Police Still to Release Virginia College Killer's Identity

The Virginia police early today had still not released the identity of the killer responsible for the worst shooting spree in US history.

The lone gunman, who killed 32 students before turning his weapon on himself at the Virginia Technical College, had no mobile phone and his fingerprints did not match any on file. His face was disfigured when he shot himself and he carried no ID papers.

Students at the college - one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the US, situated at the foot of the Appalachian mountains - described the killer as a six-foot man of Asian appearance who had been wearing a maroon cap and carrying an ammunition belt.

At around 7am (Midday BST) yesterday, the man is believed to have gone to the dormitory of a student with whom he had either had a relationship with or been infatuated by. He shot her dead, along with the resident mentor - a student responsible for advising others in the dormitory.

The police began a hunt for the killer, but made the assumption that as it appeared to be a domestic case, no danger was posed to others. Students were only alerted two hours later, too late to save the 30 other students he went on to murder in their classrooms.

Late last night, students wandered round the campus clutching mobile phones trying to establish which friends and professors were missing. A canteen worker cried on hearing from her boss that the resident mentor in the dormitory - a popular - was among the dead.

Other students told of narrow escapes, jumping out of windows to escape the killer or blocking doors. One group told how they had kept pressure on a classroom door even when five bullets were fired through it, and the killer, frustrated, moved on.

The speed with which those involved and the US media moved from shock to what journalists call the 'second-day story' - the attribution of blame - was extraordinary.

Much of the talk on campus was not about the event itself or mourning friends, but who was to blame for the tragedy. The police for failing to close down the campus after the first shooting? College officials for failing to cancel classes and send out a more effective alert? Almost no one raised the issue of gun control.

A campus memorial service will be held today.