1 dead, 4 injured in shooting near Virginia Tech campus
A late-night shooting at a hookah lounge near the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., killed one person and left four injured, according to the university.
At about 11:50 p.m. Friday, police responded to a report of shots fired at the Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg. One person was killed and four others, including a Virginia Tech student, were hospitalized. Police have not released the names of the victims and did not specify the extent of the injuries.
It remained unclear early Saturday whether anyone had been arrested or what the motive was for the attack. Following initial reports of an active shooter, authorities noted they were pursuing as many as four suspects, according to Montgomery County Public Safety scanner traffic.
“This incident continues to be a complex, ongoing case that has shifted to a homicide investigation,” the Blacksburg Police Department said in a statement early Saturday. “Multiple law enforcement agencies are assisting in the area and following up on leads.”
Virginia Tech President Tim Sands confirmed in a news release that one of the people injured was a student. The campus was placed on lockdown for early Saturday, telling students to “stay inside” and to “secure doors.” The lockdown was rescinded at about 3:15 a.m., but students were told to avoid downtown.
“Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased and we extend our support to those who were injured,” Sands said. “Events like this are difficult and unsettling to all of us. Please care for yourself and seek assistance if you need it. . . . Our community is strong, and our strength is derived from our genuine care and concern for one another.”
Neither police nor the university immediately responded to requests for comment early Saturday.
The site of the latenight incident was near the southeastern edge of Virginia Tech, which experienced one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history in 2007. An undergraduate student killed 32 people, and killed himself, on April 16, 2007, in the deadliest school shooting in the nation. It was supplanted as the deadliest mass shooting in the country until the 2016 Pulse night club shooting in Orlando and then the 2017 music festival shooting in Las Vegas.
The late-night shooting is the latest incident to rock Virginia this week. Two campus police officers at Bridgewater College were fatally shot on Tuesday after they were checking out a report of a “suspicious man” near a classroom building. The suspect linked to the deaths of campus police officer John Painter, 55, and campus safety officer Vashon “J.J.” Jefferson, 48, has been identified as Alexander Wyatt Campbell, 27, of Ashland, Va. Campbell, a former student, faces capital murder charges.