Virginia Tech went into lockdown Thursday morning after a gunman was reported on campus by kids attending summer camp at the school.
At 9:37 a.m., three youths reported a 6-foot tall white man with light brown hair by Dietrick dining hall, walking toward the campus volleyball courts with what appeared to be a handgun under a cloth.
Emergency personnel responding to the scene could not locate a man matching that description, and searched the Blackburg campus throughout Thursday afternoon for the possible gunman.
The alert was lifted shortly after 3 p.m.
The campers told police that the gunman wore a blue-and-white vertically striped shirt, gray shorts and brown sandals. He did not have glasses or facial hair.
All external doors at Virginia Tech were locked. “Even the construction zone has come to a halt,” a spokeswoman told CNN.
More than 30 people were killed at Virginia Tech in 2007 when a senior student opened gunfire on the university. Thursday’s lockdown brought back chilling memories for many students.
“At first I was a little consued because Virginia Tech — ever since 4/16 — we’ve been so paranoid,” 22-year-old Rachel Larson, a senior, told the AP. “We hear about everything that goes on on campus, which is good, but sometimes people freak out when it’s a false alarm. Then I realized my boyfriend was on campus and I started to freak out a bit.”
Police initially scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference to discuss the lockdown lift, but canceled it.
