Ever since a looney took a gun to a school in Columbine and fired at the pupils disturbing and harrowing repeated stories have splattered news headlines on an all too regular basis. This week knocking tales off Tabloids where hijacked soldiers cashed in selling stories of their capture in Iraq comes a far worse report. 32 people at Virginia Tech are shot dead. The death count could had been lower, but the Police kept the University open even though students and teachers had already been killed.

It all started at 7.15am, Monday 16th April. The coppers at the Virginia Tech Police Department receive an emergency call. Two people have been shot dead in a dormitory at West Ambler Johnston Hall. At this stage the incident is believed to be the result of a domestic agreement but within 15 minutes the story starts to unfold. A third person is believed to be behind this double shooting. At 8.25 a senior Uni staff member is briefed and the by 9am the leadership team are given instructions. They didn't have to wait long for another clue to where the gunman was lurking.

Norris Hall is an engineering complex with labs, classrooms, offices and a guy holding a gun going on a shooting spree killing 30 people and injuring at least a further 15. It's 9.15am.

Unaware of the Norris Hall shootings the Uni officials 'fire off' an email to everyone on campus at 9.26am in the aftermath of the Ambler Johnson Hall casualties. It reads,

"The university community is urged to be cautious and are asked to contact Virginia Tech Police if you observe anything suspicious or with information on the case."

Eventually at 9.45am the police are notified about the second batch of shootings. Because little action was taken trying to close down parts of the University more lives of innocent Students and Staff members have been lost.

Arriving at the scene the police are faced with even more problems. The doors to Norris Hall have been chained from the inside. More time is wasted as they force themselves through. Running upstairs to the second floor one last gun shot is fired, the gunman has taken his own life.

The killer is named as Cho Seung-hui a 23 year old freak from South Korean. He was a student at Virgina Tech.

In the aftermath the way the University actually handled the incident is being questioned. There was very little warnings to fellow residents apart from the scatty emails and Why wasn't the University locked down straight after the first shootings?

Many lives could had been saved on Monday, but thanks to a lazy approach by the University Officials and the police they learnt a lesson they will never forget!