lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was felled by the gunman, his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Palanivel said he was informed by Loganathan's wife, who had identified the body.

"We all feel like we have had an electric shock, we do not know what to do," Palanivel said. "He has been a driving force for all of us, the guiding force."

Loganathan, who was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai, had been at Virginia Tech since 1982.

Local media also reported an Indian student at the university was missing.

Indian officials said they were trying to assist the families and determine how many Indian students were involved.

"We are in touch with our embassy (in Washington). Our consular offices are in touch with the dean of students and also with the Indian Students Association," said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.

"Consular officials will be traveling to the site this morning," he said.

World Reactions

The shootings, which dominated media reports in many countries, drew widespread condemnation.

In London, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Monday saying, "The Queen was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the shooting in Virginia."

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, are scheduled to visit Virginia May 3-4.

The Times of London ran an editorial delving into the American psyche and the weak gun laws across the country.

"Why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?"

Gun crime is extremely rare in Britain, and handguns are completely illegal. The ban is so strictly enforced that Britain's Olympic pistol shooting team is barred from practicing in its own country.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing sent a note of condolence to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

Asked about speculation the gunman — who witnesses described as "Asian" — was Chinese, he said, "We shall not speculate on this as the investigation is ongoing."

There was harsh condemnation for U.S. gun control laws.

In Sydney, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday the university shooting in Virginia showed that America's "gun culture" was a negative force in society.

Howard, who staked his political leadership on pushing through tough laws on gun ownership in Australia after a lone gunman in his country killed 35 people in a spree, said the Virginia university shooting was a tragedy of a kind he hoped would never be seen again in Australia.

"You can never guarantee these things won't happen again in our country," Howard told reporters.

"We had a terrible incident at Port Arthur, but it is the case that 11 years ago we took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country," he said.

He offered his sympathies to the victims of the Virginia shooting and their families.

In India, which has some 80,000 students in the U.S., commentators called for greater protection and stricter gun laws.

"It's not a question of an Indian professor getting killed in the firing. This is related to the American gun laws," said K. Subrahmanyam, a former member of India's National Security Council.

"We can't do anything about it. It is something which has happened in the United States. They have got to change the law."