'I Counted 24 Gunshots Within a Minute'

The students at Virginia Tech's Norris Hall on Monday included Tina Harrison, a junior accounting and finance major. She was taking a test, on the third floor, when people heard loud sounds.

It became clear that a shooting was in progress when a student ran into the room and said she had seen someone shot on the second floor of the building. The frightened class heard screaming, shots and laughter from outside their room.

"I counted 24 gunshots within a minute, and I lost track after that. I just started praying," Harrison said. "It sounded like he was getting closer to where we were. You could hear the gunshots coming up the stairwell. We honestly thought we were going to get shot, too."

Another student began herding students into an office to hide. Then all the noise stopped and the building became quiet. The next noise she heard was a pounding on the door.

It was the police, who burst through the door and told them to put their hands up. Then the police told the students to leave as quickly as possible.

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