[El Scorcho]

Original Article Link

Manhunt Shuts Down Virginia Tech
Aug 21st - 12:41pm

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech closed campus and canceled classes Monday, the first day of classes, as police continued to hunt for a jail escapee who's accused of shooting and killing a hospital security guard and a police officer.

Police are on the hunt for 24-year-old William Morva, who escaped from a hospital in Blacksburg on Sunday.

Morva is described as wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and khaki shorts. Police said he had shed his orange prison jumpsuit after the hospital shooting.

Students have been told to stay in their dorms or academic areas, Lt. Vincent Houston with Virginia Tech's police department says. School was to have started for more than 25,000 students.

Morva, who was jailed on charges of robbing a deli, was taken to the Montgomery Regional Hospital emergency room on Sunday in handcuffs and leg irons after he suffered a sprained wrist and ankle, Sheriff Tommy Whitt said.

He overpowered a deputy and took his pistol. Shots were fired, killing hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, 26, as he tried to help the deputy.

On Monday morning, Virginia State Police, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Va. authorities searched for Morva along Huckleberry Trail, a six-mile trail near the Virginia Tech campus that connects Blacksburg with Christiansburg.

Police say Morva allegedly shot a police officer on the trail at about 7:30 a.m. near the Blacksburg Public Library and police station.

Police have identified the officer who was shot and killed as Montgomery County, Va., Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin, according to The Roanoke Times Web site.

A woman who answered the phone at the university's public relations office tells WTOP the school is in crisis mode there and that a lot of rumors are swirling around.

Authorities are using helicopters and dogs to sweep an area that included the university campus, about one block from the Blacksburg Police Station.

(Copyright 2006 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[LUconn]

Insert Marcus Vick joke here.

[4everfsu]

No humor will come out of this posting. What a nut case!

[TIMSCAR20]

Escaped inmate apprehended after Va.Tech campus shut down for search
Updated 8/21/2006 3:54 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this


Enlarge By Matt Gentry, The Roanoke Times/AP

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies and area law enforcement officers search for escaped convict William Morva in Blacksburg, Va.



William Morva
Blacksburg Police/ The Roanoke Times











BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Police say they have captured a fugitive suspected of killing a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy near the Virginia Tech campus.
William Morva, 24, had been seen near the campus, authorities said

AUDIO: Virginia manhunt on for William Morva

Montgomery County Sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin was closing in on the fugitive Monday morning along a trail off the university campus when he was fatally shot, the sheriff's department said.

Officials canceled Monday's first day of classes for the more than 25,000 students at Virginia Tech as a precaution.

"The suspect is armed, he has no problems with shooting. ... We don't need innocent people being around the area," said Kurt Krause, a Virginia Tech vice president.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said he dispatched "considerable" Virginia State Police resources to the 2,600-acre campus and assured students' parents that every effort was being made to minimize the danger.

Students heeded the warnings to remain inside as heavily armed police patrolled, witnesses said.

"It's very scary," said sophomore Kelly Engbersen of Williamsburg. "Every person you see you look hard (and wonder) — 'Is that him?'"

Morva was described as wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and khaki shorts. Police said he had shed his orange prison jumpsuit after the hospital shooting.

"The fact that the guy can blend in so well with campus students is kind of scary," said Josh Burnheimer, 20, a Virginia Tech junior from Ashburn, Va. "Everywhere you look there are police snipers on the roof."

Morva, an inmate at Montgomery County Jail, had been taken from the jail to Montgomery Regional Hospital for treatment of a sprained leg and wrist.

He escaped early Sunday after overpowering a sheriff's deputy, taking the deputy's gun and then shooting the unarmed hospital security guard, authorities said. The hospital guard was identified as Derrick McFarland, 26. The deputy was in stable condition with injuries he suffered in the attack.

Morva had been jailed awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year.

Authorities used helicopters and dogs to sweep an area that included the university campus, about one block from the Blacksburg Police Station.

"Whatever it takes, until he's caught," said police Lt. Joe Davis.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ATrain]

Thank God he got caught...and that he wasn't anywhere near LU's campus.

[PAmedic]

such a sad story. Yet another degenerate with no conscience.

Yet another LODD, and an innocent civilian/security officer as well. Disgusting.

Prayers for the families of these gentleman.

[BJWilliams]

such a sad story. Yet another degenerate with no conscience.

Yet another LODD, and an innocent civilian/security officer as well. Disgusting.

Prayers for the families of these gentleman.

Indeed. Our prayers for those families. I have a few friends up at Va Tech and they were on lockdonw during this whole craziness. I hope this guy pays the price for what he has done