Monday, April 16, 2007, 12:22
Section: Virginia Tech
It’s official. Virginia Tech is now home to the worst mass shooting in American history. Worse than the University of Texas, worse than Columbine, worse than the Luby’s massacre. At least 33 people are dead, and two dozen more are wounded after shootings at the West Ambler Johnston dorm and Norris Hall on Monday.
From a statement by Tech’s president, Charles W. Steger:
At about 7:15 a.m. this morning a 911 call came to the University Police Department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded. Victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area in the region to receive emergency treatment.
I lived on the top floor of West AJ my final year of college, when I swapped room assignments with a pledge, so I could buckle down and graduate. (I wasn’t getting anything done in the Pi Kappa Alpha house that year.)
The shootings, which included both students and staff members, took place at West Ambler Johnston, a dormitory, and Norris Hall, which houses the College of Engineering, at opposite ends of the sprawling campus. Authorities said the first shooting was reported shortly after 7 a.m. at the dorm and the second about two hours later at Norris Hall.
Trey Perkins, who was sitting in room 207 in Norris Hall, said the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half. “Some 30 shots in all,” said Perkins, who was seated in the back of the room.
It was a German class, Perkins said, and there were about 15 students in the room. The gunman, who was holding two pistols, Perkins said, first shot the professor in the head and kept on shooting at the students. Perkins said the student was of Asian descent, “around 19,” and had “very serious but very calm look on his face.”
“Everyone hit the floor at that moment,” said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, who sounded shaken on the phone. “And the shots seemed like it lasted forever.”
It’s hard to imagine someone could kill two people in West AJ and then make it across the Drill Field to the other side of campus and Norris Hall. More details I’m sure will be forthcoming in the days and weeks to come.
The Roanoke Times has a map showing the shooting locations, although they call Pritchard Hall “Pritchett Hall” for some reason, which is bizarre, considering how many Hokies work there.
More news available at the following news sites, which will have more localized information than the AP wire:
There’s lots of videos now up on YouTube, although the ones the students have shot from inside dorms and out windows seem to all have been taken down recently
With “Girls Gone Wild” a week away from its scheduled trip to Blacksburg, the town is receiving national attention as opposition to the event grows on Virginia Tech’s campus and in the Blacksburg community.
Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam said Thursday that he’s “disgusted” by “Girls Gone Wild” — a video franchise that has gained fame for filming women stripping and performing sexual acts during spring break and at parties. Rordam said the town would do everything it could to make it as difficult as possible for the group to make its scheduled appearance in town April 20.
“They’re really not welcome,” Rordam said. “This is not something we want in Blacksburg.”
A petition asking the Blacksburg restaurant Oge-Chi’s to reconsider plans to host the event had collected more than 700 signatures by Thursday. The petition includes an example of a bar owner in Ohio who pleaded guilty to charges of selling alcohol to a minor after hosting a “Girls Gone Wild” visit. The petition also threatens to “bring this matter before the Montgaomery County Alcoholic Beverage Commission,” if Oge-Chi’s hosts the event.
“Maintaining a ‘noisy, lewd, disorderly or unsanitary establishment’ is grounds for which the board may suspend or revoke licenses,” the petition reads.
Christine Smith, assistant director for counseling and advocacy at Tech’s women’s center, said Thursday that she couldn’t keep up with the e-mails and phone calls from people opposed to “Girls Gone Wild” coming to Blacksburg.
“I’ve been overwhelmed with the response; it’s been amazing,” she said.
NBC’s “Today” show interviewed Tech officials Thursday for a news story scheduled to air today on “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis.
Francis, 34, was indicted Wednesday on charges that his companies claimed more than $20 million in false business expenses, which followed his being jailed on criminal contempt charges Tuesday in Florida. He was charged Thursday with bribing a jail guard for a bottle of water and having prescription sleeping pills in his cell, authorities said.
Smith said Womanspace, a student group at Tech, is planning a protest of the event. She said she has also spoken with the town and police department and they’ve been supportive while acknowledging there are limits to what they can do.
Jerry Smith, executive director of operations for Oge-Chi’s, said Thursday that officials with Chiamaka Entertainment Inc., which owns the restaurant, still had no comment. The group could release a statement today, he said, after a scheduled meeting between Chiamaka officials and the Blacksburg Police Department about the event.
Students have used Facebook.com, a popular online networking site primarily for college students, to form a group called “Hokies Against Girls Gone Wild.” Since starting early this week, membership of the group has swelled to more than 700.
Multiple Virginia Tech groups in favor of “Girls Gone Wild” or against protesting their appearance in Blacksburg have also formed. Total membership of those groups was less than 100 Thursday afternoon.
Interestingly, when Playboy came to campus when I was there, there was a little bit of dissent, but nothing like this. Indeed, the student newspaper even had a reporter “infiltrate” the process and came away saying that it was pretty classy, all things considered.
And what the hell kind of name is is “Oge-Chi?” In my day, we had good, sensible bar names, like Ton 80 and the Hokie House and PJ Macadoos …
The company has just announced a new one, a month after Jenn’s due to give birth. We’ll see if either or both of us can go, but it was a great time last time, so at this point, I’d love to go. (Also see the Blizzcon FAQ.)
And hey, maybe Murky will get a brother out of it. The WoW Model Viewer mod reveals that there are other colors of murloc babies in the game files:
I have no inside info when I say the following: With the demise of E3 last year, this is a move that seems obvious in retrospect, since it gives Blizzard a high-profile venue to promote their games (I’d expect to see the new WoW expansion announced and possibly previewed, and maybe another non-Warcraft game announcement), with good media attendance (and free passes for the biggest names) and a very friendly audience. All of which means this year’s Blizzcon is likely to be even more interesting than the last one.
It’s official. Virginia Tech is now home to the worst mass shooting in American history. Worse than the University of Texas, worse than Columbine, worse than the Luby’s massacre. At least 33 people are dead, and two dozen more are wounded after shootings at the West Ambler Johnston dorm and Norris Hall on Monday.
Two years ago, Jenn and I attended 
