Thirty-two people were shot dead at two locations on the Virginia Tech university campus, at least 30 of them killed by 23-year-old Cho Seung-hui.
Police say the same gun was used at both locations, but have not yet proved that Cho was present when the first two were killed. Below are the names of the victims who have been identified.
Emily Hilscher, 19, from Woodville, Virginia, was studying animal and poultry sciences, and was known in her hometown as an animal lover.
Some reports have suggested Emily was Cho's girlfriend, but police have denied this.
Family friend John W McCarthy said: "She worked at a veterinarian's office and cared about them her whole life."
She lived on the same floor of West Ambler Johnston Hall as fellow victim Ryan Clark, where she was killed.
One friend said of her on Facebook: "She was so filled with life and always had something wonderful to say or was always making me smile."
Student counsellor Ryan Clark, 22, from Martinez, Georgia, was in his final year studying for a triple major in biology, English and psychology.
Known as "Stack" by his friends, Ryan was a member of the Marching Virginians campus band.
He was the second victim in West Ambler Johnston Hall.
His friend, Gregory Walton, said: "He was just one of the greatest people you could possibly know."
PROFESSOR KEVIN GRANATA
Professor Kevin Granata, from the Engineering Science and Mechanics department, carried out orthopaedic research in hospitals before joining the university.
He was regarded as one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the US for his work on cerebral palsy.
Fellow professor Demetri P Telionis said: "With so many research projects and graduate students, he still found time to spend with his family, and he coached his children in many sports and extracurricular activities."
PROFESSOR GV LOGANATHAN
Professor GV Loganathan, 51, lectured in civil and environmental engineering and had won several awards for his teaching.
He had served on the faculty senate and was an adviser to about 75 undergraduate students.
Professor Loganathan moved to the US from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in 1977 to teach. He had worked at Virginia Tech since 1982.
His brother, GV Palanivel, said: "For us it was like an electric shock."
PROFESSOR LIVIU LIBRESCU
Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Romanian-born Israeli academic in the Engineering Science & Mechanics Department. He was also a Holocaust survivor and moved to Virginia in 1985.
Internationally renowned for his research work, he has been hailed a hero for blocking a doorway to protect his students.
His son Joe said he had received e-mails from several students who said he had saved their lives.
CHRISTOPHER JAMES BISHOP
Jamie Bishop, 35, was an instructor in foreign languages and literatures teaching German and he helped organise the Virginia Tech exchange programme with a German university.
He was formerly a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel and colleagues there said they were "deeply, deeply shocked by his death".
On his own website, Jamie said he had lived in Germany for four years and "spent most of his time learning the
language, teaching English, drinking large quantities of wheat beer, and wooing a certain Fraulein".
That "Fraulein" was his wife Stephanie Hofer, who also teaches at Virginia Tech.
Canadian Jocelyne Couture-Nowak was a French instructor. Her husband, Jerzy Nowak, is the head of the horticulture
department at Virginia Tech.
She was the mother of two girls.
Jocelyne, who had previously lectured in child development, was described by one Virginia Tech student as "an excellent teacher" who was "extremely nice and understanding".
In the 1990s, she lived in Truro, Nova Scotia, and was instrumental in creating the town's first French-speaking school.
Minal Panchal, 26, who was from Mumbai (Bombay) in India, was in her first year of a masters degree in building science.
She had a degree in architecture from Rizvi College in Mumbai, and was passionate about it because her father was himself an architect.
A friend in Mumbai described her as "a brilliant student and very hard-working".
DANIEL PEREZ CUEVA
Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, was from Peru.
He was studying international relations and was killed in a French class.
Reema Samaha, 18, from Centreville, Virginia, was a freshman (first year) and a talented dancer.
Her brother, Omar, watched her perform at a street fair the day before she died, but said: "I never got to say goodbye."
Her sister, Randa, said Reema's family had tried repeatedly to contact her but without success: "So we drove down here praying for the best and just preparing ourselves for the worst and that's what we got, we got the worst."
Reema was a pupil at Westfield High School, where the gunman, Cho, also studied.
MATTHEW LA PORTE
Matthew La Porte, 20, from Dumont, New Jersey, was a freshman in university studies.
He graduated from Carson Long Military Institute in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, in 2005.
JARRETT LEE LANE
Jarrett Lane, from Narrows, Virginia, was a senior (final year) in civil engineering and a valedictorian of Narrows High School.
There he played the trombone, competed in athletics and played football and basketball.
The school has erected a memorial in his honour bearing photographs, musical instruments and his athletic jerseys.
Jarrett's brother-in-law, Daniel Farrell, said he was "full of spirit" and added: "He had a caring heart and was a friend to everyone he met."
