World | USA
US student feigns death
A student who survived Monday's shootings on a US campus said she pretended to lie dead on the classroom floor and survived.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 April 17, 2007
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Students comfort each other at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Blacksburg: A student who survived Monday's shootings on a US campus said she pretended to lie dead on the classroom floor and survived.
Police have preliminary identification of campus gunman but are not yet ready to release it.
However, university President Charles Steger told CNN the shooter is "an Asian male who was a resident in one of our dormitories."
The gunman was dressed "almost like a Boy Scout," witness Erin Sheehan told CNN. "He just stepped within five feet of the door and just started firing."
At least 33 people were killed when the gunman - who later shot and killed himself - opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus.
Sheehan said the gunman was wearing a short-sleeved tan shirt and black ammunition vest.
"He seemed very thorough about it - getting almost everyone down - I pretended to be dead," said Sheehan, who was one of only four students in her 25-student class who were not shot.
"He was very silent," she said. The gunman left but returned 30 seconds later. "I guess he heard us still talking," she said, adding that they forced themselves against the door to keep him out.
The man tried three more times to force his way in and then began firing through the door, she said.
Police said the shooter attacked more than one classroom at Norris Hall. The death toll makes it the deadliest shooting in US history.
Have your say
How should campus security be improved to make sure incidents like this don't happen in the future? Do you think this incident will discourage people from studying in the US?
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