NHL PLAYOFFS

3

2

3

2

3

1

TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2007

$1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 61 CENTS A DAY)

Massacre in Virginia
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP-CP) -- A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech University in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students. The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33. Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released and it was not known if he was a student. At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims but he declined to give details. "I'm not saying there is someone out there and I'm not saying there is someone who is not," Flinchum said. Ballistics tests will help explain what happened, he said. "Today, the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified." But he was also faced with difficult questions about the university's handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire. Some students bitterly complained they had no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots rang out. Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, the killer opened fire about 7:15 a.m. EDT on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coed dormitory, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building about a kilometre away on the other side of the 1,052-hectare campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman. Two people died in a dorm room and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including the gunman, who put a bullet in his head. At least 15 people were hurt, some seriously. Students jumped from windows in panic. Young people and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive. Many found themselves trapped behind the chained and padlocked doors. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. A student used his cellphone camera to record the sound of bullets echoing through a stone building. Trey Perkins, who was sitting in a German class in Norris Hall, told the Washington Post newspaper the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, squeezing off 30 shots in all. The gunman, Perkins said, first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the students. Perkins said the gunman was about 19 years old and had a "very serious but very calm look on his face." "Everyone hit the floor at that moment," said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. "And the shots seemed like it lasted forever." -- See UNIVERSITY on page 5

COUGARS 8, SILVERTIPS 2 -- PRINCE GEORGE WINS SERIES 4-2

Sweet!
B

by JASON PETERS Citizen staff ring on those Giants. The Prince George Cougars are into the Western Hockey League's Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants after completely dismantling the Everett Silvertips Monday night at CN Centre. The Cats outclassed the Silvertips, the topranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, in an 8-2 game, played in front of a sellout crowd of 5,952 fans. With the shocking, one-sided victory, the Cougars won their best-of-seven semifinal series with the Silvertips 4-2. The Cougars scored three goals in the first period, three more in the second, and finished off the Silvertips with two in the third. Richard Rapac and Nick Drazenovic each fired a pair for the Cats. Other marksmen were Devin Setoguchi, Greg Gardner, Ty Wishart, and Jared Walker. The Silvertips broke Prince George goaltender Real Cyr's shutout bid with third-period markers by Peter Mueller and Taylor Ellington. Everett goaltender David Reekie, who had relieved starter Leland Irving after the second Prince George goal, took the loss. Earlier this season, Irving was on the roster of the Canadian world junior team. "We came out right from the drop of the opening puck and I thought that was probably our best game of the playoffs to date," said Cougars coach Drew Schoneck. "We knew we were going to have a good crowd and we had lots of energy and we just came right after them." The series against the Giants will start Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum and will continue on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Cougars will host Games 3 and 4 of the series on Tuesday, April 24 and Wednesday, April 25. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. today at Ticketmaster. -- See game story on page 8; summary on page 10
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Prince George Cougars fan Derek Zral roars his approval as the Cats thumped the Everett Silvertips 8-2 Monday night to move on to the Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants.

INDEX
0

58307

00100

8

Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 17 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . 3,6,7,13 Classified . . . . . . . . . . .18-20 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 15 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,27

High : 11 Low : -2 page 2
E-Mail address:

news@princegeorgecitizen.com
Our website:

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com

Proud sponsor of the 2007 RBC Royal Bank Cup May 5-13

25 Celebration Anniversary
th

Homesteader Meats

We have over

D ro p enter t in and of our o win one g re a t p 1st - $ rizes! 2 0 0 G if 2n t
C e r t if ic d - $10 a 0 3 rd - $ G if t C e r t if ic t e ; 75 Gar ate; den f ro m S c h n e id K it ers

30 Great Meat Specials
for the month of April

& To o n e y B u rg e rs e a F a rm e r6S2a7u&s28g ,
A p ri l 2

J o in U s fo r

00601643

Homesteader Meats
SWITCHBOARD: 562-2441 CLASSIFIED: 562-6666

563-1002

20 - 556 N. Nechako
READER SALES: 562-3301