Apr 17, 2007 10:33 pm US/Central
Friends Mourn Local Student Among Va. Tech Victims
Students With Local Ties Talk About The Tragedy
CBS 2's Joanie Lum contributed to this report.
(CBS)
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Austin Cloyd was a freshman student at Virginia Tech.
CBS
As a high school student in downstate Champaign, Austin Cloyd was a standout athlete, was active in her church and had a lot of friends.
She was a freshman in international studies at Virginia Tech and was in her French class when the gunman struck.
Cloyd lived in Illinois while her father taught accounting at the University of Illinois, reports CBS affiliate WCIA in Champaign.
Cloyd attended a downstate high school for three years, and moved before her senior year. Her father began teaching at Virginia Tech.
Ten of Cloyd's friends from her years at Centennial High School attend the University of Illinois together; they gathered Tuesday to remember her.
As WCIA reports, her family was very involved in the First United Methodist Church, where people were also on edge following the shooting. The news of her death reached them Tuesday afternoon.
"When I heard they couldn't find her, that just felt bad," senior pastor Terry Harter told WCIA. "Doesn't sound good...you think...ok she's unconscious in surgery... she doesn't have an ID. But it just went on all night."
Friends in Champaign just learned Cloyd had died.
"We were letting everyone know, just calling, letting them know... She was gone," said her friend, Rachel Day.
Alva Lewis sat in her Chicago apartment, combing her computer for information on victims from her Virginia hometown. A family friend, Erin Peterson was also in French class.
"She loved her family, she loved her friends. It's hard to believe she was shot to death," Lewis said.
Peterson's MySpace page details how she wanted to cure her dad's diabetes. Friends posted compassionate condolence messages.
Coincidentally, Peterson and the shooter, Cho Seung Hui, were from the same town, Centreville, Va. They graduated from the same high school and lived a mile from each other.
Also from that town, Peterson's childhood friend Reema Samaha, was killed in French class. It is not known if Cho knew them.
Chicagoan Garrett Evans, who was injured in the attack, told WBBM Newsradio 780 he was in German class when the gunman stormed in.
"He didn't say anything," Evans sad. "He came in and started shooting."
Several people died, including the instructor. Evans said the shooter emptied two magazines, left the room and then returned, but four surviving students kept him from getting back in.
"I'm shocked he didn't try to use that 22 to shoot again," Evans said.
Evans is in a Virginia hospital with gunshot wounds to both legs. He says the pain is nothing compared to the heartache he has for families of all of the victims.
The First Methodist Church is holding a 7:30 p.m. prayer service for Cloyd Tuesday.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Slideshow: Deadly Rampage At Virginia Tech
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