Students describe mayhem during rampage

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia Tech students described the mayhem on campus on Monday and criticized officials for not shutting the university down quickly enough after 33 people were killed including a gunman.

* Andrew Gisch, a second-year student, was walking across a quadrangle listening to his iPod when he heard "a big bang."

"I recognized the sound of gunfire but was mostly confused .... I looked around at the other students on the drillfield, most of them confused like myself....it clicked in everyone's head immediately the sound we heard was a gun shot and everyone started running. I went back to the dorm, locked the door, and turned on the news."

* Daniel Smith said he was aware of shootings at other schools but he never thought it could happen at this university.

"It hits you in the heart. It's more of a shock to me because I'm an engineering major and when that list (victims' names) comes out, I know I'm going to see some friends on there and its scaring me inside right now."

* Jason Piatt criticized the way university officials reacted after the first shooting.

"I'm pretty outraged that someone died in a shooting in a dorm at 7 o'clock in the morning and the first e-mail about it had no mention of locking down the campus, no mention of canceling classes," Piatt told CNN.

"They just mentioned that they were investigating a shooting," he said. "That's pretty ridiculous. Meanwhile, while they sent out that e-mail, 21 people got killed."

* Matt Waldron, a student and football player, said one of the many calls of concern he had received was from Iraq.

"He's a friend that called from Iraq and was putting out his concerns to everybody over here. He's a soldier over there, and was just wondering and making sure everybody's OK," Waldron told CNN.

* Justin Merrifield said he noticed four police cars and a girl crying in front of West Ambler Johnston Hall, the dormitory where the first shooting occurred, at about 9 a.m. But he did not realize the magnitude of the crisis until he arrived at his 10 a.m. class.

"We were inside the classroom maybe five or 10 minutes and our teacher never showed up," said Merrifield, 21, a senior majoring in animal science. "Somebody came in and said the place is on lock-down. And when the teacher never showed up and we found out we were on lock-down, we all took off running."

Students were alerted by announcements over campus loudspeakers, he said.

"There was a voice that just kept repeating, 'Gunman on campus, stay indoors, get away from windows,' over and over, basically," said Merrifield.

((Writing by Philip Barbara; editing by Chris Wilson; World Desk Washington 703-898-8457)