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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Va Tech

Va Tech

by Kay|  December 8, 20111:36 pm| 73 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Early reports, perhaps not reliable, etc.

BLACKSBURG, VA (RNN) – At least one person is dead and a second victim might be wounded on the campus of Virginia Tech after reports of gunshots.

According to a VT Alert sent to students, a police officer has been shot and has died. There are indications that there may be a second victim at a separate parking lot.

There are reports of a gunshot victim in the Cage Lot, an off-campus parking lot where students can park their cars and take a shuttle to campus.

The school is on lockdown after gunshots were reported near a campus parking lot.

The university’s website described the shooter as white male wearing gray sweatpants, a gray hat with a neon brim, maroon hoodie and backpack.

It also said he was headed toward McComas Hall at 12:47 p.m. ET.

School officials are telling students to seek shelter and stay where they are. Classes have been suspended until further notice.

Media reports indicate the shooting may be the result of a nearby traffic stop.

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Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    Tonybrown74

    December 8, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    VTech again???

    What the hell!!

  2. 2.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    My SIL is on the faculty there.

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 8, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    OK, standard caveat that early reports are seldom much help in retrospect.

    However, it would be absolutely irresponsible not to speculate that the shooter is a KenyanAtheistIslamicSoshulist inspired by Tim Kaine’s debate performance the other night.

  4. 4.

    MattMinus

    December 8, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    Who fucking cares? People were shot in my city yesterday, but that didn’t even make the local news.

  5. 5.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    Report from TPM via Twitter:

    Breaking: suspect being apprehended on steps of performing arts building on College Ave via @CollegiateTimes

    Collegiate Times is the VA Tech campus newspaper.

  6. 6.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    @MattMinus: Too bad it wasn’t you, asshole.

  7. 7.

    Yutsano

    December 8, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    @MattMinus: So what do you want a cookie?

  8. 8.

    Cris (without an H)

    December 8, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    That police officer would still be alive if John Derbyshire had been there to rush the gunman.

  9. 9.

    eemom

    December 8, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    fuck this state and its fucked up gun laws. I hate it.

  10. 10.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    @Cris (without an H): Better yet, Derbyshire wouldn’t be. That’s a win-win.

  11. 11.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    More from TPM twitter:

    RT @CollegiateTimes: Breaking: person who surrendered at Performance Arts Building is not under arrest

  12. 12.

    JPL

    December 8, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    TPM posted a live feed
    link

  13. 13.

    eemom

    December 8, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    @MattMinus:

    Kind of early in the story to be that much of an asshole — but since being an asshole is what you do, at least it’s not a surprise.

  14. 14.

    fasteddie9318

    December 8, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    @Soonergrunt: Kay’s link has been updated to say that one suspect was apprehended but there may still be a second suspect on the loose.

  15. 15.

    JPL

    December 8, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    wow.. I’m in moderation for posting a link… to an nbc broadcast

  16. 16.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    @MattMinus: You ever throw something out there that feels really, really good at the moment you do, and then a very short time later everyone is looking you and going “dude, WTF?!” And then, if you’ve got any self awareness at all, you’re like “oh, shit. I fucked up”?
    Because if you didn’t ever do that before, welcome to the club.

  17. 17.

    ericblair

    December 8, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    @eemom:

    fuck this state and its fucked up gun laws. I hate it.

    Time to resurrect the NoVa separatist movement. We’ll have West Virginia, North Virginia, and the Virginia That Hasn’t Left Yet.

  18. 18.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Reuters is reporting two dead, quoting VA Tech spokesman.

  19. 19.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    @JPL: you been cleared. #12

  20. 20.

    Paula

    December 8, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    Jerk @ no. 4, we care because this is the second time this has happened at VA Tech and also because the potential for mass shootings at large open-to-all areas like a university is very much a concern for the public at large.

  21. 21.

    Arclite

    December 8, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    OH NO! This is terrible.

    @ Kay: Wow you are on a tear today. Keep posting!

  22. 22.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    @Paula: You think a stupid motherfucker like that cares about a rational explanation?

  23. 23.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    7 minutes ago, from the @CollegiateTimes twitter feed:

    VT releases report: Suspect killed police officer in Coliseum Lot, then fled toward Cage. Second victim was killed in parking lot.

    It appears that the shooter is not the other casualty.

  24. 24.

    geg6

    December 8, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    Oh no!

