Stricken campus asks why

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The day after a Virginia Tech student opened fire on his schoolmates in the deadliest shooting rampage in US history, campus police and FBI agents confirmed the identity of the young man who was responsible -- an English major whose dark writings led one professor to refer him for psychological counseling. But there were no answers to the central question of the tragedy: why he killed 32 students and professors before turning the gun on himself.

Using fingerprints and other evidence, authorities identified the gunman as Seung-Hui Cho, 23, described as a quiet man who seemed to shun all social contact. Police matched his fingerprints to ones taken from a 9mm semi automatic handgun and a .22-caliber pistol that were recovered from Norris Hall, leading them to conclude that the senior from Centreville, Va., stormed the academic building and opened fire on students and professors in four classrooms -- at times without uttering a word.

Ballistics tests confirmed that at least one of the weapons had been used in a shooting several hours earlier inside West Ambler Johnston residence hall, where a female student and a resident assistant became the first victims. Authorities said the reasonable conclusion was that Cho committed both shootings.

Cho, a South Korean immigrant who came to the Unites States with his parents in 1992, resided in Harper Hall, next door to West Ambler Johnston, university administrators said. Law enforcement authorities said his motive was still unknown, but the Chicago Tribune reported that Cho left behind a document several pages long in which he denounced "rich kids," "debauchery," and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. Police said late yesterday they had not found a suicide note.

"He was a loner," said Larry Hincker, vice president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

The gruesome details of the rampage emerged as authorities described dead bodies found in at least two classrooms and in stairwells of the engineering building -- including Cho, who apparently shot himself in the head before law enforcement officers reached him. All 12 people wounded in the shootings, who were recuperating yesterday in area hospitals, had at least three gunshot wounds each, medical officials reported. All the deceased were transported to the medical examiner's office in nearby Roanoke.

Police and school officials had not released a complete list of victims by yesterday evening pending identification and notification of their families, but some names of the deceased trickled out from family members and loved ones in the United States and overseas.

Among them were Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., a sophomore English major; Dan O'Neil, 22, of Lincoln, R.I.; and Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, a native of Peru who was studying international relations. Another victim, Mary Karen Read, 19, of Annandale, Va., was born in South Korea, the same homeland as her killer.

Witnesses told authorities that Liviu Librescu, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor, Israeli citizen, and professor of engineering, was shot to death when he threw himself in front of the gunman as he tried to enter his classroom, slowing the onslaught and allowing his students to escape. Librescu's son, Joe, said his father's students sent e-mails describing how the professor saved their lives on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," the son told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

President Bush, Laura Bush, and Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia were among the dignitaries who attended a somber memorial service yesterday afternoon at Cassel Coliseum. Calling it "a day of sadness for our entire nation," Bush told the packed crowd -- many wearing maroon and orange, the school's colors -- that "people all over this country are thinking about you and asking God to provide comfort for all who have been affected."

Cho grew up on a side street in a new housing development in a fairly affluent suburb, Centreville, Va., about 25 miles west of Washington, D.C. His parents kept mostly to themselves, according to neighbors, and no one suspected their son could unleash such fury.

A receipt for one of the gunman's weapons -- a 9mm Glock purchased for $571 a month ago -- was found with Cho's belongings. The gun was bought at a store about 35 miles from Virginia Tech called Roanoke Firearms, which ran the required "instant background check" and sold the gun after determining that Cho did not have a criminal record.

The store's website shows display cases filled with guns, describing the store as "a full service firearms and accessories dealer committed to customers and our community." The shop's owner, John Markell, said the sale to Cho, including the gun and ammunition, was "unremarkable." As a legal US resident with no criminal record, authorities said, Cho was qualified to own a handgun.

Authorities said the gun's serial number had been scratched off, but authorities found a receipt for the purchase of the Glock -- and a .22-caliber pistol -- in Cho's backpack.

As Kaine pledged a thorough investigation of how the college handled the situation and previous concerns about Cho's behavior, evidence and accounts from some of Cho's acquaintances suggest there were warning signs.

Stephanie Derry, one of Cho's classmates, told the campus newspaper Collegiate Times that Cho wrote "really morbid and grotesque" plays in English class that made class readings and critiques uncomfortable.

A former classmate of Cho's, Ian McFarlane, allowed his employer, Internet giant America Online, to post two of Cho's student plays online. In one of them, titled "Richard McBeef," Cho describes pedophilia, rails against Catholic priests, and has a character say, "You murdered my father and covered it up!"

Lucinda Roy, a former English professor who taught Cho, said she was so disturbed by Cho's writing that she alerted university officials.

"There was some concern about him," said Carolyn Rude, head of the English Department. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things, or just how real it might be."

As the sun dipped behind the Blue Ridge Mountains yesterday, thousands of Virginia Tech students and faculty members held a candlelight vigil on the Drillfield.

"It's very emotional," said Major General Jerry Allen, commander of Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets. "The emotion will continue for a very long, long time, but it's good to see so many Hokies out here supporting each other."

The vigil ended with the playing of "Taps" and the crowd shouting, "Let's go, Hokies! Let's go, Hokies!"

Michael Kranish, John Donnelly, and Farah Stockman of the Globe Washington bureau contributed to this report. Material from wire services was also used.