Virginia Tech reopens after gun alert

Authorities reopened the Virginia Tech campus after an hours-long lockdown today after a report of a gunman at the university…

Authorities reopened the Virginia Tech campus after an hours-long lockdown today after a report of a gunman at the university where 32 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2007.

"The campus alert is lifted. There will continue to be a large police presence on campus today," the school said on its website more than five hours after the lockdown was ordered.

It said police have not discovered any additional information about a person possibly carrying a weapon.

Earlier, the school ordered everyone to stay inside and cancelled classes after three youths attending a Higher Achievement camp on campus reported seeing a white man carrying what appeared to be a gun covered with a cloth.

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An alert on the school's website said: "Person with a gun reported near Dietrick (a campus building). Stay inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help.

"Officers responded immediately to the area but found no one matching the description," the crime alert said.

The crime alert described the suspect a tall with light brown hair, wearing a blue and white striped shirt, grey shorts and brown sandals. The warning said the man was seeing walking fast in the direction of the volleyball courts.

South Korean student Seung Hui Cho killed 32 students and staff at the college in April 2007 before turning the gun on himself. It was the worst shooting rampage in modern US history.

Earlier this year, Department of Education said it would fine Virginia Tech $55,000 (€38,000) for waiting more than two hours to alert the campus of the 2007 shooting.