Members of Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine's Independent Virginia Tech Incident Review Panel enter West Ambler Johnston Hall in Blacksburg, Va., on Monday. The panel investigating the shootings at Virginia Tech last month began Monday with a closed briefing and tour of the buildings where 33 people died.

Blacksburg, Va. ? The gunman who killed 30 people at a Virginia Tech building was “well-prepared” to continue his shooting spree with more than 200 additional rounds of ammunition, a state panel was told Monday.

Police found 203 live rounds in Norris Hall, where Cho Seung-Hui killed 25 students and five faculty members before committing suicide on April 16, State Police Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty told a panel investigating the massacre. Cho also shot two other students elsewhere.

“He was well-prepared to continue on,” Flaherty said.

Cho fired 174 shots from two handguns on the second floor in a span of nine minutes, taking his own life at 9:51 a.m. as police on the stairwell approached the floor, Flaherty said.

Asked to describe Cho’s shooting method, Flaherty said, “I would describe it as very deliberate. There seemed to be nothing panicky at all.”

Earlier, after hearing testimony from a Virginia Tech attorney that privacy laws prohibit release of students’ mental health and other records, panel member Tom Ridge said the group needs to find a way to gain access to Cho’s records.

“We’d be remiss if we didn’t do a real deep dive into this area,” said Ridge, the former U.S. Homeland Security chief.

Cho was found “mentally ill and in need of hospitalization” in December 2005, according to court papers. A judge ordered him into involuntary outpatient treatment, but there is no indication that Cho complied.

Panel chairman W. Gerald Massengill said the group would be willing to receive the information in closed session if necessary, due to privacy laws.

Cho’s family, which would have access to the records, has cooperated so far, Flaherty told reporters.

Also Monday, the panel visited the two buildings where the shootings occurred. The tour included a two-hour private briefing, featuring a presentation by Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum, who led the initial response to the shootings.