Two officers shot to death at college in Virginia
Students shelter in place for hours; suspect in custody
Two campus police officers were shot and killed on the campus of Bridgewater College in Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, the college said in a message to its students and staff. A suspect was taken into custody a short time later not far from the campus.
The college, located near Harrisonburg, identified the victims as campus police officer John Painter and campus safety officer J.J. Jefferson. An alert sent to the Bridgewater community said the two officers were close friends, and that Painter was the best man at Jefferson’s recent wedding.
“This is a sad and dark day for Bridgewater College,” college president David W. Bushman said in a message to the college community. “I know we all have so many questions and not many answers. One thing I do know, though, is that we will rally around one another and support each other as we move forward from this day.”
No students appear to have been involved. Several told The Post they heard multiple shots from the area of Flory Hall, a classroom building on campus. Students and staff were ordered to shelter in place for more than three hours before being released.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares tweeted, “Please join me in prayer for the brave law enforcement officers involved & the entire Bridgewater Community.” Though state, local and federal law enforcement agencies all converged at the scene, none released any information about the incident other than to confirm the officers were shot.
Bridgewater College is a liberal arts school of about 1,460 students located south of Harrisonburg and just west of Interstate 81. At about 3 p.m., the college tweeted that people on campus should continue to shelter in place, and “Remain patient & in place as police work through their processes.”
Kasey Truslow, a 21-year-old senior from Lyndhurst, Virginia, said she was sitting two desks away from her classroom window on the second floor of a building named Flory Hall when “I heard a gun shot outside the window.” She said the 19 students and one professor acted quickly.
“After the second shot, we got on the floor. We remained on the floor for an hour. My teacher barricaded the door with a big desk with computer monitors on it. We stayed there. There was a secondary door that the students blocked.”
Truslow said she did not see the shooting herself, but her professor did and told the students there were injuries.
Tyler Tabor, a senior at Bridgewater, said he was taking an exam for his debate and argument class in Memorial Hall when he heard seven shots in quick succession. They came from outside the building between Memorial Hall and Flory Hall, he said. “I ran,” Tabor said. “The whole class ran.”
Tabor said he and other students took shelter in a bathroom. “We have to combat this type of thing, especially on a campus like this,” he said. “We advertise that we’re the safest in the country but obviously today it did not feel like it.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin tweeted at 2:21 p.m., “I have been briefed on the situation at Bridgewater College. The shooter is in custody and state and local police are on the scene.”