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It ended up being a false alarm, another case of officials staying on the safe side after the worst outbreak of violence on a college campus in U.S.

history.

Tamar Lewin of The Times rounds up the nervy atmosphere at schools across the nation, including a Louisiana public school district that clamped down and “universities in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas canceled classes yesterday, searched campuses or evacuated buildings in response to threats.” E-mail this 12 comments so far...

1.

April 18th, 2007 9:18 am “Four big bombs exploded across Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 66 people” I bet many were young, innocent and going about their business and leave behind heartbroken family and friends.

I bet they don’t get a convocation, a candelight vigil, an independent investigatory panel or another inch of print.

— Posted by James 2.

April 18th, 2007 9:33 am When you have a bomb threat you do not wait until you find the bomb to evacuate the building.

A demand for absolute proof is appropriate in court but not for assessing what security prec...

Despite Cho's inner turmoil, he carried out his last acts with calm determination.

He sent bomb threats to school officials, authorities believe.

He chained the doors on Norris Hall and brought along enough ammunition to kill 50.

Police also said he tried to shave the serial numbers off his new Walther P22 and 9-millimeter Glock, both heavy handguns.

And he carried no identification.

In his final moments, shooting point-blank at students and professors, firing through doors at others who tried to barricade themselves from him, he seemed never to lose his nerve, often reloading.

He hit many people three or more times at close range.

"I'm sure the behavioral people will be looking into what it was that set this kid off," said a federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

The first attack occurred at 7:15 a.m., when Emily Hilscher, a student, and Ryan Clark, a resident advisor, were shot to death at the West Ambler Johnston dorm.

Hilscher's roommate, Heather Haugh, said her friend did not know Cho and she knew no reason he would first turn his violence upon her.

"I've never seen him," she said.

"I don't know his name.

Emily didn't know him, as far as I know." She said that speculation about a domestic dispute probably stemmed from the fact that she told police that Hilscher's...

Vivacious and popular, Ms Hilscher was shot with a 9mm Glock pistol bought by Cho last month.Scroll down for more ...

Gunman Cho Seung-Hul, and Emily, the student who became his obession - and one of his first victimsIt is said he had become "infatuated" with her although there is no indication she even knew him and, it appears, never mentioned him to any close friends.

By this morning, hundreds of emails in tribute to Ms Hilscher had been posted on a site on the internet set up by her boyfriend Karl, a student at Radford University, another college in Virginia.

There have been suggestions that Mr Thornhill was being arrested by police as a suspect in the killing of Ms Hilscher at her dormitory just as Cho was embarking on his killing spree in the language and engineering block half a mile away.

Their suspicions were heightened by the fact that Mr Thornhill also liked guns and had spent time on the shooting range.

Tommy Pendleton, a close friend of Ms Hilscher's, wrote in block capitals as if to emphasise the point on the internet site: "EMILY HILSCHER IS NOT RELATED TO THE SHOOTER IN ANY WAY REGARDING A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP.

SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH KARL THORNHILL." Ms Hilscher's room-mate Heather Haugh said: "I have never seen him (Cho).

"I don't know his name.

Emily didn't...