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Virginia Tech Campus Suffers Fatal Shooting

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Updated 6:40 pm ET, Thursday, December 8

A shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech on Thursday left at least two dead, including one police officer.

The campus, which endured the nation’s deadliest school shooting in 2007, remained on lockdown for much of the afternoon.

“Everyone has been directed to stay indoors, lock all exterior doors and stay away from the windows,” school spokesman Dana Cruikshank told Reuters.

The suspect was described as a “white male wearing gray sweat pants, gray hat with neon green brim, maroon hoodie and backpack,” according to the Associated Press.

Police were also said to have issued an alert over a police scanner to “be on the lookout for a burgundy Mitsubishi license: kmp-1811,” according to reports on Twitter.

Other reports suggested that the shooting may have been connected to an armed robbery that took place on Wednesday in nearby Radford, 30 miles away, but that has yet to be confirmed.

The shooting reportedly began after noon, following a routine traffic stop by a police officer in the Cassell Coliseum parking lot near McComas Hall, the university reported. The officer was shot and killed in front of witnesses, according to the university’s news release.

The gunman then reportedly fled toward another parking lot near Duck Pond Drive, witnesses told police. A second person was reported dead there.

One person wearing a gray shirt and jeans reportedly surrendered to police on the steps of the performing arts building, but was not arrested, according to The Collegiate Times.

The Blacksburg Transit bus service was suspended, according to the newspaper.

Virginia State Police were asked to take the lead in the investigation and several law enforcement agencies have also responded to the shooting, the university said.

SWAT, FBI and ATF officers were also sweeping the university, according to The Collegiate Times and ABC News.

Virginia Tech issued a campus-wide alert at 12:36 pm ET over text messages, Twitter, email and on its website, writing “Gun shots reported- Coliseum Parking lot. Stay Inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help.”

Final exams, which were scheduled to start on Friday, have been canceled for that day and a decision is still being made on the final schedule for subsequent days, according to the university.

Late update: The lockdown has apparently been lifted: Virginia Tech’s news department tweeted at around 4:30 pm ET that “Law enforcement agencies have determined there is no longer an active threat or need to secure in place. Resume normal activities.”

Second update: A law enforcement source close to the investigation told the Associated Press that the gunman was believed to be dead, declining to say if it was one of the two persons reported dead earlier. USA Today also has an excellent map showing the alleged path of the shooter through the Virginia Tech campus.

Third update: Law enforcement officials have confirmed the second person found dead on the Virginia Tech campus was the shooter, The Washington Post reported. Police have not yet released the male’s identity, though it was earlier reported that they were attempting to identify him.

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