Shooter Identified in Virginia Tech Massacre; Student Recounts Her Experience during Blacksburg Shooting
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. Welcome back to our extended coverage of the campus killings at Virginia Tech. I'm Don Lemon.</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. It has been a morning of major developments. We have learned more about the gunman and his victims, and we're also going to look ahead to President Bush's visit to the campus. That is this afternoon.</s>LEMON: Yes. Absolutely, Betty. An update now on what we know. Here's what we know. The gunman is identified as 23-year-old Cho Seung-hui. Now, last hour, we received this photo of him. He was a South Korean undergrad who was living on campus. Also this morning, police confirmed that ballistics tests link one gunman to both murder scenes. Investigators say they are working to confirm that the gunman acted alone. Now, CNN's Heidi Collins is on the campus of Virginia Tech and she joins us now with the very latest -- Heidi.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don. Boy, it is quite a scene here, as you would imagine. With the people that we have been able to come in contact with very late last night when we arrived, we thought we might be able to meet with some kids and talk with them about their experiences, because we sort of assumed that they might be getting together and trying to console one another. And that was true, that's what they were doing, but the young men that we found, that we spoke to, were freshmen, Don. They were actually here on the very first day of their college experience last August when there was a different shooting event on this campus. And now, just a few weeks away from completing their first year, this happens. These young men were stunned. One of them told me about how he was standing outside of Norris Hall when the events took place and he saw the rescue crews and the authorities rushing in. He saw them bringing out bloodied students and said it was obviously the very worst experience of his life. Another student told me that he was very thankful because before any of the information came out he was able to contact his mother and called her right away and told her that she was OK and she was about to hear some very bad -- very bad news on the television. And that indeed was the case. We have been able to learn quite a bit more information now, Don, over the past couple of hours about the time frame, about the events that took place yesterday. Let's go ahead and listen in for a moment to the Virginia Tech police chief for just a moment.</s>CHIEF WENDELL FLINCHUM, VIRGINIA TECH POLICE: We have new information to release concerning the ongoing investigation into Monday's fatal shootings. State, local and federal investigators worked through the night collecting, processing and analyzing evidence from within Norris Hall. I would like to take a minute to recognize the outstanding professionalism and efforts put forth by my officers since that initial 911 call came into our dispatch center Monday morning. I also want to commend the response and dedication of those officers and investigators from the Blacksburg Police, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, state police, FBI, and ATF, along with other local jurisdictions. Based on their hard work, we have been able to confirm the identity of the gunman at Norris Hall. That person is Cho Seung-hui. He was a 23-year-old South Korean here in the U.S. as a resident alien. Cho was enrolled as an undergraduate student in his senior year as an English major at Virginia Tech. Cho was in the U.S., with residence established in Centreville, Virginia, and was living on campus in Harper Hall. A 9 millimeter handgun and .22 caliber handgun were recovered from Norris Hall. Ballistics tests on the evidence seized from Norris Hall and the West Ambler Johnston residence hall scenes were conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab in Maryland. Lab results confirmed that one of the two weapons seized in Norris Hall was used in both shootings. All of the deceased have been transported to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke for examination and identification. The names of the 32 deceased students and faculty will be released once all victims are positively identified and next of kin are notified. Dr. Fierro, the chief medical examiner of Virginia, will go into more detail in that in a minute. I want to follow up on discussion from yesterday about the person of interest from the first shooting at the residence hall. That individual was an acquaintance of the female victim that was killed at West Ambler Johnston Hall. He was stopped in his vehicle off campus and detained for questioning. As officers were interviewing him, the shootings at Norris Hall were reported. We are still looking to him for information as the investigation continues. We also have no information at this time to relate the on- campus bomb threats made in the last two weeks to either of yesterday's events.