digitalv
08-21-2006, 08:43 PM
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Police swarmed the Virginia Tech campus and ordered everyone inside Monday as heavily armed officers with dogs and in helicopters searched for a fugitive suspected of killing a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy nearby.
Dump trucks and police cruisers blocked roads leading to campus, and students said they saw sharpshooters posted on the campus rooftops.
A group of officers in body armored could be seen heading into one campus building.
"The suspect is armed, he has no problems with shooting. ... We don't need innocent people being around the area," said Virginia Tech Vice President Kurt Krause said. He said classes were canceled for the school's more than 25,000 students about 10 a.m., shortly after the first day of the semester had started.
The Montgomery County Jail inmate, William Morva, 24, had escaped from a hospital where he had been taken for treatment of a sprained wrist and ankle early Sunday.
Monday morning, Sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin was closing in on Morva along a trail just off the university campus when Sutphin was fatally shot, the sheriff's department said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said he dispatched "considerable" Virginia State Police resources to the 2,600-acre campus and assured students' parents that every effort was being made to minimize the danger.
Students and staff on campus quickly heeded the e-mailed warnings to get inside and stay there, students said.
"The fact that the guy can blend in so well with campus students is kind of scary," said Josh Burnheimer, 20, a Virginia Tech junior from Ashburn, Va. "Everywhere you look there are police snipers on the roof."
"It's very scary," said sophomore Kelly Engbersen of Williamsburg. "Every person you see you look hard (and wonder) — 'Is that him?'"
Authorities said Morva was spotted wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and khaki shorts.
Morva, who had been jailed awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year, apparently shed his orange prison jumpsuit after escaping from Montgomery Regional Hospital.
According to police, Morva overpowered a sheriff's deputy, took the deputy's gun and then shot an unarmed hospital security guard, authorities said. The hospital guard was identified as Derrick McFarland, 26. The deputy was in stable condition with injuries he suffered in the attack.
Authorities used helicopters and dogs to sweep an area that included the university campus, about one block from the Blacksburg Police Station.
"Whatever it takes, until he's caught," said police Lt. Joe Davis.
Associated Press
Dump trucks and police cruisers blocked roads leading to campus, and students said they saw sharpshooters posted on the campus rooftops.
A group of officers in body armored could be seen heading into one campus building.
"The suspect is armed, he has no problems with shooting. ... We don't need innocent people being around the area," said Virginia Tech Vice President Kurt Krause said. He said classes were canceled for the school's more than 25,000 students about 10 a.m., shortly after the first day of the semester had started.
The Montgomery County Jail inmate, William Morva, 24, had escaped from a hospital where he had been taken for treatment of a sprained wrist and ankle early Sunday.
Monday morning, Sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin was closing in on Morva along a trail just off the university campus when Sutphin was fatally shot, the sheriff's department said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said he dispatched "considerable" Virginia State Police resources to the 2,600-acre campus and assured students' parents that every effort was being made to minimize the danger.
Students and staff on campus quickly heeded the e-mailed warnings to get inside and stay there, students said.
"The fact that the guy can blend in so well with campus students is kind of scary," said Josh Burnheimer, 20, a Virginia Tech junior from Ashburn, Va. "Everywhere you look there are police snipers on the roof."
"It's very scary," said sophomore Kelly Engbersen of Williamsburg. "Every person you see you look hard (and wonder) — 'Is that him?'"
Authorities said Morva was spotted wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and khaki shorts.
Morva, who had been jailed awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year, apparently shed his orange prison jumpsuit after escaping from Montgomery Regional Hospital.
According to police, Morva overpowered a sheriff's deputy, took the deputy's gun and then shot an unarmed hospital security guard, authorities said. The hospital guard was identified as Derrick McFarland, 26. The deputy was in stable condition with injuries he suffered in the attack.
Authorities used helicopters and dogs to sweep an area that included the university campus, about one block from the Blacksburg Police Station.
"Whatever it takes, until he's caught," said police Lt. Joe Davis.
Associated Press