Shootings at Virginia Tech

[trooneh]

Two people, including a Virginia Tech police officer, were killed in shootings on Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg on Thursday, the university said.

Witnesses saw the police officer being shot during a traffic stop on campus, and the second victim was found shot dead at a nearby parking lot toward which the gunman had been seen fleeing, the university said. The status of the shooter was not immediately known, and the campus was on lockdown Thursday afternoon, spokesman Mark Owczarski said.

The shootings come more than four years after a shooting spree in which a Virginia Tech student, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, shot dead 32 people on the campus before killing himself in April 2007.

The following are running updates on Thursday's shootings:

[Updated 2:10 p.m. ET] Six agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are at Virginia Tech to help with the response to Thursday's shooting, ATF spokesman Scot Thomasson said, according to CNN's Carol Cratty. Twenty additional agents are on standby, he added.

"The agents are very familiar with the campus and the buildings" because they have worked with Blacksburg police since the 2007 mass shooting on campus, Thomasson said.

[Updated 2:07 p.m. ET] The staff of the Collegiate Times newspaper has been evacuated from its offices in the Squires Student Center on the Virginia Tech campus, the paper's Twitter feed reports.

[Updated 1:56 p.m. ET] A Virginia Tech police officer has been shot and killed after making a traffic stop on the university's campus, Mark Owczarski, the university's director of news and information, said Thursday.

The suspect fled on foot toward another parking lot where a second person was also found dead, he said.

The shooter is still at large, he said.

[Updated 1:39 p.m. ET] Sirens were heard around the Virginia Tech campus Thursday, and rescue workers were trying to resuscitate a person who was on the ground, school employee Brian Walls told CNN. The school was on lockdown after shots were reported, and the school's website said a police officer was shot.

Follow the incident via the Twitter feed of the school's newspaper, the Collegiate Times. These reports have not been confirmed by CNN.

[Updated 1:16 p.m. ET] A police officer has been shot on or near the campus of Virginia Tech, the university's website says. A possible second victim is reported down in a parking lot and the suspect is at large, the website says.

Classes for the semester ended Wednesday. Students were preparing Thursday for final exams.

[Posted 1:01 p.m. ET] The campus of Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg is on lockdown after a report of shots being fired on the campus.

The suspected shooter is described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with a neon green brim and a maroon hoodie and carrying a backpack, according to the university's website.

Those on campus should seek shelter or stay where they are, the website says.

In April 2007, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, shot dead 32 people on the campus before killing himself.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/08/reports-of-shots-fired-at-virginia-tech/?hpt=hp_t3

[Kaius]

Oh no... Not again. :| I remember the Tech massacre. A long distance mate of mine was at the campus when it happened. Christ >.<

[UnknownError]

Another one? D:
It was probably going to be a copycat crime but then the person chickened out or something stopped them. :/

[Jupiter]

darn, this really sucks. my thoughts go out to the families who were affected.

[Suicune]

Again huh?
Well damn. :|

[xDarkAngelx]

Not again...Vauguely remember the Tech mascacre. Thoughts go out to all the families affected.

[Njathind]

This is so tragic, why do people feel the need to do this? Thoughts go out to all those affected by it.

[Sugaree]

Two people confirmed dead. One was the police officer who pulled over the gun man for a routine traffic stop, and another that is still unconfirmed (some say it IS the shooter, others say it ISN'T).

[StoppingTime]

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech says there is no longer a threat on campus and normal activities can resume after two people, including a police officer, were shot and killed on Virginia Tech's campus Thursday.
While officials would not confirm that the second victim in the shooting was in fact the gunman, a law enforcement source tells Fox News that authorities do believe that the second victim is the gunman, and that he suffered a self-inflicted wound.



An unidentified Virginia Tech police officer was shot shortly after noon during a traffic stop in the Coliseum parking lot near McComas Hall, a gymnasium on the 2,600-acre campus.
A witness reportedly saw a third party suspect approach the officer, fire a weapon and then flee the scene, Dr. Gene Deisinger Deputy Chief Officer of Virginia Tech Police Department said in a press conference.
The officer later died.
Officials said that they don't believe the suspect was in the vehicle involved in the traffic stop, or related to it in anyway.
Witnesses reported to police that the shooter fled on foot toward a parking lot, where a second unidentified victim was found dead.
An officer reportedly observed a "suspicious subject," identified as the second victim, but by the time the officer approached the subject, the subject was deceased, Deisinger said.
Bob Carpienteri of Virginia State Police said, "we're in good hands and it's safe."
A weapon has be recovered, Carpienteri confirmed.
The suspect, according to an earlier posting on the school's website, is described as a white male and was wearing gray sweatpants and a gray hat with a neon green brim.
"We are very pleased with the results today in terms of communication within the community," Dr. Charles Steger, President of Virginia Tech said.
"Several law enforcement agencies have responded to assist," read an earlier posting on the school's website. "Virginia State Police has been requested to take lead in the investigation."
Messages seeking comment from school officials were not immediately returned.
"There is an active campus alert in Blacksburg," read an earlier notice on the school's website. "Everyone should seek shelter or stay where you are. Blacksburg Transit service is suspended until the alert is lifted."
Reports of subsequent gunshots heard on campus were unfounded, officials said. Schools in nearby Montgomery County were also placed on locked down following the shooting.
Britni Wilson, a student at the school, told Fox News she and other students were remaining indoors.
"It doesn't seem like too much is going on around here," she said. "We're all just staying in, nothing else is really going on downtown."
Julia Fleming, a Virginia Tech freshman, told WDBJ-TV she did not hear any shots being fired, but saw the officer covered in blood.
"I guess the officer didn't make it because they covered him with sheets," Fleming said.
Students on campus were scheduled to participate in a reading day, as final exams were scheduled to begin tomorrow. Virginia Tech academic leadership is currently in the process of trying to arrange a new exam schedule, Larry Hinker, Associate Vice President of Communications at Virginia Tech said.
"The loss of human life is a tremendous tragedy felt by everyone in the community," Hinker said.
The university is reportedly putting in place counseling and support for students, faculty and families.
On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a senior English major at the school, killed 32 students and faculty before committing suicide in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
"I'm upset we have to meet again under these circumstances," Hinker said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/08/shots-fired-at-virginia-techs-campus-gunman-sought/?test=latestnews#ixzz1fzgY0Q9q

Gunman is thought to be one of the two dead.

[Jess]

ugh not again...

I heard about this on the bus on the way home, I was pretty shocked

[Mutah]

Heard about it when I got home.. I was shocked and disgusted..