A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech University in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students.The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33.
Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released and it was not known if he was a student.
At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims but he declined to give details.
"I'm not saying there is someone out there and I'm not saying there is someone who is not," Flinchum said.
Ballistics tests will help explain what happened, he said.
"Today, the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said.
"The university is shocked and indeed horrified."
But he was also faced with difficult questions about the university's handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire. Some students bitterly complained they had no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots rang out.
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