virginia tech gun under a “covering” in his hand

Three children reported seeing a man who may have had a gun under a “covering” in his hand  — at Virginia Tech, the site of a massacre in 2007.  The school put the lessons learned from the tragedy into rapid use, locking down the campus and starting a massive search for the suspect:    Virginia Tech was locked down Thursday when three children attending a summer camp said they saw a man holding what looked like a gun on the campus where a 2007 massacre left 33 people dead.

    The university issued an alert on its website at 9:37 a.m. Thursday telling students and employees to stay inside and lock their doors. University spokesman Larry Hincker said during a news conference later in the morning that the campus alert remained in effect and that people should stay indoors until further notice.

    The university posted the alert on its website and its official Twitter account. The Roanoke Times also reported that the university sounded its emergency sirens and issued an emergency alert by phone and email.

    The school’s website was inundated throughout the morning, and school officials said they were bringing additional servers online to deal with the traffic.

    The children told police they saw the man quickly walking toward the volleyball courts, carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. State and local police swarmed the area but said they could not find a gunman matching their description. The university said in a tweet posted just before noon that no other sightings had been reported but asked people to stay inside.

source by  (BBC)