Hum Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) ? The Virginia Tech police officer who was shot dead at his parked cruiser was a trained firearms and defense instructor with a specialty in crisis intervention. His death leaves investigators puzzling over how and why a gunman walked up to the patrol car during a traffic stop, killed the officer and wound up dead himself in a nearby parking lot. The campus shooting prompted officials to lock down the university for hours Thursday while police and SWAT teams searched the school, the scene in 2007 of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Authorities have in-car video from officer Deriek W. Crouse's cruiser that shows a male suspect with a handgun at the officer's car at the time of the shooting. But they have not identified the gunman and say they don't know what motivated the killing or whether there was any link between the shooter and Crouse. Crouse, an Army veteran and married father of five, was killed after pulling a driver over in a school parking lot. Police said the gunman was not involved in the traffic stop. Instead, he approached, shot the officer and then fled on foot before apparently killing himself in another lot. State police said in a news release early Friday that ballistics tests confirmed Crouse and the deceased suspect had been shot by the same handgun. The tests have "officially linked the two fatal shootings," the release said. The news release said clothing found inside a discarded backpack recovered by Blacksburg police seemed to match that of the male subject in the officer's video. Police said they were awaiting confirmation of the deceased suspect's identity as well as autopsy results from the medical examiner in Roanoke. more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sava700 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 School did a good job at reacting to this just as they did in 2007.. there are systems in place now that didn't exist in 2007 which for this reason I don't know why they think anyone could have done any different. My firm belief is that had someone been armed in that 2nd building where the shooter killed the most more lives would have been saved - its time people were allowed to defend themselves and arm themselves if they see fit, properly trained and have the proper permit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gary7 Subscriber² Posted December 9, 2011 Subscriber² Share Posted December 9, 2011 The guy was Crazy Nuts, that was his motive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Traffic stop of a person with an outstanding arrest warrant is pretty likely. Suicide after he realized Virginia has the death penalty & uses it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted December 9, 2011 Veteran Share Posted December 9, 2011 Traffic stop of a person with an outstanding arrest warrant is pretty likely. Suicide after he realized Virginia has the death penalty & uses it. I'd rather be put to sleep then shoot myself :laugh: maybe he understood how much money a death penalty case would cost the state and wanted to save them some money with 10 cents of ammo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Actually, suicide by killers is more common than you'd think - either overtly or, more commonly, Suicide By Cop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokthraka Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Traffic stop of a person with an outstanding arrest warrant is pretty likely. Suicide after he realized Virginia has the death penalty & uses it. didn't they say it wasnt the guy who got pulled over? It says the shooter walked to during the traffic stop. It says he was seen next to the police car when shots where fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArialBlue Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Whats the motive? - its not the university of the 2007 tragedy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted December 11, 2011 Member Share Posted December 11, 2011 Maybe someone, somewhere can make sense of it all but it seems pretty senseless to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePitt Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 who cares, yet another american nutjob. For sure is not the first and wont ever be the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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