Report: Two killed at Virginia Tech campus

BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Two people were found shot to death Thursday at Virginia Tech University, site of the deadliest U.S. shooting by a lone gunman, the university said.

One of the dead was a Virginia Tech police officer shot during a traffic stop just after noon EST, the university said on its Web site. The second gunshot victim was found dead in a parking lot about a quarter mile away.

Citing law enforcement and government officials, The Washington Post reported the person found dead in the parking lot was the man who shot the police officer.

At 4:30 p.m. EST, the university issued an all clear lifting the campus lockdown for 18,000 students on campus.

"Law enforcement agencies have determined there is no longer an active threat or need to secure in place," the university said. "Virginia Tech Police, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, have determined that there is no longer an active threat or a need to secure in place. Resume normal activities."

The university said the police officer, a four-year veteran whose name was not immediately released, was killed during a "routine traffic stop" of a vehicle in the Cassell Coliseum parking lot near McComas Hall.

The second body was found near Duck Pond Drive where the gunman fled on foot after shooting the officer, witnesses told police.

Several law enforcement agencies, led by Virginia State Police, responded. More than two dozen agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded, the student newspaper said.

Officers surrounded the Squires Student Center where the newspaper's office was evacuated and students were moved to a secure room, and Torg Hall, an academic building, the Collegiate Times reported.

In 2007, 32 people were killed on the campus after Seung Hui Cho of Fairfax went on a shooting rampage in an academic building and a dormitory in the deadliest shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history.

The Post reported Virginia Tech officials were in Washington Thursday, seeking a reduction in the fine imposed for their handling of the 2007 shooting.