Virginia Tech shooting was a school shooting that occurred on April 16 , 2007 , at West Ambler Johnston Hall and Norris Hall at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , in Blacksburg , Virginia . Seung-Hui Cho , an undergraduate student at the university and a U.S. resident of South Korean origin , shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols . Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape Cho . As police stormed Norris Hall , Cho committed suicide by shooting himself in the head . It is the deadliest school shooting in the history of the United States . At the time , it was the deadliest mass shooting committed by a lone gunman in U.S. history , until it was surpassed by the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
Orlando nightclub shooting
Virginia Tech shooting