    Jeebus, what are the odds this would happen again so soon? Damn. My best vibes go out to the people at VA Tech. Having had our own scare on campus this fall, I can only imagine what they must feel. Terrible, just terrible.

  25. 25.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    http://twitter.com/#!/CollegiateTimes

    There are multiple reports of shots and police activity, but most pressing appears to be in Squires

    Squires is the student union/student center. The CT has its offices there.

  26. 26.

    CaseyL

    December 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    Not V-Tech again; how awful for them.

    Some cerebrally-challenged dicklick on a news site comment board said it was too bad the students still can’t carry guns. Haven’t heard the dicklick’s reaction to the news that one of the dead is a police officer, who presumably not only carried a gun but knew how to use the goddamn thing.

    I don’t hate guns. I own one, and frankly enjoy shooting at a range. But, man, it is hard not to hate gun advocates.

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    December 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    Ugh. Bad anywhere but downright cruel occurring again at VT.

  28. 28.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    @Soonergrunt: I’ll stop. My wife called her sis but no reply so far.

  29. 29.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    @Raven: stop what? Keep doing whatever you’re doing. I have to go to a meeting shortly.

  30. 30.

    PeakVT

    December 8, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    The cage lot always was a miserable place, but I guess I should be thankful I only had my car broken into out there.

  31. 31.

    Woodrowfan

    December 8, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    @ericblair: The state of Fairfax baby! We rock! And it’d have more people than a bunch of those big western empty states…

  32. 32.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Let’s all bitch because the swat team has 16’s and flack jackets.

  33. 33.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 2:14 pm

    @Soonergrunt: I was posting the same stuff you were from CT.

  34. 34.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 2:16 pm

    @CaseyL: That’s the problem with those people. They don’t get that actually doing that under fire is a hell of a lot harder than doing it on a range.

  35. 35.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    From my SIL

    “OK, on lockdown very close to shooting site”

  36. 36.

    eemom

    December 8, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    My nephew at Tech said the networks are down.

  37. 37.

    amk

    December 8, 2011 at 2:30 pm

    Cue ‘guns don’t kill people’ chant from nra acolytes.

  38. 38.

    terraformer

    December 8, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    I used to be on the faculty at VT, and was in the next building over from where the 30+ victims were shot (Norris Hall), sitting in my office and oblivious to what was going on. Another one here? Many people don’t know that the first day of the fall semester (the year the 30+ massacre happened), there was an escaped convict on campus with a gun who took off from a local hospital after faking an injury. He killed a security guard. Then there was an Asian student who cut off the freaking head of a female Asian student in the Student Union using a knife. And now this.

    Glad I got outta there.

  39. 39.

    PurpleGirl

    December 8, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    @Raven: I hope your SIL (and everybody else on campus) will be all right.

    eemom: Ditto for your nephew.

  40. 40.

    Raven

    December 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    @PurpleGirl: Everyone else since at least 2 are not.

  41. 41.

    khead

    December 8, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    What the hell has been put in the water in B’burg since I graduated?

  42. 42.

    Tom Levenson

    December 8, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    @Soonergrunt: O/t but (a) you’re exactly right, of course, and (b) you just reminded me of a conversation I had after reading an excerpt of Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In it, Pollan described a pig hunt he undertook in the California’s Coast Range. He wrote of taking a shot at a pig, just before his hunting companion and guide did, and then being unsure “in the fog of war” whether or not he had actually hit the one pig that fell amongst those in sight.

    I pointed out to my friend that the last time I checked, California’s wild pig population was unarmed (or at least, lacking both opposable thumbs and access to gunpowder). Pointing a gun at anything — and especially if that target is pointing one back at you — is an emotionally charged experience; precise actions in that moment come from training, kinesthetic and mental. The mind’s side, of course, is the more important, and the more difficult.

    Which is a long winded way of saying that those who say these tragedies would cease if only more of us were packing are Morans.

  43. 43.

    PurpleGirl

    December 8, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    @Raven: It’s just so awful when these things happen. It leaves me flustered as to what I can say, cause I want to hope for the people who say they know someone there and at the same time I don’t want to be cynical and say something stupid.

  44. 44.

    Paula

    December 8, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    @Raven:

    Good point.

    Hope your SIL stays safe.

  45. 45.

    horse dave

    December 8, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    The great state of Maryland will gladly annex N. Virginia. Just think no more AG Cuccinelli so you will again be allowed to teach science in your schools!

