Two people, one a police officer, were shot and killed this afternoon on the campus of Virginia Tech [7]. The suspect remains at large.
According to the LA Times [8], the suspect shot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer during a traffic stop in a campus parking lot. The suspect fled on foot and a second victim was later found shot dead in the same parking lot.
The university's Twitter feed [9] initially reported gunshots in the Coliseum parking lot around 1 p.m. The second victim was found at the Cage lot. Students have been urged to stay in buildings with locked doors.
Virginia Tech's website [7] states the shooter's status is "unknown," but reports of additional gunshots on campus have been unfounded. A media briefing will be held at 4:30 p.m. today.
Virginia State Police are currently leading the investigation. They are searching the campus for a suspect described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with a neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and a backpack.
This afternoon's shooting comes just more than four years after Seung-hui Cho opened fire at the university, killing 33 people including himself. The 2007 attack was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
The university was criticized heavily for its slow response to the 2007 massacre. In reaction to media scrutiny and government fines, the university updated its campus alert system and took steps to improve security. A notification of today's shooting was posted on their website today at 12:37 p.m.
According to the Denver Post [10], Virginia Tech today was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in wake of the 2007 shooting. There has been no evidence the two events are related.
See what people on Twitter are saying here [11].
