Virginia Tech Campus Under Seige

One would have thought the Northeaster that's pounding the East Coast would have kept stuff like this off the news for a while. The Blacksburg Va. police now also have their hands full trying to capture a random shooter on the VT campus. This is the second random shooting on the campus within a year. The campus has also been plagued with bomb threats according to information on their website. Servers at the website are choking from the thousands of site requests.

So another episode of terrorism right here in the homeland begins the week...

One has been taken into custody. Police are still searching for a possible 2nd gunmen... (there are no grassy knolls on the VT campus)

The shooting follows a week in which bomb threats were made at the school, which has an enrollment of about 26,000 students.

Police at the school, formally Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, confirmed a gunman was wanted but had no further details.

The Buffalo News - AP Breaking News: "The shooting was reported at West Ambler Johnston Hall. Police were at the scene, Tech said on its Web site.

Officials ordered the campus closed, the second time in less than a year the 26,000-student campus was shut because of a shooting.

In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate killed a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy involved in a massive manhunt just off the campus." More...

Here are some first hand accountings from students on the upheaval and turmoil on campus...

Student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but he heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.

"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said.

Waldron described the scene on campus as "mayhem."

"It was kind of scary," he said. "These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."

The shooting comes three days after a bomb threat Friday forced the cancellation of classes in three buildings, WDBJ in Roanoke reported. Also, the 100,000-square-foot Torgersen Hall was evacuated April 2 after police received a written bomb threat, The Roanoke Times reported.

After the Monday shooting, students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows, police at the university said.

"A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows," read a warning from the university.

The shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 895 students. The dormitory, one of the largest residence halls on campus, is located near the drill field and stadium. AP

Tags: news, terrorism, shootings, zz