  46. 46.

    eemom

    December 8, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Thank you.

  47. 47.

    Elizabelle

    December 8, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    Something that I find irresponsible:

    ABC affiliate in Washington has big breaking news: Virginia Tech Shooting.

    At least CNN’s onscreen headline reads “2 killed at Virginia Tech.”

    Can you imagine the shock of recognition among DC area families with students at Tech?

    How are they to know it’s not another massacre underway? Deja vu.

  48. 48.

    Countme In

    December 8, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    If only that unfortunate police officer and his weapon would have been in the VT classroom where 33 were murdered in 2007.

    The body count would have been 34 dead, him included, AND he could have missed today’s carnage.

  49. 49.

    Ellie

    December 8, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    A text from my son says they’re still locked down. They are getting no other news, but the VT twitter feed indicates a media briefing at 4:30. If that’s scheduled, I would think they feel they have the situation in hand. shrug

    horse dave @ 45: I’m sure many of us would take you up on that offer, but that would mean I’d be paying out of state tuition.

  50. 50.

    kMc

    December 8, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    @horse dave:

    As a Richmonder, I would gladly give up all of Northern VA to Maryland. I know, I know, we need the tax dollars. Still, the fucking traffic up there is enough to drive anyone insane.

  51. 51.

    NobodySpecial

    December 8, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    The university’s website described the shooter as white male wearing gray sweatpants, a gray hat with a neon brim, maroon hoodie and backpack.

    I’m sure this will be reported as ‘Muslim’ on your favorite websites.

  52. 52.

    Woodrowfan

    December 8, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    As a Richmonder, I would gladly give up all of Northern VA to Maryland. I know, I know, we need the tax dollars. Still, the fucking traffic up there is enough to drive anyone insane.

    if we weren’t paying for the roads in the rest of the state, northern VA would be able to take care of our own roads, including expanding public transportation. But then, can you imagine what the state government of VA would look like without Arlington/Alexandria/Falls Church/Fairfax voting? We’re barely able to keep Richmond (the state govt, not the city) at least a little bit sane. Without northern VA the state legislature would look like those in Texas or Idaho.

  53. 53.

    wrb

    December 8, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    I pointed out to my friend that the last time I checked, California’s wild pig population was unarmed (or at least, lacking both opposable thumbs and access to gunpowder). Pointing a gun at anything—and especially if that target is pointing one back at you—is an emotionally charged experience; precise actions in that moment come from training, kinesthetic and mental. The mind’s side, of course, is the more important, and the more difficult.

    Those pigs can be scary. And sometimes the minds of the bravest White Hunters don’t function when scared as in the fantasy.

    There was a double grizzly killing near a place where I was working in the Arctic in the 80s.

    The investigation concluded that the bear had snuck up behind the native guide and knocked his head off before he could get a shot off. It then walked up to the White Hunter as the brave fellow discharged every round in his rifle without hitting the bear once (or at least without causing the bear to leave traces of blood). The bear then dispatched him.

  54. 54.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 8, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    @wrb:

    Final score: Bear 2, Hairless Apes 0.

  55. 55.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Press Conference in VA Tech to begin shortly.

  56. 56.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    “No active threat, resume activities. Signs point to second victim being gunman”

    What signs? The presence of a gun, maybe?

  57. 57.

    Aet

    December 8, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Cage was always a cesspit, it was just a well-lit one during the day. It’s basically a enormous parking lot for students, one that’s a little over half a mile away from most of campus, and is on the exact other side of campus from Squires, the student union. A more perfect metaphor for Virginia Tech’s appreciation of its undergraduates there could not be.

    The cars don’t just belong to the off-campus students, but also to the students who live in the dorms. For many, its a long-term parking lot. Or at least, they use it as one. I’m reasonably sure a few people I went to school with lived out of their cars there and never got caught.

    I always thought it was a great place to get mugged. I’m sorry this happened, but I cannot say I am surprised.

  58. 58.

    Chuck Butcher

    December 8, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    Everything that makes for good accurate shooting goes out the window in these kinds of situations – and that includes cops. This is the reason you get police shootings where 19 or more shots are fired at the offender with only one or two hits. Those of you who don’t shoot have no idea what all is involved and just the stress of competition will push experienced practiced shooters out of what is required.

    The simple fact of increased adrenaline flow can destroy accuracy. The list of what it takes to overcome the effects of extreme stress is long and flatly most can’t do it – cop, military, whatever.

