The gunman who shot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer Thursday has yet to be identified by authorities. Two people were left dead in what appears to be a murder-suicide. Police said Thursday night that ballistics tests confirm the police officer and the man suspected in his shooting were killed using the same gun.

Virginia Tech was in lockdown mode shortly after noon local time for a couple of hours. The university’s website and Facebook page turned into an alert page, confirming that a police officer was shot and killed after performing a routine traffic stop in a parking lot. The shooter fled the scene on foot and headed to another parking lot on campus, according to witnesses.

A second unnamed man was later found dead in the parking lot and is believed to be the shooter according to several major news networks, although authorities have not confirmed the report.

The police officer, Deriek Crouse, 39, was a four-year veteran of Virginia Tech’s police force.

Crouse is a U.S. Army veteran who joined the university’s police department in 2007. He is survived by his wife, five children and step-children, according to Virginia Tech’s website.

Thursday's tragedy brings back grisly recollections of another shooting at the Virginia Tech campus. In April 2007 a student, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 students and professors in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.

 

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