Tens of thousands of students, faculty and family members gathered yesterday at Virginia Tech to mourn the victims of Monday’s school massacre that left 33 people dead. It was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. A candlelight vigil was held last night. Earlier in the day, President Bush spoke at a memorial service on campus.

President Bush: “By the end of the morning, it was the worst day of violence on a college campus in American history. And for many of you here today, it was the worst day of your lives. It’s impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering.”

President Bush has ordered the nation’s flags to be flown at half-mast. Virginia Tech’s Marisa Plescia was one of the students attending the memorial service.

Marisa Plescia: “This could be the most devastating thing I have ever been through. Yesterday was probably one of the most terrifying days of my life. I was on campus when it all started. We all just ran away from campus. I live off campus so I went back to my car. I think it’s really important for every single person to be out here today. It’s a horrible thing that happened.”