Virginia Tech Safety Alert Remains in Effect: Police Warn People to Remain Indoors
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum has updated the public Thursday morning on the lockdown status of the university after three campers reported seeing an armed man walking around campus.
Flinchum said that the alert for all on campus to remain inside is "still in effect" until it is determined that it can be lifted.
When asked if it was safe for people to leave their current locations, Flinchum said it would be up to the people to decide what they want to do.
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"That's what we asked people to do. That'll be people's individual decision. They know what we know, but it'll be up to them to do what they want to do," Flinchum said.
The Police Chief has confirmed that several people have been stopped and questioned, but have all been ruled out. No one matching the description of the alleged gun man has been found.
Young students attending the Higher Achievement summer camp on Virginia Tech's campus reported seeing a man with a gun concealed in a cloth walking through the campus. Flinchum details that the man was seen near Dietrick Hall, walking toward the volley ball courts near the dining hall of the building.
Immediately after, alerts were sent out through various mediums, including email and text, telling people on campus to get inside and remain inside until further notice.
Kelsey Heiter, managing editor of the school's newspaper, told CNN that she and the people with her plan to remain where they are until it is deemed safe to go outside.
Hieter said that the amount of people on campus during the summer wanes as the end of the week approaches, but approximately 100 to 300 people may be outside on campus at any give time.
Flinchum reported that there are possibly a few thousand people on the campus.
Heiter, a sophomore at Virginia Tech, told CNN that she has no doubt that she would attend Virginia Tech, despite the horrific events that unfolded at the school in 2007 when an armed student killed 30 students and himself.
"The campus is very, very safe," she said
