REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A GUNMAN massacred 32 people at a US university, quarrelling with and slaying his girlfriend before calmly gunning down students and then taking his own life in what was then the deadliest shooting rampage in US history.

Police named the killer as Korean Cho Seung-Hui, 23, who first murdered his girlfriend after an argument in a student dormitory at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg and then killed a dormitory supervisor.

More than two hours later, looking serious but calm, and without uttering a word, Cho stormed classrooms and massacred 30 more students before turning the gun on himself.

The university’s president said the killer might have acted with a second suspect, although there was no evidence to support this.

Police would not confirm a motive for the deadly rampage, in which victims were cut down in two attacks two hours apart before Virginia Tech could grasp what was happening and warn other students.

Most of those killed were students attending classes at a hall where the gunman apparently used chains to lock the doors and prevent the victims from escaping.

Fifteen people were injured, including those shot and students hurt jumping from windows trying to escape.

Cho was an undergraduate student in his senior year as an English major at Virginia Tech and lived off-campus.

Wielding two handguns – a 9mm and a 22-calibre – and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, he first opened fire about 7.15am, said officials.