A gunman pumped shots into a dormitory and classrooms at a US university today, killing 32 people before taking his own life in the worst mass shooting in US history, authorities said.
Police said most of the victims died in dormitories after the gunman opened fire in two locations, two hours apart, at Virginia Tech University, about 425 kilometres southwest of Washington DC.
University president Charles Steger confirmed 33 people were dead, including the gunman, and 15 injured.
Details are emerging that an emergency 911 call was made after shots were fired on the campus about 7.15am local time, but campus police treated the initial shooting as an isolated incident and did not close the school.
It appears many students died in the second shooting, about 9am.
Nine Australian students are enrolled at the university, according to its international students centre.
A centre staff member told theage.com.au she did not know whether any
international students had been killed or injured in the shooting.
"We have over 2000 students at the university that are international so
we're certainly trying to make sure they're OK,'' she said.
A DFAT spokesman said consular officials were liaising with local authorities to determine whether any Australians had been caught up in the shooting.
The rampage by what police believed was a lone gunman took place in two separate areas,
17/04/2007
Nsw, Australia