WOMAN KILLS 2 AT LOUISIANA COLLEGE

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 8, 2008

Filed at 11:34 a.m. ETBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A young woman killed two female students in a college classroom at a vocational college Friday, then killed herself, police said.The students apparently were shot in their seats in the second-floor classroom at Louisiana Technical College, Sgt. Don Kelly said.Officers ran into the building within four minutes of the first 911 call, which came at 8:36 a.m., he said.”There was mass pandemonium, people running,” Kelly said. ”One officer — the first into the classroom — told me he could still smell gunpowder.”

The students’ names and ages were not immediately released, and it was not clear whether the shooter also was a student.

The school offers classes in a dozen subjects including early childhood education, practical nursing, drafting and welding.

Students had to stay in their classrooms for about two hours before being released for the day, said Louis Davis. He said he was taking a test for an automobile technology class when a teacher ”said to stay in the classroom because there’s been an incident.” Davis said

He said they were allowed to leave after a police officer asked them brief questions.

School administrators and campus police did not return calls or e-mails.

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Associated Press Writer Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans contributed to this story.

(Article courtesy of The New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com )

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UPDATED 2/9/2008:

Lori Waselchuk for The New York Times

The scene at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge after a student killed two classmates.

By JEREMY ALFORD

Published: February 9, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. — A nursing student opened fire Friday morning in a classroom filled with students at a technical college’s campus here, killing two young women before fatally wounding herself, the police said.A Baton Rouge police spokesman, Cpl. L’Jean McKneely, said investigators did not know the motive for the killings, and he did not release the names of the victims.The police learned of the attack, which took place in a second-floor classroom at Louisiana Technical College, from a barrage of cellphone calls from the college shortly before 8:40 a.m.

Blake Thibodeaux, 20, a drafting student, said he was in a nearby classroom when he heard what he thought was a door slamming and asked his teacher if he could see what was happening. “I ran toward it and was at the door of the classroom when she shot off the last few rounds,” he said.

Corporal McKneely said the class was under way when the assailant entered the room. The victims, he said, were among about 20 students who were seated. Several described diving for cover under desks, and then, when they realized the carnage had ended, running for the door, screaming and sobbing.

“There was mass pandemonium,” Police Sgt. Don Kelly said. “One officer — the first into the classroom — told me he could still smell gunpowder.”

The police cordoned off the area and began interviewing those who had managed to escape. Other students were kept in their classrooms for about two hours and were questioned briefly by the police before being sent home.

“We’re doing that so we can make contact with any potential witness and keep the scene under control,” Corporal McKneely said

Louisiana Technical College, which has two campuses here and dozens of others around the state, offers classes in a dozen subjects, including practical nursing, early-childhood education, drafting and welding.

Mayor Kip Holden said, “This is a tragic day for Baton Rouge, when you come to a learning institution and become the victim of a violent crime.”

In the worst shooting rampage in modern United States history, a student killed 32 people at Virginia Tech last April, before turning the gun on himself.

(Article courtesy of The New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com )