</s>COLLINS: So, there you hear from Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum about some more of the details surrounding what happened yesterday. I'm sure the hardest part of that for everyone to hear was the fact that this shooter was a fellow student. Everyone that we have spoken with here was really, really dreading that. But they do say that they have sort of a gut feeling, that they suspected that this would be a fellow student. That, of course, confirmed. Also, as you heard the chief mention, the two different weapons that were found and ballistics tests that are being done right now, we also know, as he said, that the 9 millimeter -- there was a 9 millimeter and a .22, you heard him say -- has been confirmed to have been used in both shootings. They have not been able to confirm that the shooter was indeed -- had been actually the one who had -- who had conducted both shootings. They say they don't have the evidence for that. I'm sure that we're going to hear a lot more about that as the day goes on here. But Don, something else that you may not have heard him say, at least in that sound bite. They gave a little bit more detail about what they found when they went inside Norris Hall, and that it was four different classrooms they searched and did find victims, as well as the shooter in one of those classrooms and the stairwell. So, many of them, search and rescue, police, describing the scene as absolutely unbearable and gruesome, and really just devastating. And we certainly see evidence of the aftermath of all of that here today.</s>LEMON: Heidi, you are right on with that. And I want to go back to something that you said earlier. You said one young man that you spoke to said he had the luxury of calling his parents and saying, you know, you are going to see something horrific playing out on television in just a bit, but I'm OK. But many students did not have that luxury, and sadly, their loved ones and their family members had to watch it unfold on television, not knowing if they were OK.</s>COLLINS: Well, that was the very worst part of it, I'm sure, for most parents. We actually had another gal talking to us about how she was sitting on the floor of her classroom under a desk for four and a half hours. She was not in contact with her mother, who is actually a professor here at the university. So, it is something that -- I can't imagine the feelings of worry that were going through all of their minds.</s>LEMON: Yes. Absolutely. Heidi Collins on the campus for us today. Thank you so much for that, Heidi.</s>NGUYEN: Those are just horrifying stories, and as we learn more about the shooter and his victims, we are also learning a lot more about those who were injured, but yet still alive today, fighting for their lives, in fact. CNN's John Zarrella joins us now. He is at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, where 19 victims were treated. And, John, I understand -- and this is -- this really hits home, that of these victims, many of them had no less than three gunshot wounds?</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, you talking...</s>NGUYEN: Do you have us, John? Can you hear us?</s>ZARRELLA: Yes, Betty. Betty, that's exactly right. In fact, we talked with a surgeon this morning who had said that the horrific scene that he saw, that no less than three gunshot wounds in many of these people. He was saying that the shooter was just brutal, is the way he put it. But the good news here at Montgomery Regional Hospital is that in fact the CEO of the hospital came out and talked to the extent of the injuries and said that in fact all of the people here are in stable condition.</s>MONTGOMERY REGIONAL HOSPITAL: Twelve of the patients from yesterday's shooting remain at hospitals, including Montgomery Regional Hospital and Lewis-Gale Medical Center. All are in stable condition. We have nine patients here at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Three of those were critical last night. They have been upgraded to stable as of this morning. And at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem, they have three patients remaining. All are in stable condition, one is expected to be discharged today.</s>ZARRELLA: Now, they in fact performed four major surgeries here yesterday, two minor surgeries. No surgeries performed overnight. And now within the last few minutes I had the opportunity to talk to some students, and they have been coming and going here all morning. We've seen them coming in carrying flowers to see friends. One just a few minutes ago carrying a stuffed bear inside. On their way out, though, we talked to two young students here. And they were telling us that their friend is doing very well, he's OK. And he is one of the students who actually jumped out of a second-story window to escape the gunfire that was going on inside the classrooms. So, he went out that window, that second story window, and broke one of his legs. They said he was -- he was coherent, he was talking to them, but they didn't press him as to what happened yesterday. They wanted to keep their distance, give him some space, and that they were here just to let him know that they and other students that know him are all here supporting him. And that is what we heard from several other students, Betty, who we spoke with who have been coming and going, visiting friends who have either gunshot wounds or broken limbs, as in this case -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Well, and those students that you spoke with, John, did any of them give any indication that they knew the shooter or had any information as to who this person is? Of course, we're just getting the information this morning about this South Korean national who is deemed the shooter in this deadly killing.