Shots were fired on the NOVA-Woodbridge campus this afternoon. The shooter is in custody and law enforcement is doing safety sweeps. Insidenova.com reports:
Police confirmed that shots were fired Tuesday afternoon at the Woodbridge campus of the Northern Virginia Community College.
Police said that a student armed with a high-powered rifle entered the main administration building at about 2:40 p.m.
Police responded to the call and treated it as an “active shooter” situation and the college implemented its emergency lockdown procedures, police said.
Police have one man in custody and said there are no injuries reported at this time.
More information will be released and we will update on the thread. According to witnesses, gunshots were heard and teachers told students to run. Thank goodness no one was injured.
UPDATE (5 PM): From insidenova.com:
Prince William County police spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Chinn says a student pointed a gun at a teacher in class Tuesday at the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Chinn says the teacher ‘hit the floor’ when she saw the gun. The student has been arrested.
scary, very scary!
I miss the time–or at least the illusion of a time–when colleges were safe havens.
The post about VA Tech right under this one is about college time being a dangerous age for our kids.
The students cannot get back into the classrooms to get their books. The campus is on lockdown. Students had to leave their cars. Not sure why. The shooter was a student. NO one was injured.
“Police identify the alleged gunman as Jason Michael Hamilton, 20, of Baneberry Circle in the Manassas area. He is charged with attempted murder and is being held without bond. The intended target was his math teacher, police said.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/
@Censored bybvbl
>>> “He is charged with attempted murder”
That’s just the initial charge too. He’ll rack up more felony charges by the time he goes to trial.
The kid fired two shots and then walked out. The teacher was not hurt. So did the kid just give up? Was he just trying to scare people? Or was he a bad shot?
PAP, maybe ALL OF THE ABOVE. Someone has some serious issues to even think of committing such an act, let alone acting on it.
Who knows. Quick thinking teacher telling everyone to hit the deck. This incident could have had dire consequences for sure. Quick thinking campus and county police also. It sounds like everyone had the drill down perfectly.
I hope the shooter is put away forever.
@Moon-howler
I suspect he will be put away forever in a straight jacket.
NVCC is under stress already from rapidly increasing enrollment and state
funding cuts. It is one of the few “ropes” students of modest means can grab
to pull themselves up in the current economy.
This appears to be the actions of a lone nut case, but it has a negative
impact on thousands. Sad.
Too easy to get back out if put away in a straight jacket.
And Poor Richard is correct.
Someone on the blog section of insidenova was howling because no counsellors were provided. I wondered where NVVC was going to get that many mental health cousellors at a moments notice. And of course all the gun and anti gun advocates are out in force because of the shooter.
I do not think guns belong on students on college campuses.
It sounds like it is safer to be a cop than to be on a college campus these days if you look at statistics.
The gun jammed. The shooter experienced a “double feed” which is two rounds into the chamber at once which jammed the gun. That is why he stopped shooting. A very fortunate turn of events.
There is excellent coordination and communication in place between NVCC police and each of the County police/Sheriff Departments they share jurisdictions with in Prince William, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. These scenarios have been discussed, planned and practiced for years. There is similar coordination and MOU’s with George Mason University in Manassas.
Thanks for your input Lucky Duck. So good to see you. I feel really dodged the proverbial bullet this time. This situation could have been just horrible were it not for a jammed gun.
As a Virginia resident and a student at NVCC, I’m alarmed that this is the 2nd incident of gun violence at a Virginia state school. People are posting comments about unsafe conditions at colleges, and about how we live in dangerous times. I believe that we should look for the connection between Virginia’s shockingly lax gun laws — perhaps the weakest in the nation — and the fact that both gun incidents occured at Virginia schools.
Thank you! Yes, they dodged a bullet, thank God.