A staff note from Len Downie:

Thanks to everyone from everywhere on the staff, beginning with Metro, who contributed to today's extraordinary coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting. The depth and authority of the reporting, clarity and eloquence of the writing, precision of the editing, handling of photography and graphics and design of the pages were all very impressive, especially under the pressure of deadline for a story whose dimensions were not known before noon and whose locale was four hours away. Many of you worked very long hours, dropped other work you were doing and took on extra tasks, both to cover the story and to enable others to break off to cover the story. There is much, much more to do in the days ahead. Thanks for a great start.

Len