'I waited to hear if my friends were safe' ; MASSACRE ON CAMPUS 4TH Edition

• Published in: Independent (London, England : 1986)
• Main Author: Holmes, Steve
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Independent Digital News & Media 17.04.2007
• ISSN: 0951-9467

The snow was spitting out of grey skies yesterday and a high wind whipped across our 100-year-old campus. From my dorm window on the third floor, I could see across the famous drill field where the corps of cadets drill and parade every day. In building just behind me at 7.15am, the shooter, assumed to be a student, is understood to have opened fire in the dorm. The rumour mill had it that it was all about a girl. Not a lot was known at the time and classes still went on in the college. That, in all likelihood, contributed to the vast scale of the tragedy that was about to unfold. "I'm still waiting to find out if all of my friends are OK. I was near Norris Hall , location of the second shootings, when the shootings began and the Swat teams were yelling for everyone to clear the area. I then ran across the drill field and watched them evacuate the building. The news that I'm listening to now is questioning why the classes weren't cancelled when the first shooting occurred and they didn't have the suspect in custody. The suggestion is that it was only once the second shootings were happening that all classes were cancelled."