Virginia Tech Gun Rampage Kills 32 Plus Gunman

A gunman opened fire in a dorm and a classroom today at Virginia Tech, killing 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials said. The gunman then killed himself, bringing the death toll to 33.

At least 26 people were being treated at area hospitals for injuries, police said. The injuries included gun wounds, but also broken bones and sprains sustained by students who jumped from windows to escape the attacker.

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

Two people were killed in the dorm room, and 30 others and the gunman died in Norris Hall, police said.

Students told MSNBC that they were in a Norris Hall classroom when the gunman, dressed in a black leather jacket, walked in and began shooting without saying a word.

The Associated Press quoted an anonymouos law-enforcement officer as saying the gunman had two pistols and multiple clips of ammunition. The Washington Post, also quoting anonymous police officials, said the man was carrying two 9mm pistols and said his self-inflicted gunshot wound caused such extensive damage that police had not yet been able to identify him.

Students and one employee criticized the university's response to the shooting, there were no public-address announcements or other warnings on campus after the first burst of gunfire. They said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage around the time the gunman struck again.

Until today, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the bloodbath at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives

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First Person: Student Describes Campus Shooting