Virginia Tech On Lockdown After Gunman Reportedly Seen Near Campus Dining Hall
- Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:26am by
Billy Hallowell
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BLACKSBURG, Va. (The Blaze/AP) — Va. Tech officials say a gunman has been reported on campus. The campus is now in lockdown.
The university issued an alert on its website at 9:37 a.m. Thursday telling students and employees to stay inside and secure doors. The school also took to Twitter to announce the incident:
The alert says the gunman was reported near Dietrick Hall, a three-story dining facility. The dining hall is steps away from the dorm where the first shootings took place in the 2007 when Seung-Hui Cho, a student at the school, murdered 33 people (including himself).
Federal authorities fined the school in March after ruling that administrators violated campus safety law by waiting too long to notify staff and students about a potential threat after two students were shot to death April 16, 2007, in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a dorm near the dining facility.
The school says on its website that three juveniles attending a camp at the school reported seeing a man holding what may have been a handgun. They said it was covered by a cloth or covering of some sort, and that the man was walking in the direction of the volleyball courts.
Va. Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said that the three children were interviewed, and that the information they gave was deemed credible.
WSLS has more:
Officers responded immediately to the area but found no one matching the description. Police have encountered no other witnesses reporting this individual or anything suspicious. Law enforcement officers from VTPD, Blacksburg PD, Christiansburg, PD, and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office are patrolling the campus, continuing to look for the subject.
USA Today reports on a description of the man:
Lynn Davis, a spokesperson for the school, tells CNN the man is described as a white male, with light-brown hair, wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt. He is also wearing shorts and sandals, she says.
The AP reports that it is unclear when the lockdown will be lifted. University spokesman Larry Hincker said:
“That’s the $64,000 question. You get this report of a sighting that someone might have had a weapon. Then you’ve got this one-square-mile campus, 150 major buildings with several million square feet of space to search.”
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
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Comments (48)
sWampy
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:28amThey are really cranking up the propaganda now, can’t be long now before the Gifford law is introduced. ;-(
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:43amDo you mean Va. Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum is putting out propaganda?
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 12:58pmAh yes, the stench of the New America. Stay inside and cower, because there’s an unconfirmed rumor that a man has a gun and is walking down the street, in a state where open carry of firearms is commonplace and accepted by the majority of the people there.
Report Post »shirelover
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:08pm@GhostofJefferson
Love the photo – I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts, you have uncommon sense(in that common sense ain’t so common anymore) I wish we had the ability of e-mailing each other to talk…you, Snow and some others are people I would like to get together, I’ll bet you guys could hammer out what needs to be gotten rid of and what we keep in DC
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:30pmThank you for the kind words Shirelover! :)
There are many ideas I have which I believe could really help the state of affairs we find ourselves in, however, as an admirer of the Shire myself, I have to wonder about even considering taking The One Ring. You see, I would try to use it to do good, and in doing so would become evil myself.
I need to start a Facebook page for a “business” and link to it, there are other folks who have made the same kind of observation. The Blaze is a very limited forum utilizing what appears to be 1998 technology. I enjoy the commentary here, but it would be nice to talk off the public threads, wot? If I drop an email address on the thread I can guarantee that it would be flooded in 2 minutes by both spam and HuffPo haters. I’ll see about setting up that FB page.
Slainte!
Report Post »coldarkstare
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:24amsomething stinks about this…
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 12:50pmMy first thoughts as well.
Report Post »Fear The Voices
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:38pmSeems like a great ‘crisis’ to be exploited by the progressive know-it-alls for the good of society.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:22ami have GOT to get my ccw soon..
Report Post »Ronko
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:20amIt sounds like people are jumping to conclusions on what this is. I wished the news outlets would wait before jumping up and down screaming, “FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Report Post »fly892
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:16amFor Your Safety, No Guns Allowed. Govt Bldgs, Post Office etc……..I feel so safe……………..
Report Post »david3755
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:19amYes. No guns for the victims. How is that working out?
Report Post »N5DVC
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:20pmWhat a rush for those ‘juveniles’ to get the campus locked down with a vague report…
Report Post »I know they ‘lock down’ elementary schools but those are defenseless children. College students are ADULTS! What has happened to you Virginia?? You are an open carry state! Give those students guns. Then, an active shooter ceases to be a god, and becomes simply a target.
smithclar3nc3
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:12amFirst it was bomb threats now it gunman threats……all in very bad taste
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:09amOK, so keep your eyes open for a 2 year old Egyptian kid – got to be a tie in with the earlier story.
Report Post »RightWingMom
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:06amWaiting for Lame Stream Media to connect this to Right Wing Tea Party Terrorism in 3….2…1…
Report Post »becker88
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:08amThis cant be good.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »1791
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:00amWait, isn’t VT a GUN-FREE zone? A stated GUN-FREE zone is suppose to stop ALL guns from getting on campus.
Report Post »agameofthrones
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:13amIt’s too bad that the guns hitch a ride with people instead of staying put. Otherwise, they would never do any harm. It’s the crazy people who do this that allow the leftists to try to make us think gun control would solve this problem. I guarantee that those who want to use a gun to commit a crime will find one, and the disarmed populace will be at his mercy.
Report Post »PApeacemaker
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:55amThe kid prolly had a bagel under that cloth trying to keep it warm. Just because u see a white male walking with a cloth over his hands doesnt mean he has a gun. Now if he was a muslim then id be worried.
Report Post »BoyDawg
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:16amPA PeaceMaker – You know it’s not good to talk like that. I’m not trying to shelter a terrorist, but to cast all Muslims in that light does no good for any of us.
Report Post »Legal Immigrant
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:54amHey now. Maybe someone found a lost marital aid and is taking trying to find it’s owner…?
It‘s a gunman or it’s not.
Try the word “Alledged” or “Possible”.
It‘s a duck when it’s found and quacks. Until then let’s let hysteria and innuendo create a story or non-story in everyone;s minds and lap up the propaganda a bit more.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:52amAll he wanted was is more tartar sauce at the dining hall.
Report Post »ShyMan
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:51amQuik. Send in somebody with a gun to take him out before it’s too late.
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:51amGun-free zones are target-rich environments. You never see crazed gunmen shooting up the police station. They may be crazy but they’re not stupid.
Report Post »freedomisasfreedomdoes
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:48amWhat is the attraction for sickos to VT? Wasn’t there other nutty occurences at VT, not just the 2007 incident? Like with a professor upset at getting fired or not receiving tenure or something?
Report Post »youguysready_letsroll
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 12:52pmSeems we have had something like this every year for the last 5 or 6 years at VT.Let’s see, we had the prisoner who escaped from the hospital, killed a cop and security guard and was found on the outskirts of campus, 32 killed the next year, the Fort Hood shooter graduated from VT, VT student was abducted then killed from a Metallica concert, some guy beheaded his girlfriend at the VT grad center, 2 students were randomly shot and killed while sitting in their car. Proud to be a VT alum but not at all proud of these unfortunate events that seem to occur annually.
Report Post »lainpa
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:45amThese kids are sitting ducks! Nice job VT allowing students to not protect themselves!
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:51amNow, if they would allow ccp to carry their guns, this wouldn’t happen.
Report Post »MartinLutherBling
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:45amClop Clop Clop BANG! Clop Clop Clop BANG!…..an Amish drive by shooting!
Report Post »BONETRAUMA
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:44amAnd we can’t carry on campus. Only bad guys….perfect!
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:41amNow, where are the, at least, the Faculty that is armed ready for a defensive posture? Oh The libs at the College don’t want, at least, the Faculty armed. Imagine that from the Liberal Elite.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:41amDo not let this distract the public from the gun walking scandal!
The Issa Hearings, Janet Napolitano and the road not yet taken.
Report Post »http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/08/issa-hearings-janet-napolitano-and-road.html
Rinzler
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:34amHopefully it’s just some people who are mistaken…
Report Post »Disnylv
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:43amI agree hope it is just a mistake
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:49amA mistake or a hoax! Someone’s sick prank?
Report Post »Biff Marupis
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:34amIs it still illegal for law biding citizens to conceal and carry there? If so, history is destined to repeat itself. Just sayin……
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:33amwatching thsi on Fox I HOPE and PRAY its nothing and nobody will be harmed.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:33amuh oh, not again…
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:31am.
Report Post »Great some Obama supporter craized over spending cuts……..