Des Moines Register
04-16-07
Iowans with Virginia Tech ties express shock
BY PERRY BEEMAN, LYNN CAMPBELL AND TOM BARTON
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
Several Iowans, including at least two professors and Gov. Chet Culver, an
alumnus, have ties to Virginia Tech University, where a gunman killed at least 22
people today.
There have been conflicting reports that 30 or more people have died.
Michael Kelly, a former Iowa State University agriculture professor who has
been dean of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources since August 2005,
was in his office in Cheatam Hall, a building away from one of the shooting sites,
when he heard sirens.
"I heard an extraordinary number of sirens, and assumed it might be a fire call,"
Kelly wrote in an e-mail interview.
Reached shortly after noon on campus, Kelly was still soaking in the tragedy. "I
am fine, but like all of us in a total state of shock about the tragedy that has
occurred," he wrote.
"Blacksburg is one of those places ‘where nothing ever happens,' a place where
people think that things like this always happen somewhere else, not here," Kelly
wrote. "Today served to remind all of us of how quickly things can change in
today's world. It goes without saying that our hearts go out to the families of
those whose lives have been lost as a result of these senseless acts.”
At noon, the university, which had cancelled classes, was trying to get people off
campus safely. "The university is the process of closing and people are being
asked to leave in stages," Kelly wrote.
Virginia Tech officials and police reported that the first shooting happened at
West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory and the second happened in Norris Hall,
an engineering building.
Kelly said most of the deaths occurred during the second event in Norris Hall. “It
is thought that most of the people that were killed were students, although that
has not been totally confirmed,” he said. “There were also several people
wounded that have been taken to local hospitals. "
As an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, Iowa native Tom Murray would
have been in the thick of things had he gone to campus this morning. However,
Murray was working from home this morning when the gunman opened fire.
“I talked to my secretary as it happened,” at about 9:15 a.m., Murray said. “We
were getting e-mails saying there was a shooting, that there was a gunman loose
and the campus was closed. She said it was awful. They had already taken 10
people on stretchers out of Norris Hall.”
Murray said It’s been a scary school year at Virginia Tech that’s included two
shootings and two bomb scares. He said the first shooting happened on the first
day of classes when an inmate escaped, shot a guard and came toward the
Virigina Tech campus.
Then for the past two Fridays, Virginia Tech had two bomb threats — the second
one affecting three engineering buildings, said Murray, who was born in
Dubuque, raised in Waterloo, graduated from Iowa State University and worked
in Des Moines.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver graduated from Virginia Tech in 1988 with a degree in
political science. In a statement, he said he was saddened by the shootings.
“It is a sobering realization that this could be the deadliest campus shooting in
history,” Culver said. “It casts a mournful pall over the splendid campus as those
who knew the victims, and those who did not, try to make sense of what has
happened.
“On a personal note, I am distraught that the peace and joy I enjoyed during my
time as student has been shattered for the thousands of students who live and
study there,” Culver said. “My heart goes out to every family member and friend
of those individuals who died today. This nation is holding its collective breath,
praying for those people whose futures are uncertain.
Culver said a similar event 16 years ago stole the innocence from the University
of Iowa. In that incident, a lone gunman claimed the lives of five people and
himself.
Iowa university officials said they were still in the process of figuring out how to
react to the tragedy.
"It's a little too premature to comment at this time, because the information
coming in at this time is inconsistent and we do not have all the facts. But it's
definitely a horrific, horrific tragedy,” said Annette Hacker, spokeswoman for
Iowa State University
Jim O'Connor, spokesman for the University of Northern Iowa, said officials there
were meeting to discuss the shooting. “We always do take these situations
seriously. It's one of those things where your heart goes out to those involved.
You hate to think that these things happen, but they do and you want to make
sure you have the appropriate precautions in place."