(April 17, 2007)—As thousands of Virginia Tech students, faculty and supporters gathered Tuesday for a convocation in honor of slain classmates and colleagues, investigators were trying to learn more about the 23-year-old South Korean English major responsible for the worst mass shooting in US history.

Media reports indicate that Cho Seung-Hui, who shot 32 people to death on the campus Monday before shooting himself, may have been suffering from depression and classmates said he distinguished himself on campus by being anonymous.

Classmates say that on the first day of a British literature class last year, students took turns introducing themselves.

When it was Cho’s turn to speak, he said nothing.

The professor then looked at the sign-in sheet, and noticed that Cho had written a question mark instead of his name.

The professor asked, "Is your name 'Question mark?"'

A classmate, Julie Poole, says Cho offered little response.

She says he then spent much of the class sitting in the back of the room, wearing a hat and seldom participating.

Poole says, "We just really knew him as the question mark kid."

Some of his professors said Cho’s creative writing was so disturbing he was referred to the university’s counseling service.

The gun shop owner who sold a Glock and a box of practice ammo to the gunman says Cho was a "nice, clean-cut college kid."

He says he had no suspicions about Cho's purchase, but that it's "just terrible" to learn what the gun was used for.

Cho was legal resident of the US and therefore, eligible to buy a handgun.

Meanwhile President Bush told a somber crowd that gathered Tuesday in the school’s basketball arena. "People who have never met you are praying for you."

During remarks at a convocation on campus, Mr. Bush said he and first lady Laura Bush have "hearts full of sorrow."

He encouraged grieving students to reach out for help.

Quoting Scripture, he told those angered by the killings not to be overcome by evil.

He also said, "It's hard to imagine a time will come when life at Virginia Tech will return to normal, but such a day will come."

He says students will always remember the friends and teachers lost Monday "and the time you shared with them, and the lives that they hoped to lead."

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