Click here for an audio slideshow of students’ reactions.

News of the Virginia Tech campus shootings spread quickly among students yesterday.

Most campus televisions relayed images from the disaster, and students’ family members — shocked and concerned — called to assure the well-being of their loved ones at Kent State.

A gunman killed at least 32 people in the shootings, which occurred in a residence hall and a classroom, The Associated Press reported.

Nichole Justus, sophomore applied communications major and resident of Koonce Hall, said the shootings upset her sense of security.

Justus was on the phone with her mother, both unaware of the shootings, when her mom interrupted, “I’m watching the news. Someone just got shot.”

Both Justus and her parents are now concerned about campus safety.

“You think you’re so safe and secure in your dorm — you use your swipe key,” Justus said in the Student Center. “But something can always happen.”

Lauren Ondecker, senior communication studies major, was in class when her sister called her repeatedly. Thinking it was something urgent, Ondecker left class to answer the phone.

“Did you hear?” Ondecker’s sister asked.

“No.”

Her sister relayed the story, worried because two of the Ondeckers’ cousins attend Virginia Tech. Drew Robinson, Ondecker’s cousin and junior at Virginia Tech, told Ondecker he had heard gunshots, but both he and his brother were safe.

Ricky Brooks, senior sports management major, said he was at a loss for words yesterday in the Eastway Bowling Alley.

But he did say the shootings made him think of both the Columbine and May 4 shootings. He said he thinks colleges will now tighten security.

“Security is real loose here,” Brooks said. “We don’t have metal detectors. I think colleges are really going to crack down.”

Kyle Chaney, sophomore secondary education major, learned about the shootings while watching CNN in the library. He is a resident of Manchester Hall.

“Everyone is pretty close in (Manchester), but you never know what kind of bad day could bring this on someone,” he said.

Chelsea Feezle, freshman newspaper journalism major, was meeting a research group in the library and found out about the shootings as Chaney talked.

“It kind of worries me that it could happen here, too,” she said.

Contact enterprise reporter Steve Bushong at [email protected].