the virginia tech massacre was a school shooting on april 16, 2007, which took place at the virginia polytechnic institute and state university, a college in blacksburg, virginia, united states. seung-hui cho, a senior english major at virginia tech, who had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and selective mutism killed 32 people before killing himself. the killings occurred in two separate attacks on the campus. the first at around 7:15 a.m., when two students were shot and killed at west ambler johnston hall, a co-ed residence hall that houses 894 students. more than two and a half hours later, 31 others, including cho, were shot and killed across norris hall, which houses the engineering science and mechanics program among others, where three main doors had been chained. victims were found in different locations around the building.