  59. 59.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    Well, there’s no indication from the press conference that the officer got a shot off.
    It appears that the officer was shot and killed in the parking lot, and that the other person was found later by police at or near the duck pond. (we have a duck pond at OU, BTW) And this person was found dead by officers.
    Officer was a 4-year veteran of the VT PD.

  60. 60.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    VA PD will not comment at this time whether the second victim is suspected shooter. State that investigation is ongoing.

  61. 61.

    andy

    December 8, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    I hate the newspaper comment threads under stories like this. After the usual “guns don’t kill people” rap, they invariably turn to fantasy, and then to a discussion of the .45 vs 9mm controversy. It’s all just a game until somebody gets hurt. And when somebody gets hurt, it’s still a game. Too many of these killers turn out to be the “law abiding gun~owner” until the day they decide not to be…

  62. 62.

    Soonergrunt

    December 8, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Officers did not shoot the other victim (probable shooter) likely he shot himself (if the shooter).

  63. 63.

    LanceThruster

    December 8, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    As a university staff member, I am familiar with the security and safety concerns an open campus entails. We have had our share of unfortunate occurances (suicides, fatal hit and run, armed robbery gun death) but nothing of the scope of VT.

    As an unrelated aside, I purchased VT and Texas A&M coasters from the dollar store because of their connection with infamy (Texas A&M had the bonfire collapse). Morbid associations aside, they hold meaning for me. They are not to make light of the deaths but rather a reminder that highlights just how readily such locales can be thrust into our consciousness from the noteriety of such tragedies. I find the depiction of skulls as having a similar theme of mortality and transience (and collect artwork along those lines as well).

  64. 64.

    Chuck Butcher

    December 8, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @andy:

    they invariably turn to fantasy

    These things turn into fantasy on all sides. You promptly scoff at the guns don’t kill people – people do; and yet if you give a second’s thought to the number of guns and gun owners in the US it is patently true or there’d be nobody standing. The idea that the average schmoe would be of any use in a shooting is fantasy, but that is also true of the idea that cops are particularly capable. Facts go out the window on both sides and emotion rules. Your kneejerk reactions offer no more solutions than the idea that arming everyone does. Since one is too many your observation about “law-abiding gun owners” is just nonsense, particularly when the offenses are scrutinized in that context and trying to promote public policy on the basis of crap results in crap.

  65. 65.

    JasperL

    December 8, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    Slightly OT, but there was another horrific incident today in Chicago. Anurudha Udeni Dhammika Dharmapala, a law professor at U of Illinois, had his neck slashed. Here’s how the attack was described:

    “A male witness told police the men were both seated in the waiting area when one man suddenly jumped up and shouted that this was his country and attacked Dharmapala”

    Article

  66. 66.

    newsouthzach

    December 8, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    Gosh. If only police officers were allowed to carry guns, this would never have happened!

  67. 67.

    portlander

    December 8, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @terraformer:

    I was working there for a couple of years. It does seem like a lot more weird killing happens in that area than in other places. You got most of it, but there were also a couple of murder-suicides in the area, and the gay bar shooting in Roanoke. A dark place indeed.

  68. 68.

    mclaren

    December 8, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    According to a VT Alert sent to students, a police officer has been shot and has died.

    A good start.

  69. 69.

    AxelFoley

    December 8, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    @Countme In:

    If only that unfortunate police officer and his weapon would have been in the VT classroom where 33 were murdered in 2007.
    __
    The body count would have been 34 dead, him included, AND he could have missed today’s carnage.

    The fuck?

  70. 70.

    AxelFoley

    December 8, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    @mclaren:

    According to a VT Alert sent to students, a police officer has been shot and has died.

    A good start

    You truly are a douchebag.

  71. 71.

    alix

    December 9, 2011 at 12:55 am

    I grew up there– lovely town. I think there was one murder in 10 years.

    It’s really such a shame that such a lovely place would be victimized twice. But this time at least sounds like they contained it quickly.

  72. 72.

    Uriel

    December 9, 2011 at 5:06 am

    @mclaren: Wow! that’s not the least bit juvenile or pointlessly offensive!

    Do me a favor- if we ever hit a SHTF situation, remind me that you are not on my side.

  73. 73.

    Uriel

    December 9, 2011 at 5:09 am

    @AxelFoley:

    Forget it Axel- it’s crazy town.

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