Gunman at CWRU
 

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) -- Hours after a gunman entered a building at Case Western Reserve University and opened fire, police launched an operation to rescue the dozens of people trapped inside but had no information on the shooter's whereabouts.
Authorities said at least two people were wounded -- one inside the building, one outside.
Cleveland's mayor said 60 people inside the building have been put in a "safe" room and are being protected by SWAT team members. Ten others have been rescued, Mayor Jane Campbell said late Friday
Witnesses described the gunman as wearing camouflage and carrying a bag and a machine gun. Some said he smashed a window at the building and then entered shooting about 4 p.m.
It was believed the unidentified gunman, who first fired shots about 4 p.m., was still inside the multimillion-dollar Peter B. Lewis building, which houses the Weatherhead School of Management, at 8:30 p.m.
Those inside the building described deafening automatic-weapons fire as they huddled in offices, barricading their doors.
"Currently we are rescuing the people that are in the building and doing a room-by-room, floor-by-floor search," Cleveland Chief Edward Lohn said. "I am quite confident that this should end quickly, and at that time, we'll have further information for everyone."
Moments after the chief's statement, at least two people were seen being escorted from the building by police, who pointed their guns at the building's windows in case the shooter opened fire.
One professor, holed up in his office with three doctoral students, said he heard a "flurry of gunshots" about 8:40 p.m. He said they have moved a table in front of the door and are communicating with authorities and family members via e-mail, cell phones and Internet messaging.
He said an internal e-mail was sent to professors informing them of the shooting and advising them to lock themselves in their offices.
"We figured we'll stay until the SWAT team gets us," he said.
University President Edward Hundert said, "This has just been a nightmare."
He praised the mayor and community leaders for responding so quickly, and said he has been trying to give worried family members information about their loved ones inside the building.
"Some of the people who were in the building earlier who got out have been debriefed by the police, and so as their debriefing is over, we're connecting them with their family members," Hundert said.
Two wounded taken to hospital
At least two people were known to have been shot, university spokeswoman Marci Hersh said. A man who was hit in the buttocks was being treated at Huron Hospital, a spokeswoman there said. A woman was also brought to the hospital, but the extent of her injuries was not known.
Police sealed the building and SWAT team members were sent inside, officials said. Dozens of police, many with guns drawn, surrounded the building, and an armored personnel carrier -- called the "Mother Truck" -- was at the scene.
Officials had no details on the gunman, but Michael Moore, a security guard on campus, said police told him the shooter was not a student.
"He had a machine gun, book bag, camouflage shirt, military green hat, white pants and a book bag," eyewitness LeKisha Spencer, 28, told The Associated Press. "He was just walking, aiming his guns and firing."
Lohn said the shooter is "disgruntled or upset." He asked that the gunman call police at (216) 375-8112, with a reminder that the gunman must dial "9" first.
"We'd like to bring this to a quick and peaceful resolution," said Cleveland police Detective Nancy Dominic.
'Quite a bit of shooting going on'
Dick Bennett, the executive director of development at the Weatherhead School of Management, described the attack.
"We heard gunfire a little after 4 p.m., and almost immediately police descended on the building," he said. "There's quite a bit of shooting going on."
Bennett spoke from the third floor of the building, a $62 million facility, designed by architect Frank Gehry of Guggenheim Museum fame. The 152,000-square-foot building has six levels and a radical, stainless steel roof. (More on building)
There were "tens, if not hundreds" of shots fired -- what sounded like "the culminating event of the Fourth of July," Bennett said.
"The shots you can hear quite clearly up here," he said, noting that the lobby is an atrium so the sound has been echoing through the building.
Bennett described the shots as automatic fire, going off in "fairly rapid succession." They sounded for more than an hour, before calming about 5:10 p.m. Around 5:40 p.m., more shots were fired.
He said he and eight others -- including a pregnant woman -- were in a glassed-in office, and would move into a more enclosed copy room if they were threatened.
Yalanda Washington, an administrator, told CNN she has been hiding under her desk on the building's second floor since 4:15 p.m.
"We heard a lot of activity in the hall, but I understand that the police are doing a sweep of the building, so I just assume that that's what that noise was," Washington said.
She said she has been using the two-way radio feature on her cell phone to reach friends inside the building so that their phones don't ring and reveal their locations. She has also been talking to family members outside the building to find out what is happening around her, she said.
Bennett estimated about 40 to 50 people were inside the building when the shooting began. Final exams had ended this week, so the building wasn't as full as during the school year. Graduation is scheduled for May 18.
He said he felt "violated" by the shooter for ruining what had been another good academic year: "It is very sad."
Case Western Reserve is an independent research university with programs in the arts and sciences, engineering, the health sciences, law, management and social work.
The Weatherhead School of Management has more than 1,600 students, fewer than 10 percent of whom would have been around on a Friday afternoon, Bennett said.
He said Fridays are research days, which means most of the faculty would have been away, also.
The Peter B. Lewis building opened for last year's fall semester after more than three years of construction.






