Cho began his rampage early Monday morning when he entered West Ambler-Johnston Hall. At 7:15 a.m., he shot Emily Hilscher, a freshman Animal and Poultry Sciences major on the fourth floor, and then shot her resident advisor Ryan Clark, a senior Biology, English, and Psychology major.

Almost two hours later at 9:01 a.m. Cho postmarked a multimedia package to NBC News containing 43 photographs, 27 video clips, an audiotape describing his motives, and an approximately 1,800-word manuscript. He then barricaded the main doors to Norris Hall, located next to Burruss Hall.

At 9:28 a.m., more than two hours after the shooting the University released an email stating that a shooting occurred in West Ambler-Johnston Hall.

“A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning,” the e-mail read. “Police are on the scene and are investigating.”

Less than 15 minutes later at 9:40 a.m. Cho opened fire on four second-floor classrooms in Norris Hall killing 30 students and faculty with a 9-millimeter Glock and a .22 caliber Walther P22. Cho then took his own life with a gunshot to the head.

The deceased included 27 students both undergraduates and graduate, and five faculty members.

The University immediately responded to the shootings sending out an e-mail at 9:54 a.m. It read, “A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.”

A third email was released at 10:26 a.m. This one read, “Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where there are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus.”

At a press conference held at noon in the Holtzman Alumni Center in the Inn at Virginia Tech, Associate Vice President of University Relations confirmed 22 victims to be dead and 15 wounded.

President George W. Bush made an address to the nation at 4:15 p.m. speaking out against the violence at Tech. He stated that he would be “praying for the victims and their families and all members of the university community.”

This number escalated over the remainder of the afternoon to 32 dead and 29 wounded at the subsequent press conference at 4:30 p.m. Classes were cancelled, campus traffic was restricted and Gov. Tim Kaine deemed the incident a state of emergency.

Tuesday

In a press conference held Tuesday at approximately 9:23 a.m., Virginia Tech Police identified the gunman as Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korean native and resident alien.

Cho was living on campus in Harper Hall, and was considered a loner by many peers. It would later be revealed that several members of the English department – including its head, Lucinda Roy – had expressed concerns over Cho’s violent classwork.

"His writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque," said Stephanie Derry, a senior English major in a 3000-level playwriting class with Cho this semester. "I remember one of them very well. It was about a son who hated his stepfather. In the play the boy threw a chain saw around, and hammers at him. But the play ended with the boy violently suffocating the father with a rice krispy treat."

Ballistic tests, conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab in Maryland, confirmed that one of the weapons matched the shooting in West Ambler-Johnston Hall.

A Montgomery Regional Hospital press conference revealed that three victims from the shootings had been upgraded from critical to stable condition.

Virginia Tech mourned the events of Monday through an afternoon convocation held at Cassell Coliseum, with overflow seating for the event taking over much of the field at Lane Stadium. President George Bush, Governor Kaine, and Tech professor and poet Nikki Giovanni gave orations concerning loss, with Giovanni’s resounding “We are Virginia Tech!” eliciting a rousing “Let’s Go Hokies!” from the crowd.

At a press conference that evening, Flaherty confirmed that a search warrant had been executed for Cho’s dorm room located in Harper Hall.

The weapons found on the scene in Norris Hall were found to have been legally purchased by Cho in accordance with Virginia gun laws.

Flaherty stated that Cho did not leave behind a suicide note.

Kaine announced that he would appoint several independent law enforcement members to do a thorough "After-Action Review." This commission will evaluate how procedures were executed during the shootings and provide recommendations for how to improve campus security across the state.

The governor deemed the shootings a “horrible tragedy.” Once he had been notified of the incidents Kaine immediately left Japan, where he had been for a two-week trade tour through Asia.

At 8 p.m. a candlelight vigil held on the Drillfield drew thousands of people. As the candles were lit, various student and administrative leaders took turns speaking to the congregation. Zenobia Hikes, vice president of student affairs spoke first, encouraging the gathering to remain strong, and reiterating the principles behind the motto, “We Are Virginia Tech,” what has come to define the community’s attitude.

Adeel Khan, the newly elected president of the student government association, addressed the crowd next and was followed by Sumeet Bagai and Scott Cheatham, co-organizers of Hokies United.

Kaine, university President Charles Steger, and Joseph Lutz, the rector of the Board of Visitors, were among those in attendance.

After the speakers had finished and as the media throng observed from all around, the crowd broke out a “Lets Go…Hokies” chant, and collectively thrust their candles into the night air.

Wednesday

Wednesday dawned with the evacuation of Burruss Hall in response to an “unfounded threat.” In a morning press conference, Kaine announced the head of the committee that will investigate the events of Monday morning.

He stated that the commission was to be headed by Gerald Massengill, the retired superintendent of the Virginia State Police.

Police also reported that Cho had been accused of stalking two females in 2005 and had been taken to a mental health facility the same year. Neither of the two females were victims of Cho’s attacks Monday.

The female from the first stalking incident filed in November and December of 2005 called in the police concerning Cho’s phone calls and e-mails. The student declined to press charges. After these incidents, Cho had no further contact with her. The outcome of that report is outside the scope of the police department, Flinchum said.

It was also announced that Cho’s parents had been worried that he might be suicidal. Out of concern for Cho, Virginia Tech Police asked him to speak with a counselor. An order was obtained, and Cho was taken to a mental health facility in late 2005, Flinchum said.

Cho was evaluated by a mental health agency called Access. He was not evaluated by the Cook Counseling Center on Tech’s campus because Access had the power to commit individuals when deemed necessary, Flinchum said.

His previous psychological evaluation did not red-flag his applications under Virginia state law to purchase the firearms used in the shootings because Cho’s commitment to psychiatric evaluation was voluntary, officials said. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that his previous psychological evaluation should have been cause to prevent him from purchasing the weapons under federal law.

Many of the records of the counseling sessions are not available even to Cho’s parents even upon death, said Chris Flynn, director of the Cook Counseling Center.

At a press conference later that day, Hincker stated that he had spoken with some of the families, and that there had been student affairs liaisons assigned to provide services for them.

Around 4:30 p.m., news broke that NBC News’s New York office received the multimedia package from Cho.

“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today, but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off,” Cho said. Cho wrote “A Ishmael” as the package’s return name and erred in addressing the package, causing its delivery to be delayed.

NBC faced criticism from those who believed publishing Cho’s material was sensationalist or would promote “copycat” attacks.

“I can think of no more disgusting example of journalistic irresponsibility in this nation. Ever,” wrote Andrew Revelos on the Collegiate Times’ Memorial Project website.

The university announced that each of the university’s eight colleges would determine specific academic guidelines for the manner in which their students would finish the semester.

Thursday

The university announced at Thursday morning’s press conference that it had reached a several decisions regarding academic issues. Mark McNamee, university provost, announced that students would be given options for each course as to how they wanted to finish out the semester.

University officials also announced that they would be awarded posthumous degrees to those who were victims of Monday’s tragedy.

Hokies United also continued to offer support services, sponsoring a showing of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The organization also announced that they had planned a “Community Gathering and Reflection Picnic” on the Drillfield on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Tech officials also said that the media base would be moved from the Skelton Inn and Holtzman Alumni Center to the South End Zone Media club of Lane Stadium.