</s>ZARRELLA: No, none at all. In fact, we did ask that question, "Did you know this individual?" And all of them said that we were able to speak -- and granted, it's just a handful -- but none of them knew he was. And, in fact, their biggest concern of course here is for friends. And some of them, they told us that they knew several people who had been shot yesterday. And, you know, they're still waiting for all of the names to be released. And so there's still a great deal of concern amongst these students here, and certainly all the students on the campus, that more and more of their friends are going to be identified as victims of the horrible tragedy here yesterday -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: All right. CNN's John Zarrella at Montgomery Regional Hospital there in Blacksburg, Virginia. We appreciate your time. Thank you, John.</s>LEMON: And Betty, some information just coming across the wires here to CNN. There has been a college that's been evacuated. It is in Austin, Texas. Let me read the information just coming across The Associated Press, and also parts of it that CNN has confirmed as well. Authorities evacuated the buildings on the St. Edward's University campus. That is in Austin, Texas. A school officials says that they did that after a threatening note was found there in a restroom. The spokeswoman says that police are on campus now searching the buildings there. She says she doesn't have information on the contents of that note. St. Edward's staff and students who were already on that campus were asked to gather around the soccer field away from the buildings. You are looking at new video now. This is from St. Edward's University. It is in Austin, Texas. Everyone else was asked to stay off the campus until noon. About 5,200 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at the Catholic university in the south of downtown Austin. And, of course, this comes one day after the horrific incident at Virginia Tech in Virginia. But again, Betty, authorities evacuated the buildings on St. Edward's University campus. It is in Austin, Texas, just 24 hours after that horrific incident. They said they found a threatening note in the bathroom. You are looking at new video just coming into CNN from that. We will stay on top of that and follow that for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM as we continue our coverage of the horrific incident that happened at Virginia Tech.</s>NGUYEN: Well, you know, school officials are taking this very seriously because yesterday we were hearing word from a lot of the students who were calling in...</s>LEMON: Right.</s>NGUYEN: ... saying that this all started as...</s>LEMON: Last week.</s>NGUYEN: ... a note, or a threat that had come into the university there at Virginia Tech of a bomb threat. And, so, when you hear this at another school, obviously they are going to take all the precautions necessary...</s>LEMON: As well they should.</s>NGUYEN: ... to keep everyone safe.</s>LEMON: Right.</s>NGUYEN: But back to the Virginia Tech story, and just the horrific things that played out there yesterday, we are getting in more names today of the victims in that shooting. Just last hour, we learned 18-year-old Erin Peterson (ph) of Centreville, Virginia, was among those killed. Her father told CNN he had been waiting information all night long on his daughter and said, "My baby didn't make it." Also killed, Ryan Clark, a 22-year-old senior from Martinez, Georgia. Clark's brother says he was a resident advisor in the dormitory where the first shooting took place. Clark was a triple major -- psychology, biology and English. Killed in the engineering building, Ross Alameddine, a student from Saugus, Massachusetts; G.V. Loganathan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Liviu Librescu, a professor of engineering, science and mechanics. He is described as an Israeli- born Romanian who was internationally known for his research in aeronautical engineering. Matthew LePorte (ph), a freshman from Dumont, New Jersey, was also killed in the engineering building. So, those are just some of the names of the many that we'll be hearing throughout the day -- Don.</s>LEMON: Yes, absolutely. And again, we had that breaking news we wanted to tell everyone that's happening in Austin, Texas. I don't know if we can get the video back. We just want to keep you updated on that. Austin, Texas, St. Edward's University, there has been an evacuation on campus. Everyone has been evacuated from the campus. CNN is confirming that that did happen. But also, The Associated Press is saying it's because of a threatening note that was found in the bathroom. We're going to continue to follow that one here. We have some new video that was just into the CNN NEWSROOM. At least 30 people were locked inside of a classroom building in the deadly shooting rampage, of course, in U.S. history. That was yesterday. And now today, about 5,200 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the Catholic university in Austin, Texas, have been told to either stay at home, or to get off campus. So, this is happening just a short time after that deadly shooting yesterday in Virginia. A routine day, a routine school day interrupted by horror. The Virginia Tech students and professors who lost their lives, their story, that is straight ahead in the</s>CNN NEWSROOM. NGUYEN: And a tragedy like the Virginia Tech shootings inevitably triggers the gun control debate. We're going to take a look at that in the</s>NEWSROOM. LEMON: And these flags, well, they certainly tell the story. Today, a day to grieve on the Virginia Tech campus. President Bush among the mourners. We'll have details straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.