It has now been reported that there is at least one fatality.

I work as a student assistant and was in the building this morning. What a terrible incident, I'm still in shock.

:( :( :(

Thank Goodness you are safe. I hope the rest will be soon enough.

Wow, that sucks. Hope they get the guy.


With crack policemen like this it shouldn't take long.

That's sad:(

I hope they get the guy.

Looks like it's over

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/0...ire/index.html

Man arrested in university shooting
Saturday, May 10, 2003 Posted: 12:32 PM EDT (1632 GMT)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) -- Seven hours after a gunman entered a building at Case Western Reserve University and began firing, killing at least one person and wounding at least 10 others, police said they had him in custody and were reuniting dozens of terrified people with their families.

"We have a male in custody, and at this time we believe he is either the shooter or one of the shooters," said Cleveland Police Chief Edward Lohn. He had no details of the arrest.

Lohn said police continued to sweep the five-story building in search of any other suspects.

About 70 people had been pinned inside the building while the gunman roamed around inside, Lohn said, and "almost all" of them had been escorted out.

"We have trained for this and tonight, hopefully, this is over and it has been concluded," Lohn said.

Officials said one man was killed and at least 10 others were wounded in the hours-long incident, in which faculty, students and staff hid under desks and barricaded their doors to hide from the gunman.

The victim was identified as Norman Wallace, 30, by the Cuyahoga County Coroners' office.

Police surrounded the Peter B. Lewis building at Case Western Reserve University.
Janice Guhl, a spokeswoman for University Hospital, said Wallace was from Youngstown, Ohio and was studying for his masters degree. He died at the scene, she said.

The gunman, Lohn said, was an "older individual" who did not appear to be a student. He was shot twice but was able to walk to a stretcher and lay himself down, Lohn said.

He was taken to Huron Hospital, where at least two of his victims were being treated.

'Cat and mouse game'
Witnesses said the gunman smashed a window at the Peter B. Lewis building and entered shooting around 4 p.m.

The modern building's design made it difficult for police to catch the gunman, who wore a bulletproof vest, a wig, and a World War II army helmet, Lohn said. He said the suspect played a "cat and mouse game" with police, darting in and out of rooms and firing two weapons.

"They were constantly under fire by the suspect, who would peek out from around the corner, fire at the SWAT team, and the SWAT team was unable to return fire many times because they didn't have a clear shot," Lohn said.

Police had to clear the building methodically, going from room to room and floor to floor rescuing people and bringing them to safety, he said.

"As you might imagine, there are many questions that must be asked and answered," said Mayor Jane Campbell. "As each of the people has been taken out of the building, they are now being briefed by detectives. The building now becomes a homicide site."

Patrick LeClair, who works at the school, said he heard the first shots and looked out his window to see the gunman shooting towards the front of the building.

"Then I just thought I'd warn people, so I ran down the hallway and I told them there's somebody shooting," he said.

He said he finally ducked into a room with three other people, where he waited for four hours until police told them it was OK to leave.

Professor Paul Stork, holed up in his office with three Ph.D students, said they moved a table in front of the door and were communicating with authorities, family members and colleagues via e-mail, phones, cell phones, and Instant Messenger. He was also watching TV coverage of the incident on his computer.

He said an internal e-mail went out to professors informing them of the shooting and advising them to lock themselves in their offices.

Said University President Edward Hundert: "This has just been a nightmare."

Dick Bennett, the executive director of development at the management school, said police descended on the building almost immediately after the first shots were fired. They brought with them an armored personnel carrier nicknamed the "Mother Truck."

There were "tens, if not hundreds" of shots fired -- what sounded like "the culminating event of the Fourth of July," Bennett said.

He said the shots went off in "fairly rapid succession." He spoke from the third floor of the building,

Bennett said he felt "violated" by the shooter for ruining what had been another good academic year: "It is very sad." Final exams had ended this week, Bennett said, and graduation is scheduled for May 18.

'A homicide site'
Case Western Reserve University is one of the nation's leading independent research universities, with programs in the arts and sciences, engineering, the health sciences, law, management, and social work.

The Weatherhead School of Management has more than 1,600 students, less than 10 percent of whom would have been around on a Friday afternoon, Bennett said.

He said Fridays are research days, which means most of the faculty would not have been around.

They're saying that it was an ex-universtiy employee. He had sued the school and lost, and then lost his appeal a month ago. Looks like he took it into his own hands.

Very sad!

"Bennett said he felt "violated" by the shooter for ruining what had been another good academic year: "It is very sad." Final exams had ended this week, Bennett said, and graduation is scheduled for May 18."

I imagine the guy who died probably felt violated too, but for an entirely different reason.

I'm hoping this quote was just a case of a guy in shock not really thinking of what he's saying.

As an aside, and not related to the gunman in any way. That is the most ugly building I've ever seen in my life. When they started live coverage of the incident on CNN, I thought at first that the building must have exploded.

I was at the in-laws, and we all thought it was destroyed by a tornado.