Gun killings recall horror of massacre at US college

Students at the college, which has introduced strict emergency procedures since the 2007 shooting, were locked in their rooms for several hours until the threat was over.

The gunman, who was still unidentified last night, killed a police officer and then turned a gun on himself,

School officials said there was no longer an active threat and that normal activities could resume on the campus, where final exams were about to begin.

As police hunted for the gunman yesterday, the school applied the lessons learned nearly five years ago, locking down the campus and warning students and faculty members via e-mail and text message to stay indoors.

The campus swarmed with heavily armed police. Students hid in buildings, a day before final exams were to begin.

“A lot of people, especially towards the beginning, were scared,” said Jared Brumfield, 19, who was locked in the student centre. “A lot of people are loosening up now. I guess we’re just waiting it out, waiting for it to be over.”

“It’s crazy someone would go and do something like that with all the stuff that happened in 2007,” said Corey Smith, also 19.

Derek O’Dell, a third-year student who was wounded in the 2007 shootings, was shaken.

He said: “At first I was just hoping it was a false alarm. 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.”

The shooting came as Virginia Tech was appealing against a £35,200 fine by the US education department in connection with its response to the 2007 killings.

The department said the school violated the law by waiting more than two hours after two students were shot dead in their dorm before sending an e-mail 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 e-mail 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, e-mails and tweets, and posts messages on its website.

The school said a police officer pulled someone over for a traffic offence and was shot and killed. The gunman ran towards a car park, where a second person was found dead.

Various alerts were sent to students and the university was sending updates every 30 minutes, said school spokesman Mark Owczarski.

The suspect is described as a white man wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a grey hat with neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and backpack.

The university said the police officer, a member of Virginia Tech’s own security force, was shot and killed during a “routine traffic stop” in a car park near the McComas swimming pool and athletics building.

“Witnesses reported to police that the shooter fled on foot heading towards the Cage, a parking lot near Duck Pond Drive,” it said on its website (www.vt.edu). “At that parking lot, a second person was found. That person is also deceased.

“Law enforcement agencies have determined there is no longer an active threat or need to secure in place,” it added. “Resume normal activities.”