[Mrluvaluva]

Update from Sky News

University Gunman Named
Updated: 16:19, Tuesday April 17, 2007

Police have released the first photograph of the man who shot dead 32 people in the worst ever massacre on an American university campus.

He has been named as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old South Korean who was studying English at Virginia Tech and lived on campus.

Police say he was armed with two handguns, one a 9mm pistol which was used in both sets of killings.

The university and local officials have given an update on the tragedy. You can watch the press conference here on Sky News Online.

Colonel Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said: "It's certainly reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in both cases."

Some of the victims Police have also revealed Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for a Glock 9mm pistol bought last month. He was a legal resident of the US.

The names of six of the victims have now been released. They were Ryan Clark, Kevin Granata, Jamie Bishop, Emily Hilscher, Prof G V Loganathan, and Prof Liviu Libresscu.

Some 28 students were admitted to hospital after the shootings but all are in a stable condition.

Cho murdered two people in a dormitory before killing 30 more in four classrooms about two hours later.

He then took his own life by shooting himself in the head. His body was found among some of his victims.

Virginia Tech president Charles Steger has defended an apparent delay in warning students a killer was on the loose.

Students cower in a classroom Many have said they heard nothing until more than two hours after the first attack - and then only in an email from the university.

"We knew that there was a shooting but we thought it was confined to a particular setting," Mr Steger said.

No motive has been given for the killings, although Cho is said to have had a row in a dormitory with his girlfriend. He apparently believed she was seeing another man.

At 7.15am local time, a student advisor arrived on the scene and Cho produced a handgun. He shot a man and a woman.

He then made his way to Norris Hall, an engineering block half a mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus.

Investigators gather evidence Reports said he lined victims against walls before calmly shooting them "execution-style".

A further 15 people were hurt, some jumping from second-floor windows to escape the gunfire.

Others blocked their classroom doors and hid under desks.

Virginia Tech, which has 26,000 students, is located in the southwest corner of the state, about 240 miles from Washington DC.