Virginia Tech in lockdown as police search for possible gunman

Virginia Tech, site of a 2007 mass shooting that killed 33 people, issues an alert that a person with a gun could be on campus and urges the community to stay indoors. An initial search comes up empty.

The Virginia Tech campus, where 33 people died in a shooting spree in 2007, was on lockdown Thursday morning after a report by school officials that a gunman had been sighted.

In an alert posted on its website, the university said a person with what may be a gun had been seen near Dietrick Hall at the campus in Blacksburg, Va.

"Stay inside. Secure doors," the alert urged the campus community.

"People on campus stay indoors until further notice," the university ordered.

Officials rushed to the scene, but no gunman was found, according to university officials briefing reporters. The lockdown remained in effect as a precaution, Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations, said at the televised news conference.

Officers from at least five law enforcement agencies, including the Virginia State Police, were patrolling the campus, according to the university alert.

"We are assisting Virginia Tech with the search," said Lt. Steve Taylor, a spokesman for the Blacksburg Police Department. "At this point we have not been able to confirm that there is gun on campus."

According to university, at about 9:09 a.m. three juveniles attending a camp at the university reported seeing a man holding what may be a weapon covered by a cloth.

"The suspect was identified as a male, about 6 feet, with light brown hair. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt (stripes were vertical), gray shorts and brown sandals. The subject had no facial hair or glasses," according to the university

On April 16, 2007, the same campus was the scene of a mass shooting that galvanized the nation. It remains the deadliest shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history.

Seung-Hui Cho, an English major at the school, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide.