University locked down after reports of gunman
Source: Agencies |
August 5, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US university Virginia Tech was locked down yesterday when three children attending a summer camp claimed they saw a man holding what looked like a gun, an alarming report on a campus where 33 people died in a massacre in 2007.
The university issued an alert on its website soon after 9:30am yesterday telling students and employees to stay inside and lock their doors. University spokesman Larry Hincker said later the campus alert remained in effect and people should stay indoors until further notice.
The Roanoke Times also reported that the university sounded its emergency sirens and issued an emergency telephone and email alert.
The university website was inundated throughout the morning, and school officials said they were bringing additional servers online to deal with the traffic.
The children told police they saw the man walking quickly carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. Police combed the area but said they could not find a gunman matching the description. The university said on its website that no one else has reported anything suspicious.
Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum said the children's information was deemed credible.
An alert on the school's website said the gunman was reported near Dietrick Hall, a three-story dining facility steps away from the dorm where shootings took place four years ago.
The university was recently fined for violating campus safety law by waiting too long to warn staff and students after two students were shot dead in April 2007. A student went on to kill 30 more students and faculty before shooting himself.
The university issued an alert on its website soon after 9:30am yesterday telling students and employees to stay inside and lock their doors. University spokesman Larry Hincker said later the campus alert remained in effect and people should stay indoors until further notice.
The Roanoke Times also reported that the university sounded its emergency sirens and issued an emergency telephone and email alert.
The university website was inundated throughout the morning, and school officials said they were bringing additional servers online to deal with the traffic.
The children told police they saw the man walking quickly carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. Police combed the area but said they could not find a gunman matching the description. The university said on its website that no one else has reported anything suspicious.
Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum said the children's information was deemed credible.
An alert on the school's website said the gunman was reported near Dietrick Hall, a three-story dining facility steps away from the dorm where shootings took place four years ago.
The university was recently fined for violating campus safety law by waiting too long to warn staff and students after two students were shot dead in April 2007. A student went on to kill 30 more students and faculty before shooting himself.
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