WASHINGTON – Authorities shut down the Virginia Tech campus for hours yesterday after a report of a gunman at the university where 32 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2007.
Police and school officials said there had been no additional sighting of the man on campus. The school was put on lockdown and all classes and activities were cancelled for the day while police searched the area.
The school released an alert on its website in the morning that said: "Person with a gun reported near Dietrick [a dining hall]. Stay inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help."
Police and school officials said three youths attending a "higher achievement" camp on campus reported seeing a white man carrying what appeared to be a gun covered with a cloth.
Virginia Tech police later released a sketch of the person. – (Reuters)