Ross Alameddine, 20, from Saugus, Massachusetts, was a sophomore (second year) English major. He was shot during a French class.
Friends described him as "an intelligent, funny, easy-going guy" in a memorial posted on internet networking website Facebook.
His mother, Lynnette, was angry at how long it took to inform parents about the shootings: "It happened in the morning and I did not hear until a quarter to 11 at night."
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, from Westtown, New York, was a sophomore reading international studies and French.
John P Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, where she graduated in 2005, said: "She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I've had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator."
MARY KAREN READ
Mary Karen Read, 19, from Annandale, Virginia, was born in South Korea into an Air Force family and had lived in Texas and California.
Her uncle, Ted Kuppinger, said: "She was a beautiful girl, very caring and loving."
Her aunt, Karen, said she had struggled to adjust to Virginia Tech's sprawling 2,600-acre campus, but said she had recently begun making friends and was looking into joining a sorority.
She was killed in French class. She had yet to declare her main subject of study.
JUAN RAMON ORTIZ
Juan Ramon Ortiz, 26, was a graduate student in civil engineering.
He was married to Liselle Vega Cortes and came from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
His father, also called Juan Ramon, said: "He was an extraordinary son, what any father would have wanted."
Daniel O'Neil, 22, of Rhode Island, was a graduate student in engineering who also played guitar and wrote his own songs, which he posted on a website, www.residenthippy.com.
Friend Steve Craveiro said: "He would come home from school over the summer and talk about projects, about building bridges and stuff like that.
"He was pretty much destined to be extremely successful."
Daniel also worked as a teaching assistant at Virginia Tech.
Maxine Turner, 22, from Vienna, Virginia, was a senior studying chemical engineering and was expecting to graduate in May.
She had taken German as an elective - she was shot in the German class.
Maxine had recently helped to found a chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a sorority for women in engineering. She had also accepted a chemical engineering job in Maryland.
She was described in a web tribute as "an absolutely amazing, intelligent woman".
Her father, Paul Turner, said: "It's a terrible loss. I cannot understand the legislators in this
country, not putting in laws that protect people."
Henry Lee was from Roanoke, Virginia.
He was a freshman, studying computer engineering.
Leslie Sherman was a sophomore at Virginia Tech, studying history and international studies.
Her grandmother Gerry Adams described her as an avid traveller, who was planning a trip to Russia this summer.
"She was so happy. Life was going so well for her," said Ms Adams, who described the family as "just besides themselves" with grief.
Erin Peterson, 18, was a freshman.
Her father Grafton said: "My baby didn't make it."
Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, was from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
He was a graduate student in civil engineering.
Julia Pryde was a graduate student from Middletown, New Jersey.
She was described as an "exceptional student academically and personally" by the head of the biological systems and engineering department where she was seeking her master's degree.
Last summer she travelled to Ecuador to research water quality issues and planned to return this year.
Michael Pohle, 23, from Flemington, New Jersey, was expected to graduate in a few weeks with a degree in biological sciences.
Vice principal at his former high school, Craig Blanton, said: "He had a bunch of job interviews and was all set to start his post-college life."
He was described by a former sports coach as "a good kid who did everything that good kids do".
Partahi Lumbantoruan, 34, from Indonesia, was a civil engineering doctoral student and had been studying at Virginia Tech for three years, said his father, Tohom Lumbantoruan, a retired army officer.
"We tried everything to completely finance his studies in
the United States," he said.
"We only wanted him to succeed in his studies, but... he met a tragic fate."
Lauren McCain, was 20, from Hampton, Virginia.
She was doing international studies.
Brian Bluhm, 25, formerly from Detroit, was a graduate student in civil engineering and was doing a masters in water resources.
Austin Cloyd, from Blacksburg, Virginia, was a first year in international studies and French, and wanted to be a US ambassador.
Her former pastor, Rev Terry Harter, said Austin was a "very delightful, intelligent,
warm young lady" and an athlete who played basketball and volleyball in high school.
Her family had moved from Illinois to Blacksburg, when her father took a job in the accounting department at Virginia
Rachael Hill, 18, was from Glen Allen, Virginia.
Matthew Gwaltney, 24, from Chester, Virginia, was a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering.
WALEED MOHAMMED SHAALAN
Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt, was a doctoral student in civil engineering.
He is said to have called home a day before the shooting to say he was returning to Egypt next month to take his wife and one-year-old son to the US.
He is said to have been shot while trying to save another student.
"He was the simplest and nicest guy I ever knew. We would be studying for our exams and he would go buy a cake and make tea for us," Waleed's flatmate, Fahad Pasha said.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was planning to fly his body to Egypt.
Nicole White, 20, came from Smithfield, Virginia, and was a junior doing international studies and German.