Another school on lockdown. 
Video at the link.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2662317
The shooting reportedly took place in the Cassel Coliseum parking lot, pictured here near building 187. Police reportedly were headed then to McComas Hall, building 191. (Photo courtesy of VT.edu)
RICHMOND, Va. - A search is under way for a gunman who shot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer and one other person on the campus Thursday. The university has locked down the campus and is telling students and faculty to stay indoors.
No classes were in session when the shooting occurred. School finals are scheduled to begin next week. In a statement posted to the university website, school officials said the campus police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop.
Witnesses to that shooting told police the shooter fled on foot and headed toward a parking lot on campus.
At that second parking lot, police found a second person, who was dead. TV footage showed heavily armed officers walking around campus, caravans of SWAT vehicles and other police cars with emergency lights flashing as they patrolled nearby.
Virginia State Police are leading a multi-agency search of the Roanoke area. "The campus community should continue to shelter in place and visitors should not come to campus," the school said.
Check out these preliminary tweets from Virginia Tech campus newspaper the Collegiate Times:
(Editor's Note: Some of this material may be inappropriate for some readers.)
The school is warning students to "Stay indoors. Secure in place."
"It's crazy that someone would go and do something like that with all the stuff that happened in 2007," said Corey Smith, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mechanicsville, Va., who was headed to a dining hall near the site of one of the shootings, but stayed inside after seeing the alerts from the school. "It's just weird to think about why someone would do something like this when the school's had so many problems."
Harry White, 20, a junior physics major, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he was in line for a sandwich at a Subway restaurant in a campus building when he received the text message alert about the shooting.
White said he didn't panic, thinking instead about a false alarm about a possible gunman that caused the campus to be locked down in August. He used an indoor walkway to go to a computer lab in an adjacent building, where he checked news reports.
"I decided to just check to see how serious it was. I saw it's actually someone shooting someone, not something false, something that looks like a gun," White said.
White said the campus was quieter than usual because classes ended Wednesday and students are preparing for the start of exams. He said he didn't see anyone outside from the windows of the computer lab after he received the alert. But he also didn't detect any signs of panic.
Blacksburg Transit has suspended service.
The campuswide alert at 12:36 said: "Gun shots reported- Coliseum Parking lot. Stay Inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help."
The suspect is described as white male wearing gray sweat pants, gray hat with neon green brim, maroon hoodie and backpack.
A message left with the university wasn't immediately returned. Campus police referred all questions to the university.
The shooting comes the same day as Virginia Tech is appealing a $55,000 fine by the Education Department in connection with the university's response to a 2007 rampage that left 33 people dead.
A student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself on the campus in 2007.
A report of a possible gunman at Virginia Tech on Aug. 4 set off the longest, most extensive lockdown and search on campus since the 2007 bloodbath led the university to overhaul its emergency procedures. No gunman was found, and the school gave the all-clear about five hours after sirens began wailing and students and staff members started receiving warnings by phone, email and text message to lock themselves indoors. Alerts were also posted on the university's website and Twitter accounts.
That emergency was triggered by three teens who were attending a summer program on campus and told police they saw a man walking quickly across the grounds with what might have been a handgun covered by a cloth, authorities said.
Police searched some 150 buildings on the square-mile campus and issued a composite sketch of a baby-faced man who was said to be wearing shorts and sandals, but they found no sign of him. They continued to patrol the grounds as a precaution even after the lockdown was lifted.
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Video at the link.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2662317
The shooting reportedly took place in the Cassel Coliseum parking lot, pictured here near building 187. Police reportedly were headed then to McComas Hall, building 191. (Photo courtesy of VT.edu)
RICHMOND, Va. - A search is under way for a gunman who shot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer and one other person on the campus Thursday. The university has locked down the campus and is telling students and faculty to stay indoors.
No classes were in session when the shooting occurred. School finals are scheduled to begin next week. In a statement posted to the university website, school officials said the campus police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop.
Witnesses to that shooting told police the shooter fled on foot and headed toward a parking lot on campus.
At that second parking lot, police found a second person, who was dead. TV footage showed heavily armed officers walking around campus, caravans of SWAT vehicles and other police cars with emergency lights flashing as they patrolled nearby.
Virginia State Police are leading a multi-agency search of the Roanoke area. "The campus community should continue to shelter in place and visitors should not come to campus," the school said.
Check out these preliminary tweets from Virginia Tech campus newspaper the Collegiate Times:
(Editor's Note: Some of this material may be inappropriate for some readers.)
The school is warning students to "Stay indoors. Secure in place."
"It's crazy that someone would go and do something like that with all the stuff that happened in 2007," said Corey Smith, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mechanicsville, Va., who was headed to a dining hall near the site of one of the shootings, but stayed inside after seeing the alerts from the school. "It's just weird to think about why someone would do something like this when the school's had so many problems."
Harry White, 20, a junior physics major, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he was in line for a sandwich at a Subway restaurant in a campus building when he received the text message alert about the shooting.
White said he didn't panic, thinking instead about a false alarm about a possible gunman that caused the campus to be locked down in August. He used an indoor walkway to go to a computer lab in an adjacent building, where he checked news reports.
"I decided to just check to see how serious it was. I saw it's actually someone shooting someone, not something false, something that looks like a gun," White said.
White said the campus was quieter than usual because classes ended Wednesday and students are preparing for the start of exams. He said he didn't see anyone outside from the windows of the computer lab after he received the alert. But he also didn't detect any signs of panic.
Blacksburg Transit has suspended service.
The campuswide alert at 12:36 said: "Gun shots reported- Coliseum Parking lot. Stay Inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help."
The suspect is described as white male wearing gray sweat pants, gray hat with neon green brim, maroon hoodie and backpack.
A message left with the university wasn't immediately returned. Campus police referred all questions to the university.
The shooting comes the same day as Virginia Tech is appealing a $55,000 fine by the Education Department in connection with the university's response to a 2007 rampage that left 33 people dead.
A student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself on the campus in 2007.
A report of a possible gunman at Virginia Tech on Aug. 4 set off the longest, most extensive lockdown and search on campus since the 2007 bloodbath led the university to overhaul its emergency procedures. No gunman was found, and the school gave the all-clear about five hours after sirens began wailing and students and staff members started receiving warnings by phone, email and text message to lock themselves indoors. Alerts were also posted on the university's website and Twitter accounts.
That emergency was triggered by three teens who were attending a summer program on campus and told police they saw a man walking quickly across the grounds with what might have been a handgun covered by a cloth, authorities said.
Police searched some 150 buildings on the square-mile campus and issued a composite sketch of a baby-faced man who was said to be wearing shorts and sandals, but they found no sign of him. They continued to patrol the grounds as a precaution even after the lockdown was lifted.
1 2 - Next page >>