Police: Va. Tech gunman changed clothes after killing officer; motive still not known
The gunman who walked up to a police car and shot a Virginia Tech officer to death fled to nearby university greenhouses, where he changed clothes. Despite his attempt to throw off a police manhunt, a patrolling sheriff’s deputy spotted him and the gunman killed himself.
State police on Friday laid out their most detailed account so far of the shooting that locked down the campus for several hours. It was the first shooting at the school since it was the scene of the deadliest gun rampage in modern U.S. history that claimed 33 lives in 2007.
Investigators still don’t know of any connections between the gunman, whom they haven’t named, and university police officer Deriek W. Crouse, 39. The trained firearms and defense instructor with a specialty in crisis intervention had pulled over a driver for a traffic violation when he was killed. There was no link between the driver and the gunman.
Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said investigators are confident they know the shooter’s identity, but they are waiting for final confirmation from a medical examiner before they release it. They know he wasn’t a student, but they don’t know why he targeted Crouse.