Police released a composite sketch on the school Web site of the person who was sighted earlier today by three children attending a summer camp at the school.
“Campus alert remains in effect,” read a statement posted on the school Web site at 1 p.m., Eastern time. “We recommend that students, employees, and others on campus remain secured indoors. Classes are cancelled for remainder of the day. Students are asked not to come to campus.”
According to earlier bulletins posted to the Web site, the three children reported a white man, 6 feet tall, with light brown hair holding what may have been a handgun.
“They say the weapon was covered by a cloth or covering of some sort,” according to the statement. “He was walking fast in the direction of the volleyball courts. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt (stripes were vertical), gray shorts and brown sandals. The subject had no facial hair or glasses.”
Police asked that anyone with information call the Virginia Tech Police Department at 540-231-6411 or 911.
The Roanoke Times reported that in addition to the message on its Web site, the university sounded its emergency sirens and issued an emergency alert by phone and e-mail. People were advised to stay indoors until further notice.
The university was fined by the Department of Education earlier this year for waiting too long to notify students after the April 16, 2007 campus shooting in which Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at the university, killed 32 people and wounded dozens of others before committing suicide. The shooting began at 7:15 a.m., but Virginia Tech did not release a notification until 9:26 a.m.
