RICHMOND, Va. (CBS Washington/AP) – A massive manhunt is underway for a gunman who killed two people, including a police officer, on the Virginia Tech campus. The suspect remains at large despite earlier reports of the gunman being apprehended.
Lerone Graham, a reporter for the Roanoke Times, posted a picture on Twitter of a body covered up in the school’s parking lot.
A Virginia Tech statement says a police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop and a second victim was later found fatally shot in a campus parking lot. Marc Owczarski, the director of news and information for Virginia Tech, says the second victim has yet to be identified.
The campus remains on lockdown as well as Montgomery County Public Schools. No visitors are allowed on campus at this time.
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.
The Virginia State Police will take over the investigation.
The campus-wide 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.
“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.”
Darik Anderson, assistant ticket manager for the athletics department, said his office in Lane Stadium is next door to the coliseum but he could not see anything from his vantage point.
“We’re in lockdown,” he said. “All the news we’re getting is what’s on the school’s website.”
The shooting came the same day as Virginia Tech, which has an enrollment of about 30,000, was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university’s response to the 2007 rampage, when a student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself.
Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself on the campus in April 2007. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.firstpoppa
Brandon
Probably just a false flag in order to implement more gun control legislation. Mark my words. Happens every time something like this goes on.
December 8, 2011 at 2:15 pm | |
sgt barnes
just like fast and furious
December 8, 2011 at 3:17 pm | |
matt
Wait…I thought VA Tech was a gun-free zone?!
December 8, 2011 at 2:17 pm | |
Thomas Jefferson
Yeah! What was that gunman doing there with a gun??? Didn’t he see the sign?
December 8, 2011 at 2:24 pm | |
matt
YEAH! I’m outraged!
December 8, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Eric C.
it is a gun free zone….for the law abiding citizen.
December 8, 2011 at 2:31 pm | |
Thomas Jefferson
Instead why don’t we allow concealed carry so “Law Abiding Citizens” can defend themselves and protect others.
Read “More Guns, Less Crime”, by John Lott
December 8, 2011 at 2:48 pm
CONCEALnCARRY
Gun-free only applies to law abiding citizens.
December 8, 2011 at 3:23 pm | |
Annchovie
Don’t worry the police will protect you! You don’t need guns to protect yourself any longer.
December 8, 2011 at 2:25 pm | |
seanpatriot
Pass Open carry all the time everywhere !!!!
December 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm | |
Eric C.
Pass concealed carry everywhere for those who are eligible.
December 8, 2011 at 2:39 pm | |
Jamal el Jamal
You don’t need a gun for protection…we’ve put signs up all over the place banning guns. We’ve told everyone “No guns allowed on campus”. So there. Now we’re safe, right?
December 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm | |
schmed
Wow, sounds like a Type 0 Negative band member.
December 8, 2011 at 2:37 pm
