It still isn't known why a man apparently walked up to a campus police officer at Virginia Tech yesterday and fatally shot the 39-year-old father of five. And the identity of the gunman, who authorities believe died of a gunshot wound shortly after the attack, hasn't yet been released.
But we are learning some more details about the harrowing events that shook a campus still recovering from the April 2007 mass murder of 32 people by a student who then killed himself.
-- Blacksburg's WDBJ reports that "the State Police and Bureau of Criminal Investigations say the dash cam video taken from Officer Deriek Crouse's patrol car shows the man found dead at the second crime scene on campus was at the original traffic stop. That dash cam video shows the man with a gun."
-- About 30 minutes after Crouse was shot, according to the student-run Collegiate Times, "an officer saw a man in the I lot of Duck Pond Drive, commonly referred to as 'the Cage,' acting suspiciously, and upon return, found the man dead from a bullet wound." It's thought he killed himself.
-- The attack on Crouse apparently happened while the officer was making a routine traffic stop involving another person, and authorities say "Crouse was shot to death in front of witnesses," according to The Roanoke Times.
-- Crouse, according to the university, "joined the Virginia Tech Police Department on Oct. 27, 2007, and served in the patrol division. He is survived by his wife, five children and step-children, and his mother and brother."
NPR's Claudio Sanchez reported from Blacksburg today for Morning Edition.
Update at 10:20 a.m. ET: We're posting updates from the news conference that's now underway here.
Update at 9:55 a.m. ET. News Conference Coming Up; Same Gun Reportedly Used In Both Deaths:
Virginia Tech and Virginia State Police officials are due to hold a news conference at 10 a.m ET. It's set to be webcast here.
Meanwhile, WDBJ-TV reports it has learned from sources that "the same gun was used to kill both victims. Ballstics reports confirm this."
And The Associated Press reports that university spokesman Larry Hincker says the deceased suspect was not a student at the school.
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