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VirginiaTech Shootings – A Study In Contrasts
By: Associated Press, Tim Sharp
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Police are searching for a gunman after two people were killed on the campus of Virginia Tech — the same school where 33 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2007.
School officials say a police officer pulled someone over for a traffic stop and was shot and killed. The shooter ran toward a nearby parking lot, where a second person has been found dead.
Students and faculty were told to stay inside university buildings as police looked for the suspect.
Greg Carter, an alum of Virginia Tech and reporter for a Bluefield, West Virginia television station says heavily armed officers are walking around campus. Caravans of emergency vehicles with lights flashing patrolled nearby.
Carter also covered the shootings in 2007 said he feared for the worst. While some students are fearful and there are similarities to the 2007 shootings, he says the campus and local police agencies are much better organized and there is far less chaos.
Meanwhile, a sophomore at the school, Corey Smith, says it's "crazy" that there would be another shooting on the campus, after what happened four years ago. He says he stayed inside after seeing the alerts from the school.
Junior Harry White says he didn't panic when he received the text message — thinking instead about a false alarm about a possible gunman that caused the campus to be locked down in August.