Virginia Tech Massacre Timeline - Event

Event

Monday, April 16

• 5:00 a.m.: While in Suite 2121 of Harper Hall, Joseph E. "Joe" Aust, one of Cho's five roommates, noticed that Cho was awake and at his computer.
• Around 5:30 a.m.: Karan Grewal, one of Cho's other roommates, noticed Cho, clad in boxer shorts and a T-shirt, brushing his teeth and applying acne cream after Grewal finished an "all-nighter" of study in Suite 2121. Grewal did not see Cho after this point.
• Between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m.: Aust saw Cho return from the bathroom, get dressed, and leave.
• Before 7:00 a.m.: Cho was seen waiting outside an entrance to West Ambler Johnston Hall.
• Before 7:15 a.m.: Emily Hilscher was dropped off at her dormitory by her boyfriend, Karl D. Thornhill.
• 7:15 a.m.: A 9-1-1 emergency call to Virginia Tech campus police reported a shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall, leaving Ryan Christopher Clark, the resident advisor, dead and Emily Hilscher fatally wounded in Room 4040, which housed Hilscher.
• Between 7:15 am and 9:01 am: Cho returned to his dormitory room to reload and left a "disturbing note."
• 7:30 a.m.: Investigators from VT PD and Blacksburg PD arrived.
• Between 7:30 am and 8:00 am: Heather Haugh, Emily Hilscher's friend and roommate, arrived to meet her to go to chemistry class together. When she asked about Hilscher, Haugh was questioned by detectives and gave them the information that Hilscher would usually spend weekends with her boyfriend, Karl Thornhill, at his off-campus townhouse. She explained that on Monday mornings Thornhill would drop off Hilscher and go back to Radford University where he was a student, and that Thornhill was an avid gun user. This led the police to seek him out as a "person of interest."
• 8:00 a.m.: Classes at Virginia Tech began.
• Around 8:00 a.m.: West Ambler Johnston was locked down; a third floor resident assistant notified students of the lockdown. Aimee Kanode, a freshman, stated that police lifted the lockdown shortly before the Norris Hall attacks.
• 8:25 a.m.: Virginia Tech leadership team met to develop a plan on how to notify students of the homicide. Meanwhile, police stopped Karl Thornhill, in a vehicle off-campus and detained him for questioning.
• 8:52 a.m.: University President Charles Steger's office is locked down.
• 9:00 a.m.: Virginia Tech leadership team was briefed on the latest events in the ongoing dormitory homicide investigation.
• 9:01 am: Cho mailed a U.S. Postal Service express parcel from Blacksburg P.O. to NBC headquarters in New York, containing pictures of him holding weapons, a 1,800-word diatribe and a video clip alluding to the coming massacre.
• 9:05 am: Jocelyne Couture-Nowak's Intermediate French Class in Norris 211 began.
• Around 9:05 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.: Cho was seen in Norris Hall, an Engineering building. Using the chains he had purchased at Home Depot, Cho chained the building's entry doors shut from the inside in order to stop anyone from escaping.
• 9:26 a.m.: E-mails were sent to campus staff, faculty, and students informing them of a "shooting incident" at the West AJ dormitory.
• Around 9:30 am: A female student walked into Norris 211 and alerted the occupants that a shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston.
• 9:42 a.m.: Students in the engineering building, Norris Hall, made a 9-1-1 emergency call to alert police that more shots had been fired.
• 9:45 a.m.: Police arrived three minutes later and found that Cho had chained all three entrances shut.
• Between 9:40 and 9:51 am: Using the .22 caliber Walther P22 and 9 millimeter Glock 19 handgun with 17 magazines of ammunition, Cho shot 53 people, killing 30 of them. Cho's rampage lasted for approximately nine minutes. A student in Room 205 noticed the time remaining in class shortly before the start of the shootings.
• Around 9:40 a.m.: Students in Norris 205, while attending Haiyan Cheng's issues in scientific computing class, heard Cho's gunshots. The students, including Zach Petkewicz, barricaded the door and prevented Cho's entry.
• 9:50 a.m.: After arriving at Norris Hall, police took 5 minutes to assemble the proper team, clear the area and then break through the doors. They used a shotgun to break through the chained entry doors. Investigators believe that the shotgun blast alerted the gunman to the arrival of the police. The police heard gunshots as they enter the building. They followed the sounds to the second floor.
• 9:50 a.m.: A second e-mail announcing: "A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows" was sent to all Virginia Tech email addresses. Loudspeakers broadcast a similar message.
• 9:51 a.m.: As the police reached the second floor, the gunshots stopped. Cho's shooting spree in Norris Hall lasted 9 minutes. Police officers discovered that after his second round of shooting the occupants of room 211 Norris, the gunman fatally shot himself in the temple.
• 10:17 a.m: A third e-mail was sent to notify about the cancellation of classes and advise people to stay where they are.
• 10:52 a.m.: A fourth e-mail was sent to warn of "a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall," saying the shooter has been arrested and that police are hunting for a possible second shooter. The entrances to the campus buildings were locked.
• 12:00 p.m.: At a press conference, authorities said there may have been more than 21 people killed and twenty-eight injured.
• 12:42 p.m.: University President Charles Steger announced that police were releasing people from buildings and that counseling centers were being set up.
• 1:06 p.m.: The death toll had risen to 22.
• 1:43 p.m.: News stations confirmed that there were two separate shootings in a 2 hour period.
• 4:30 p.m.: A university statement confirmed that there had been at least 31 deaths at Norris Hall, including the shooter.
• 5:31 p.m.: News stations reported that Cho shot himself in the face.
• 7:30 p.m.: A news conference confirmed the number of weapons used, and a possible identification of the suspect that would not be released at that time.
• 8:22 p.m.: News stations confirmed that Cho wore a bullet-proof vest.
• 9:06 p.m.: Police knocked on the door of Suite 2121, alerting Grewal and informing him that Cho killed the people in Norris and West Ambler Johnston halls.