Virginia Tech president Charles Steger and police officials just held a press conference on campus and confirmed that the area has been given the all clear and the lockdown on campus has been lifted. Students and faculty at the school are now allowed to “return to normal activity,” with the threat considered removed from the school
Steger started off the conference by saying that “Our hearts are broken again for the family of our police officer.” The Police deputy chief Deisinger then took the floor to explain the events of the morning. At around 12 PM this afternoon, a campus police officer – who remains unidentified at this time – pulled a car over at the parking garage for a routing traffic violation. It was there that the shooter stepped out of the vehicle and shot the cop before taking off on foot. Shortly after, a second shooting was cited in a different parking lot, with a white male reported dead at the scene.
Now, this is important. According to Deisinger:
“Following the second incidents there were no further sightings or concerns reported to the Virginia Tech police.”
That means, any other claims of shootings elsewhere on campus are unfounded. Police followed leads all over campus, but no arrests were made and no evidence was found of another shooting. It has also been confirmed that the weapon used to shoot the cop was recovered at the second crime scene, leading some to believe that the second victim was actually the gunman.
However, the police will not comment on identity of second victim and cannot say if he is shooter. An investigation on both deaths are still pending.
Our condolences go out to the family of the brave police officer who gave his life for the safety of the school. Very sad!