A suspect involved in a shooting on Virginia Tech University’s campus still remains at large as of 2:20 p.m.
According to the university’s website, the suspect was stopped at about 12:00 p.m. by a police officer at a traffic stop on campus. The officer was shot during the traffic stop. Another victim was found dead in a nearby parking lot.
The Town of Blacksburg website describes the suspect as a white male wearing gray sweatpants, a gray hat with neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and backpack.
The campus went into lockdown shortly after the police officer was shot. The university also sent out alert text messages to students advising them to stay inside until further notice.
“I didn’t hear anything or know anything until my friend showed me the message from the school,” said Virginia Tech student Hunter Byrnes, who lives near the site of the shooting. “But I’ve seen cops running by with guns yelling at people to stay away from windows.”
A 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech claimed the lives of 33 people, making it the country’s deadliest school shooting. University officials and police were in Washington, D.C. today repealing the $55,000 fine they received for the handling of the 2007 shooting, according to the Washington Post. The university was criticized at the time for their slow response to the first shooting, sending alerts two hours later.
This time, the university sent emails, text messages and electronic messages to classrooms only minutes after the officer was killed.
“It just makes it more serious and scary that people could possibly be hurt again here,” Byrnes said.
A flurry of gunshot reports following the shooting of the officer are unfounded, according to the university’s website.
