School shooting...VA again... (MERGED)

[packinnova]

This is getting old...at least so far they're still saying no one was injured.

Shots Fired At A Teacher At The NOVA Campus In Woodbridge | WUSA9.com | Washington, DC |

Shots Fired At A Teacher At The NOVA Campus In Woodbridge
Jillian Coyle 2 hrs ago

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- A student at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) in Woodbridge brought a long-barreled weapon into one of the buildings on campus Tuesday afternoon and reportedly aimed and fired shots at a teacher.
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Prince William County Police Spokeswoman First Sgt. Kim Chinn tells 9NEWS NOW that the teacher, a woman who was not immediately identified, "hit the floor" and was not struck by the gunshots. Campus officials say the teacher also warned other students about the young man with the gun. Police say that no one was injured in the incident, but it prompted a large-scale "active shooter" response by both county police and campus police.

Chinn says the incident began at at about 2:40 p.m., when the young adult male suspect, armed with a high-powered rifle entered the Main Administration Building of the NOVA-Woodbridge Campus, located on Neabsco Road and fired multiple times. There had been some initial reports received that a teacher had been shot on campus, but a short time later police reported that the alleged shooter was in custody, and there were no injuries reported.

As a precaution, the school was put on lock down as the Prince William county police SWAT team conducted a floor-by-floor sweep of the buildings on campus. Students and teachers are being released in small groups after each floor has been cleared.

The school posted a statement on its website alerting students and the community about the incident. Classes were cancelled for the remainder of the evening, including those NOVA classes being held at nearby Freedom High School.

We'll have more details on this incident and additional coverage on 9NEWS NOW throughout the evening.
Written by Bill Starks
9NEWS NOW and WUSA9.com

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Janq]

Oh jeebus please be something innocuous looking to the media like a bolt action .22 with wood stock or an air rifle.

- Janq

[hengst]

WOODBRIDGE, Va. – A 20-year-old student opened fire in a community college classroom, but did not hit anyone and was arrested in a hallway, police said Tuesday.

No injuries were reported following the afternoon shooting at Northern Virginia Community College's campus in Woodbridge, about 25 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Jason Michael Hamilton, 20, of Manassas was later charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm in a school zone and was being held without bond. Whether Hamilton had hired an attorney was not immediately clear.

Prince William County Police spokeswoman Kim Chinn said the student, armed with a high-powered rifle, fired several shots and left the classroom. Officers found him in a hallway where he was cooperative and was taken into custody, Chinn said.

The spokeswoman said the unidentified teacher ducked when the student opened fire.

"When she saw the gun, she hit the floor," Chinn said.

Hamilton did not have the gun when he was arrested, but told police where it was, the spokeswoman said.

Chinn said she didn't know exactly where Hamilton's rifle was found, but it wasn't in the classroom.

Police spokeswoman Sharon Richardson said officers responded about 2:40 p.m. to an "active shooter" situation following reports of a gunman in the main administration building.

The college enacted its emergency lockdown procedures and later issued a statement saying all Woodbridge classes were canceled Tuesday because of the shooting. Some students, faculty and staff were sent to a nearby high school.

All classrooms are in one building and the students were in lockdown until about 5:30 p.m. Swat teams went into each classroom during the lockdown, said Chinn, who didn't know how many students were inside or how many shots were fired.

Biology professor Miriam St. Clair, of McLean, Va., said "we heard a loud noise, it sounded like a desk fell over and we heard another loud pop, we knew it was a gunshot."

St. Clair, 58, said she looked out the window and saw students running. The professor said she told her students to get inside the classroom and they closed the door, which did not have a lock, and barricaded themselves inside by piling about 20 desks against the door, crouching behind other desks in the room.

One of the students called 911 and the operator told them to stay where they were. About 2 1/2 hours later, a SWAT team came into the classroom and told them it was safe.

"We were very frightened," St. Clair said.

