Virginia Tech officials said there is no longer any threat after two people -- one of them a campus police officer -- were shot and killed Thursday, and hinted that the gunman may be the second unidentified slain man. At a news conference, university and law enforcement officials would not confirm that the second person found dead in a parking lot was the gunman, though they did say a weapon had been found.
When asked directly if the gunman was still on the loose, Virginia State Police Sgt. Bob Carpentieri suggested that the media “read between the lines.” Authorities said they believe that during a routine traffic stop on campus, a suspect walked up and shot the Virginia Tech police officer. The slain officer has not been publicly identified, but the university said he was a four-year veteran of the Virginia Tech police department.
An intense search for the gunman took place after the shooting, with state police, FBI agents and officers with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searching the campus. Students and faculty were alerted through text message, and warning sirens rang out all over campus. Officials said they initiated the alert system five to seven minutes after the shooting.
Ryan Waddell, 21, a junior from Virginia Beach, said the university’s text messaging warning system worked as planned and students were alerted to go indoors before news of the shooting broke on the major networks. I’ve never talked to one student who felt unsafe.” He said he didn’t favor teachers or students being allowed to carry guns on campus. “I
The Washington, D.C., hearing, attended by Virginia Tech’s police chief and other university officials, concluded before Thursday’s shooting. The Department of Education, in levying the fine, said the university waited more than two hours after two students were shot in a dorm before sending out a warning by email.
“Based on what they knew at the time, law enforcement officers and the Virginia Tech administration acted appropriately," he said, regarding the 2007 shootings. “They did the
There was no immediate response from the Department of Education to the university’s response to Thursday’s shootings. Va. Gov. Skips High-Dollar Romney Fundraiser Because of Va. Tech Shooting
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is no longer dropping by a Mitt Romney fundraiser this afternoon after two people were shot and killed on the Virginia Tech campus. A spokesman for McDonnell told ABC News that the governor would remain in the office throughout the evening instead of attend the Romney event.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A gunman killed a police officer in a Virginia Tech parking lot today and was found dead nearby in a baffling attack that sent shudders through the campus nearly five years after it was the scene of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
The shooting took place on the same day Virginia Tech officials were in Washington, fighting a government fine over their alleged mishandling of the 2007 bloodbath. Before it became clear that the gunman in today's attack was dead, the school applied the lessons learned during the last tragedy, locking down the campus and using a high-tech alert system to warn students and faculty members to stay indoors.
The gunman — who was not involved in the traffic stop — walked into the parking lot and shot the officer, Sgt. Robert Carpentieri said. It appeared the gunman died about a quarter-mile away from the traffic stop, in another school parking lot, where officials said a man was found dead with a gun nearby. While
"Today, tragedy again struck Virginia Tech," said university president Charles Steger. The officer had served on the campus police force for four years. Heavily armed officers walked around campus as caravans of SWAT vehicles and other police cars with emergency lights flashing patrolled nearby. White said he didn't panic, thinking instead about a false alarm about a possible gunman that locked down the campus in August.
Campus was quieter than usual because classes ended Wednesday and students were preparing for exams, which were to begin Friday. The school postponed those tests. The shooting came soon after the conclusion of a hearing where Virginia Tech was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university's response to the 2007 rampage. The department said the school violated the law by waiting more than two hours after two students were shot to death in their dorm before sending an email warning.
Since the massacre, the school expanded its emergency notification systems. Alerts now go out by electronic message boards in classrooms, by text messages and other methods. During about a one-hour period on Thursday, the university issued four separate alerts. Derek O'Dell, a third-year veterinary student at Virginia Tech who was wounded in the 2007 shooting, was shaken. O'Dell was monitoring the situation from his home a couple of miles from campus. In August, a report of a possible gunman at Virginia Tech set off the longest, most extensive lockdown and search on campus since 2007.
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