www.roanoke.com

Sean McQuade, believed to have been the last Virginia Tech shooting victim hospitalized locally, is no longer a patient at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he had been listed in good condition.

McQuade, who was shot in the face on April 16 in the Norris Hall attack that killed 30 people, graduated from Tech with a degree in math last week, though he was not at the ceremony.

Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart would give no details on McQuade other than to say he is no longer a patient.

Tech officials have said 25 people were wounded in the attack, either by bullets or by jumping out windows, but have refused to release names. Nineteen victims have been identified in news accounts.

Members of McQuade's immediate family could not be reached for comment Thursday.

McQuade's great-uncle, Lynn McQuade, said the family was expected to be back in the South Jersey/Greater Philadelphia area by Friday, but he was not sure if his great-nephew would be staying at home or in another hospital.

"He's still got a long way to go," Lynn McQuade said. "He still has nerve damage up in his face that they've got to try to repair."

Jody McQuade has been writing about her son's recovery on a Web site, www.seanmcquade.faithweb.com, where a May 14 entry said: "It won't be long until we are back to the Philadelphia area to be closer to home for continuing treatment."

The entry also notes that three of McQuade's professors traveled to the hospital to give him his degree.

The 22-year-old from Mullica Hill, N.J., has been the subject of an outpouring of community support in his hometown and the surrounding area.

"Up and down Main Street here in Mullica Hill we have signs up and down for Sean McQuade," said Mike Settar, owner of the Stir it Up Coffeehouse, which recently hosted a fundraiser for the victim and his family.

Settar said rubber bracelets were also being sold to raise money for the McQuades.

Kelly Marucci is organizing a fundraising brunch in nearby Cherry Hill for next month.

"It's like a national tragedy that affects somebody that we actually know," she said of the Tech shootings. "It made it even more shocking for the people up here."

Alumni of Clearview Regional High School, from which Sean McQuade graduated in 2003, have also set up a fund.

"We weren't the best of friends but I know his family and when I heard it happened, it was one of those things where the idea just pops into your head," said Mike Camp, who set up the fund and was senior class president in 2003.

"I knew that I couldn't just sit on it," Camp said. "I had to act."