Detectives still don’t know why the Virginia Tech gunman chose his first victims before setting off on the worst shooting rampage in United States history.
Ten days into the investigation, police have questioned hundreds of witnesses, collected more than 500 pieces of evidence, and combed through computers and cell phone records, but have not found any connection between Seung-Hui Cho and his first two victims.
Police also don’t know why Cho, a 23-year-old English major from Centreville, then selected the classroom building Norris Hall across campus to finish out his gruesome fantasy.
“We are following a number of leads and we may be able to make those links,” said State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty said. “But as of now, there is not one.”
Flaherty said their investigation could take months.
Cho, 23, was witnessed standing outside the entrance of West Ambler Johnson dorm shortly before 7 a.m., police said. Minutes later, students reported hearing loud noises coming from freshman Emily Hilscher’s fourth-floor room.
When campus police arrived, they found Hilscher, 18, and resident advisor Ryan Clark, 22, dead inside her dorm room.
Two hours later, as police questioned the wrong suspect, Cho chained the three entrances to Norris Hall and moved to the second floor where he opened fire on four classrooms. Police said Cho fired more than 170 rounds in nine minutes, killing 30 people and wounding another 25 before putting the gun to his own head.
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said his officers shot through the locked doors and climbed the stairs as Cho fired his final shot.
“You can only imagine what those first officers saw,” Flinchum said.
More than 50 students were scattered, bleeding on the classroom desks and floors. Many were dead. The officers tried to help those still clinging to life.
Police confirmed that the handgun used in the dorm shooting was one of the two that Cho used at Norris Hall. Flaherty said Cho had recently bought the .22 caliber and 9 mm pistols and practiced shooting at nearby firing ranges.
