April 17, 2007 Indian Community
Shocked
at Virginia Tech Shootout
Virginia
Shock and disbelief descended on the Indian community at the
Virginia Tech university, after a gunman went on a shooting spree
Monday and killed 33 people, including a professor of Indian origin.
Members of the student community and the faculty said Prof. G.V.
Loganathan, 51, who was among those killed in the twin shootouts,
was an affable person and an able teacher who was always eager to
help Indian students.
"I've known Prof. Loganathan rather well. In fact, I have lost a
good friend and the university an excellent teacher," said Prof.
Kumar Mallikarjunan, associate professor in the biological systems
engineering department.
"He was always ready to help and very popular among the students and
faculty at Virginia Tech," Mallikarjunan told IANS about his late
colleague, who was with the civil and environmental engineering
department.
He recalled that Loganathan, who is survived by wife and two
daughters, received the dean's award for excellence in teaching in
1998 and a similar award last year.
According to Amit Chandra Agarwal, vice president of the Indian
Students' Association (ISA) at Virginia Tech, the student community
as a whole had been shocked by the incident Monday.
"This is a quiet, peaceful place, full of students from all over the
world. The shootout and the loss of lives have really shocked us. We
will be holding prayer meetings for the deceased later in the day,"
he added.
"As of now we don't have any news of any Indian student being part
of the list of causalities."
Recalling the incident, Agarwal said there were two shootouts - one
at around 7.15 in the morning and the other some two hours later.
"After the first shootout, the police found two victims in one of
the dormitories, West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall. The students
were asked to remain calm and remain in their premises," he said.
"The second shootout was at the Norris Hall where we have our
faculties, labs and classrooms. This is where Prof. Loganathan is
believed to have died. The police say that the gunman also shot
himself," he added.
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