BLACKSBURG, VA (RNN) – The man who shot and killed a campus police officer at Virginia Tech on Thursday has been identified as a 22-year-old college student at nearby Radford University.
Ross Truett Ashley is alleged to have killed Deriek W. Crouse, 39, as he sat in his police cruiser following an unrelated traffic stop. Ashley killed himself after shooting Crouse. He had stolen a car Wednesday from a real estate office in Roanoke, VA.
The shootings set off a campus-wide lockdown that lasted about four hours. Virginia Tech was the scene of the worst mass shooting by a single gunman in 2007 when 32 people were killed by a lone gunman, who also committed suicide.
Funeral services for Crouse will take place at 2 p.m. ET Monday at Cassell Coliseum. Online condolences can be left at the Horne Funeral Home website.
Corinne Geller with the Virginia State Police said Friday the suspected shooter was still alive when he was first spotted by a sheriff's deputy. After losing sight of him for a moment, the man was found dead with a weapon by his side.
Geller said a Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy spotted the man acting suspiciously in the Cage parking lot.
"We know that the deputy saw him walking around in the parking lot," Geller said. "When the deputy got to him, he had already shot himself."
Police had declined to release the name of the alleged gunman for most of the day Friday as they awaited confirmation of his identity from the medical examiner's office in Roanoke, VA.
A backpack believed to belong to the man was found near the school's greenhouse, and contained identification as well as clothing that matches those seen on the shooter, Geller said. Police continued to search the campus for a gunman after Ashley's body was discovered since they were unsure he was the shooter.
Police have said they do not know why the man shot Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek W. Crouse to death while he was sitting in his squad car.
There is "no connection whatsoever" between the shooter and driver of the vehicle Crouse had pulled over before he was shot. Geller said the driver was helpful in piecing together what happened at the scene.
Crouse, an Army veteran, joined the Virginia Tech Police Department in 2007. He had five children and step-children, and was survived by his wife, mother and brother.
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum described the loss of Crouse as "tremendous," both on a personal and professional level for the entire department. He said the community's support had been great.
"Words can't express the loss we felt," he said.
Larry Hinker, associate vice president for university relations, asked people keep the fallen officer's family in their thoughts.
Counseling was made available for students and faculty Friday.
Flinchum credited the university's alert system put in place after the 2007 shootings for getting word of the emergency out quickly. Thirty-two people were killed by Seung-Hui Cho, who committed suicide after the attack.
Hinker said announcements went to students' email, social media and other outlets minutes after an emergency call reported shots fired.
"Right around 12:30 [p.m.] is when the call came in," he said. "Some time in the 12:36 to 12:37 time range a notification went out."
A release from the Virginia State Police Friday stated ballistics testing showed both men had been shot with the same weapon. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science conducted the tests.
The bodies of both Officer Crouse and Ashley were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Roanoke for examination and autopsy.
Police relayed the following sequence of events:
Crouse stopped a vehicle in the Coliseum parking lot along Washington Street near the intersection of Spring Road at about 12:15 p.m. ET. During the course of the traffic stop, Crouse was approached by a then-unknown man and fatally shot.
Virginia Tech Police, Blacksburg Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded and began searching the campus for the suspect.
At about 12:45 p.m., a Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy saw Ashley walking through the Cage parking lot along Duck Pond Drive. When the deputy reached Ashley, he was already dead on the ground with a handgun nearby.
The shooting happened the same day that school officials were in Washington for a hearing about fines that were levied against the school for its handling of the 2007 massacre.
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Police identify slain VA Tech officer
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Police reported Friday ballistics tests officially confirmed the shooting deaths of two people at Virginia Tech University. (Source: WDBJ)
Police say Ross Truett Ashley, 22, is the gunman who killed a Virginia Tech police officer, then himself, on Thursday. (Source: Virginia State Police)
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