Published : Dec. 9, 2011 - 09:43
BLACKSBURG, Virginia (AP) _ A gunman walked into a parking lot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer who was conducting a traffic stop Thursday, state police said, in the first gunfire on campus since 33 people were killed in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Students return to activities, after school officials declared the campus safe from two earlier shootings, in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. A gunman walked into a parking lot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer who was conducting a traffic stop on campus Thursday, state police said. Another officer later spotted a second person in a different parking lot who was alive at the time. That person, a white man, later died of a gunshot wound. (AP-yonhap News)
Sgt. Robert Carpentieri said it appeared that the shooter was not in the car that had been pulled over. Carpentieri said another officer later spotted a second person in a different parking lot who was alive at the time. That person, a white man, later died of a gunshot wound.
Police would not say whether the second dead person was the gunman. However, a law enforcement official who had knowledge of the case and spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the gunman was believed to be dead. Investigators were interviewing the person who was pulled over in the traffic stop.
Virginia Tech officials said on the school's website that a weapon was recovered near the second body found in a parking lot on campus. They also said there was no longer an active threat Thursday afternoon and that normal activities could resume after an hourslong lockdown.
The school applied the lessons learned nearly five years ago, closing down the campus and warning students and faculty members via email and text message to stay indoors. Thursday's shootings came as university officials were in Washington appealing a fine that U.S. officials gave them over the school's response to the 2007 rampage.
The campus swarmed with heavily armed police. Students hid in buildings, a day before final exams were to begin Friday.
``A lot of people, especially toward the beginning were scared,'' said Jared Brumfield, a 19-year-old freshman who was locked in the Squires Student Center since around 1:30 p.m. ``A lot of people are loosening up now. I guess we're just waiting it out, waiting for it to be over.''
The school sent various alerts to students, school spokesman Mark Owczarski said. The suspect was described as a white man wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and backpack.
``It's crazy that someone would go and do something like that with all the stuff that happened in 2007,'' said Corey Smith, a 19-year-old sophomore. He told The Associated Press that he stayed inside after seeing the alerts from the school.
Campus was quieter than usual because classes ended Wednesday and students were preparing for exams. The school said those tests would be postponed.
The shooting came as Virginia Tech was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university's response to the 2007 shootings.
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. By then, student gunman Seung-Hui Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more people and then himself.
The department said the email was too vague because it mentioned only a ``shooting incident,'' not the deaths.
An administrative judge ended the hearing by asking each side to submit a brief by the end of January. It is unclear when he will rule.
Since the massacre, the school has overhauled its alert system and now sends text messages, emails, tweets and posts messages on its website. Other colleges and universities have put in place similar systems.
On Thursday, during about a one-hour period, the university issued four separate alerts.
Derek O'Dell, a third-year student who was wounded in the 2007 shootings, was shaken. He was monitoring the situation from his home a couple of miles from campus.
``At first I was just hoping it was a false alarm,'' he said. ``Then there were reports of two people dead, and the second person shot was in the parking lot where I usually park to go to school, so it was kind of surreal.''
되살아난 버지니아텍의 악몽 총격사건..2명 사망
미국 버지니아 공과대학(버지니아텍)에서 8일(현지시간) 총격 사건이 발생해 학교 경찰관 1명을 포함한 2명이 숨졌다.
사건은 이날 정오 직후 버지니아주 블랙스버그에 소재한 학교 캠퍼스 내에서 발생했다.
CNN방송은 버지니아텍 교내 매코머스홀 인근 주차장에서 대학 경찰관이 한 차량을 검문하는 순간 검문과 관련이 없는 남성이 다가와 이 경찰관에게 총격을 가했다 고 전했다.
범인은 이후 인근 주차장으로 달아났다. 이어 학생들의 신고로 출동한 다른 대학 경찰관이 범인이 달아난 주차장에서 수상한 용의자가 움직이는 것을 발견했다.
그러나 경찰관이 현장에 접근했을 때는 총상을 입고 숨진 한 백인 남성만 발견 됐다. 미 언론은 이 남성 주변에서 총도 발견됐다고 전했다. 경찰관은 이 남성에 대 해 총격을 가하지 않았다고 밝히고 있어 자살 가능성이 제기되고 있다.
사건을 조사중인 경찰은 이 남성이 범인인지 여부는 즉각 확인하지 않았다. 그러나 익명을 요구한 한 사법당국 관계자는 범인이 숨진 것으로 믿고 있다고 말했다.
사건 직후 학교측은 "모든 사람은 실내에 머물고 외부 문을 잠그는 한편 창가 에서 멀리 떨어져 있어야 한다"면서 트위터와 이메일 등을 통해 교직원들에게 비상 경계령을 내렸다.
또 학교 캠퍼스는 사건 직후 완전 폐쇄됐고, 중무장한 경찰특공대 등 관련기관 요원들이 대거 출동해 범인 추적 작업을 벌였다.
학교측은 사건 발생 4시간여만인 오후 4시30분께 비상경계령을 해제했다.
학교측은 "사법당국은 더 이상 현존하는 위협이 없다고 판단했다"면서 "정상적 인 활동을 재개해도 된다"고 밝혔다.
학교측은 당초 범인이 백인 남성으로 회색 바지에 후드가 달린 고동색 스웨터셔츠를 입고 있으며 배낭을 멨다고 학생들의 주의를 당부했다.
버지니아텍은 지난 2007년 한국계 학생 조승희의 총기난사 사건이 발생해 당시 33명이 숨지고 25명이 부상했던 곳이다.
이 대학에는 3만1천여명의 학생이 재학중이다.
이번 사건은 2007년 총격 사건 이후 이 대학에서 벌어진 첫 번째 총격 사건이다. 버지니아텍은 2007년 총격사건 당시 대처가 늦었다는 비판을 받았고 학생들에 대한 경보를 제때에 발령하지 않았다는 이유로 5만5천달러의 벌금도 물었다.
버지니아텍에서는 지난 8월에도 총기소지자가 대학 구내에 출현했다는 신고가 접수돼 캠퍼스가 폐쇄되고 경찰이 수색하는 일이 벌어졌다.
한편 버지니아텍 경찰 책임자를 비롯한 대학 당국자들이 5만5천달러의 벌금 부과에 이의를 제기하기 위해 열린 연방법원 청문회 출석차 사건이 벌어진 이날 때마 침 워싱턴 DC에 대거 올라와 있었다고 미 언론은 전했다.