Two police cars were outside the suspect's home in an affluent new subdivision, but officers wouldn't let reporters close. Neighbor Daren Edwards, 38, said Hamilton's parents moved to the subdivision about three years ago and Hamilton lived in the basement. Edwards said he sometimes saw him jogging alone, or with his mother.

"He's always by himself, he's always isolated," Edwards said.


Thank God he missed. No deaths

Student opens fire in Va. classroom; no injuries - Yahoo! News

[ScubaDuba]

So at what point do we allow people to carry concealed at school? This is ridiculous.

[SteveinNEPA]

After Virginia Tech, you would think MORE people would be armed... At LEAST the teachers.

~Steve

[packinnova]

So at what point do we allow people to carry concealed at school? This is ridiculous.

They are allowed according to the state. It only violates school policies which if caught would result in the student being expelled or professor fired. The only College/University specifically banned from carry in VA is VCU.

Anyone not carrying is either stupid, or has weighed the decision of education vs safety vs expulsion... which IMO if they decide that an "education" is worth more than their life, then they fit the stupid category anyway.

[ccw9mm]

They are allowed according to the state. It only violates school policies which if caught would result in the student being expelled or professor fired.

VA has state preemption of ordinances and policies by municipal, county and agency organizations, yes? If so, then why is it that VA allows colleges and universities to dictate expulsion or firing if a person carries in accordance with state law?

BTW, Oregon does the same thing. It's perfectly legal, yet students are expelled and faculty/staff fired for being caught doing it ... without legal recourse, since the judiciary won't support the state preemption law this far.

[REDTAIL]

The cops should of shot him down on the spot, what makes you think that he won't do it again sometime in the future ?

[retsupt99]

The cops should of shot him down on the spot, what makes you think that he won't do it again sometime in the future ?

Not if they make more gun laws...

[JoJoGunn]

Sarcasm : On

Apparently he failed to notice the "no guns" signs posted all over campus. Total waste of his or his parents money in an attempt at higher education.

Sarcasm : Off

They still think that banning a firearms in certain areas will stop them from being used. This only proves the point we make all the time about having the right to carry our firearms for protection. Yet, this incident and I suspect others to follow will be used for another attempt to ban guns. I remember during the Clinton administration, a lot of crimes with "assault" type weapons happend. Coincidentally, a "ban" on them was put in place. In order to push through legislation, a "crisis" has to happen first and then the government will come to save us all.

[MitchellCT]

Wow.

That gun control thing is really working out, isn't it!

[shooterX]

Glad no one was hurt.

[packinnova]

VA has state preemption of ordinances and policies by municipal, county and agency organizations, yes? If so, then why is it that VA allows colleges and universities to dictate expulsion or firing if a person carries in accordance with state law?

BTW, Oregon does the same thing. It's perfectly legal, yet students are expelled and faculty/staff fired for being caught doing it ... without legal recourse, since the judiciary won't support the state preemption law this far.

Property rights ring a bell? I don't like not carrying any more than the rest of you but if I'm in someone else's domain and the demand no carry it's only 2 options.

• Stay and don't carry
• Leave

Now, I do believe it's a REALLY fine line. Since most if not all of the colleges and Universities receive state and federal funds... I think that that creates a line that needs to be dealt with, but that's a separate issue to be dealt with in another form.

[nutz4utwo]

...About 2 1/2 hours later, a SWAT team came into the classroom and told them it was safe.

There we go. The amount of time you are on your own after a violent rampage starts.

2 1/2 hours? Seriously? I thought this whole active shooter response was supposed to be lightning fast.

(Yes, it seems they arrested the BG quickly, but there should be an officer at ever classroom door ASAP! Minutes, not hours...

[SamRudolph]

Oh jeebus please be something innocuous looking to the media like a bolt action .22 with wood stock or an air rifle.

- Janq

You mean a semiautomatic gas-powered machine gun sniper rifle that fires a tiny cop-killer bullets from a high-capacity magazine that can pierce body armor?