2006 Virginia Tech lockdown
The 2006 Virgina Tech lockdown was an incident that occured on August 21, 2006 in Blacksburg, Virginia. The incident occured when police arrested an inmate who escaped from a hospital on a day earlier while serving a jail sentence for robbery in August 2005.[1] During the escape the fugitve shot and killed security guard Derrick McFarland before fleeing. The fugitive, William Charles Morva, was spotted near the campus of Virginia Tech university on August 21 after a police officer was gunned down and was quickly arrested after a two and a half day manhunt. The arrest of Morva forced the university to cancel classes and go into lockdown.
Background
William Morva
William Morva was a drifter and a survialist who was described by others as an outsider and an idealist, and was spoke of living in the woods. During is life, Morva never maintained a job and was homeless on and off because of his personal situations. In August 2005, Morva and an accomplance was arrested for robbing a covenence store in Blacksburg and was indited for the robbery and two other robberies in July and August 14 of 2005.[1][2]
Escape
On August 20, 2006, William Morva was transported from the Montgomery County Jail for treatment for a spranged wrist and leg. At 2:30 am , according to police, Morva managed to grab a gun from a sheriff deputy while awating treatment at the Montgomery Regional Hospital and shot both the police officer and an unarmed hosptial security guard before fleeing the hospital on foot. Morva was last seen near Hilltop Road where he took off the prison jumpsuit according to police. The security guard later died from the gun shot wounds, the officer injured in the shooting was listed in stable condtion. After the incident at the hospital, Blacksburg police was alerted and a manhunt was launched. The search also included the Virginia State Police and police from neighboring counties. [3]
August 21, 2006
The search continuded as students arrived for classes for the start of the 2006-07 school year at Virginia Tech university. At 7:00 PM (EST), police officer Eric Sutphin was gunned down near Huckleberry Trail which is located near Blacksburg Public Library. The incident caused local officals to close the libary untill further notice and afternoon athletic practices were cancelled or postponed. At 10:30 am, police reported of a suspect fitting Morva's description was seen inside the Squires Student Center and an unconfirmed report of a hostage situation in that area. Because of this, Virginia Tech was placed under lockdown and then later evacuated and classes were cancelled for the rest of the day. By 2:11 pm (EST), access to the campus was restrcited while police set up road blocks and searching car trunks.[1]
By 3:30 pm (EST), Morva was found by police 150 yards from the crime scene and was arrested without incident. The news of the arrest was realased ten minutes later. After the arrest, Morva was charged with capital murder of the shooting deaths of hosptial guard Derrick McFarland and police officer Eric Sutphin. [4]
External links
- Man Arrested Near Va. Tech In Two Killings
- Suspect Arrested In Deadly Shooting Near Virginia Tech Campus
- Fugitive Nabbed Near Va. Tech Campus
- Virginia Police Capture Killer Escapee
- Va. Tech manhunt ends in arrest
- Jail inmate in Virginia arraigned
Refrences
- ^ a b c Kovac, Amy L. Shooting suspect caught in BlacksburgThe Roanoke Times URL Accessed: August 23, 2006 Cite error: The named reference "k" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Eaton, Joe Two men arrested in Blacksburg robbery attemptThe Roanoke Times URL Accessed: August 23, 2006
- ^ Richmond-Times Dispatch Timeline of the events URL Accessed: August 23, 2006
- ^ Boman, Rex Prison escapee arrested in Montgomery Co. slayingsRichmond-Times Dispatch URL Accessed: August 21, 2006