Virginia Tech Officials Thought Shooter Had Left Campus

World | April 17, 2007, Tuesday // 00:00

Officials at Virginia Tech jumped against allegations they were slow in sending out an alert, saying they thought the killer had left campus after the first shooting.

"We concluded first that the incident in Ambler Johnston [dormitory] was domestic in nature. In fact we had some reason to think the shooter had left campus," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said during a late-afternoon news conference, as cited by CNN.

Police in Blacksburg, Virginia, were alerted to the shootings at around 7:15 a.m. ET, when they were notified in a 911 call that there were several victims in a dormitory, Steger said.

At about 9:15 a.m., more than 30 shots were reported in nearby Norris Hall, he said.

One student told CNN that he was upset with the way the university notified students about the shooting.

"I'll say on the record I'm outraged that someone died in a shooting in a dorm at 7 in the morning. The first e-mail about it, no mention of locking down campus, no mention of canceled classes, they just mention they're investigating a shooting a few hours later at 9:26," said student Jason Piatt.

"Meanwhile, while they sent out that e-mail, [more] people got killed."

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