A man is being questioned by police after a shooting rampage at Monash University in Melbourne.
Two people were killed and five others are in hospital following the shooting, which occurred in the Humanities Department late this morning.
Police say a man walked into the Menzies building armed with a number of handguns and went into a classroom on the sixth floor.
They say he shot dead two men and injured five others in the room.
Police say the gunman was an economics student at the Clayton campus, the gunman is now in custody and being questioned by Homicide detectives.
Monash student Lauren says she was on the floor above when the shooting began.
"I heard a very large bang, which at first I didn't take to be a gunshot, and I heard some people screaming, and I thought, I wonder if anyone's hurt themselves, I'll run downstairs and see if I can help," she said.
"I saw a large pool of blood, probably about the size of a dustpan lid, and then this lady just started screaming, saying there's a gunman, there's a gunman, everybody get downstairs, so we all just started to run downstairs."
A student and staff member, Chris, says he was in the Menzies building at the time of the shooting.
"It was all a bit of a shambles. We were just sitting in our office on the south wing and one of our colleagues from the second floor came down and said 'Quick, there's a guy in there with a gun on the fifth or sixth floor'," he said.
"We were all sort of gobsmacked and apparently one of the injured had walked down to the second floor into one of my colleagues' offices and said 'I've been shot, what do I do'."
Rebecca Tomlinson from the Monash Student Union says those on campus were told there was a sniper in the area.
"We were told that the sniper was on the roof of the Menzies building and I just looked out the window and saw throngs of students standing on the union lawn.
"Everyone was just looking at the police helicopters and no-one knew what was going on. Of course it was very frightening because we had no idea whether shots were going to be coming from the roof."
Shock
The Premier, Steve Bracks, says he is deeply shocked by the shooting and has expressed his sympathy to the families and friends of those killed.
Australia's political leaders have expressed their sympathy for the families and friends of those killed in today's shootings at Monash University's Clayton campus.
The Labor leader, Simon Crean, says he wishes the survivors a speedy recovery and has thanked those who apprehended the gunman, preventing further deaths.
"Our thoughts go out to the survivors and ensuring that they have a speedy recovery, and also to families yet again who will have to live through the horror of young people being struck down innocently by tragedy," Mr Crean said.
Prime Minister John Howard says those who tackled the killer should be recognised for their bravery.
"The loss of any life in such violent circumstances is always a matter of regret, especially so when it is young and I share all of the sentiments expressed by the leader of the Opposition particularly about the behaviour of the people who apprehended the gunman," Mr Howard said.
The Homicide Squad is now investigating the incident.
For information regarding staff and students at Monash, the university has set up two hotlines.
I don’t understand this hand guns were always hard to get legally now we have strict gun control and there appear to hand guns available everywhere. Illegally of course.
Tends to confirm my view if you are going to commit an illegal act you will find a weapon some how.
