More lives might have been saved in the Virginia Tech shootings had faculty and students been told earlier about the first two shootings, an investigation into April's mass killing concludes.

Mariella Lurch, sister of slain Virginia Tech student Daniel Alejandro Prez Cueva, is overcome earlier in August as she sits next to his memorial stone following the dedication of the memorial for the victims of the Virgina Tech shooting.
(The Daily News-Record/Pete Marovich/Associated Press)

But the panel also concluded that a tragedy of some sort was inevitable because the gunman was determined to kill that day.

The report, released Wednesday night, was prepared by an eight-person panel appointed by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

"Warning the students, faculty and staff might have made a difference.… So the earlier and clearer the warning, the more chance an individual had of surviving," said the report.

In April, student Cho Seung-hui killed 32 people before killing himself. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

'Cho had started on a mission of fulfilling a fantasy of revenge.'—Panel report

Cho killed the first two students just after 7 a.m., at West Ambler Johnston dormitory, a co-ed residence housing more than 800 students.

But it wasn't until 9:26 a.m. that the school sent the first e-mail to students and faculty with the subject line: "Shooting on campus."

The message read: "The university community is urged to be cautious and are asked to contact Virginia Tech Police if you observe anything suspicious or with information on the case."

Nothing further was ordered. Twenty minutes later, and more than two hours after the initial shooting, Cho entered the Norris Hall engineering building and sprayed bullets into classrooms. He then killed himself.

The report said a warning message could have been sent out an hour earlier and been more specific. The panel also concluded the protocol for sending the emergency message was "cumbersome, untimely and problematic when a decision was needed as soon as possible."

In a news conference Thursday, the governor said: "In many instances, a process that would lead to a notice in two hours would have been fine. This was not such an instance. This was an emergency."

But even a warning might not have prevented Cho from carrying out the shootings, the report said, because he had access to campus buildings and dormitories, or could have shot people in the open. He also would have received the same warning message as everyone else.

Counselling service criticized

"From what we know of his mental state and commitment to action that day, it was likely that he would have acted out his fantasy somewhere on campus or outside it that same day," the report said.

"There does not seem to be a plausible scenario of a university response to the double homicide that could have prevented the tragedy of considerable magnitude on April 16," the report said.

"Cho had started on a mission of fulfilling a fantasy of revenge."

Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said on Thursday: "On our campus, as you know only too well, 32 people were murdered and at least 27 injured by a profoundly sick young man."

The report was critical of the school's counselling service for not doing more after Cho demonstrated signs of mental instability.

Cho was referred for treatment in 2005 after a stretch of bizarre behaviour and concerns he was suicidal. The panel concluded the centre failed to provide needed support and services to Cho, because of a lack of resources, misinterpretation of privacy laws and passivity.

With files from the Associated Press