VI- Tech Massacre shooting

Cho Seung-Hui, who was identified today as the gunman who killed at least 30 people at Virginia Tech before killing himself, was a 23-year-old South Korean who moved to the United States with his family in 1992, according to South Korean officials, and who was living here as a legal resident.

Mr. Cho, who was majoring in English, had lived with his family in Centerville, Va., a suburb near Washington. He also had a room in one of the dormitories on the university campus, Harper Hall.

In Centerville, Mr. Cho's family lived in a small, two-level townhouse in an upper-middle-class development. Coincidentally, one of the victims lived less than a mile from the Cho family home.

The yellow aluminum-sided home was shuttered and police said they had removed the family from their home last night.

Outside the home, a local postman, Rod Wells, said that the family was "very quiet, very polite. They always had a smile on their face. I know they are a nice family. They have been very good to me."

Mr. Cho was a 2003 graduate of Westfield High School in Clifton, Va., according officials of the Fairfax County Public Schools said, who added that other graduates from its schools might have been among those killed or injured in Monday's shooting.

"He was very quiet, always by himself," Abdul Shash, a neighbor, said of Mr. Cho, according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Shash said Mr. Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball, and wouldn't respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet.

Marshall Main, who lives across the street, told The A.P. that the family had lived in the townhouse for several years.

Earlier this morning, a single spent long-rifle shell found was discovered on the sidewalk near the entrance to the house. After the discovery, by news cameramen, police immediately moved reporters back and took the round away for investigation.

Officials in Blacksburg said Mr. Cho was registered in his senior year at Virginia Tech, majoring in English and living on campus. According to CNN, Harry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations, described Mr. Cho as a loner.

According to court records, the Virginia Tech Police issued a speeding ticket to Mr. Cho on April 7 for going 44 mph in a 25 mph zone, and he had a court date set for May 23, The A.P. said.

Mr. Cho was discovered on Monday among the dead at the scene of the second shooting at Virginia Tech. Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, said it was "a reasonable assumption " that Mr. Cho was responsible for both shootings at Virginia Tech.

Colonel Flaherty said that the evidence "has not led us to where we can say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved in both instances, so we are now exploring that evidence and trying to make that trail."

He added: "We also have no evidence to indicate that there was any accomplice at either event, but we are exploring whether or not there was someone who may or may not have helped Cho at any point during his planning or during his execution of this particular event."

CBS News reported that paperwork found in the gunman's backpack allowed authorities to trace one of the two handguns used in the shootings, though the serial numbers for both weapons had been removed.

Colonel Flaherty said Mr. Cho was "discovered among several of the victims in one of the classrooms. He had taken his own life."

Virginia Tech is quite well-known in South Korea. South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences, and said South Korea hoped that the tragedy would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation."

"We are in shock beyond description," said Cho Byung-se, a ministry official handling North American affairs. "We convey deep condolences to victims, families and the American people."

Thousands of South Korean students go to the United States annually to get American college diplomas. Diplomas from Ivy League universities and other well-known American schools, as well as English proficiency, are coveted in the South Korean job market.

Reporting for this article was contributed by Ian Urbina in Centerville, Va., and by Choe Sang-Hun in Seoul.