Manhunt for Cop Killer on My Campus (Virginia Tech)

This is an terrible way to return to school: there is a manhunt for a cop killer going on at Virginia Tech as I write. The man, William Morva, (a kid really - he's 24) stole a gun from an officer while on hospital release from jail, after which he killed a hospital security guard and a police officer. Virginia Tech and the whole town of Blacksburg are shut down. Both my company and my school are closed, and people have been asked to stay home with doors locked. He is supposedly still hiding somewhere on campus or in town, and the news is mentioning the possibility of hostages. My house is unfortunately right next door to the convenience store that Morva attempted to rob at gunpoint one year ago - the crime that put him in jail in the first place. This is the second time in my life that I wish I owned a gun.

For a small, tight-knit town that has been for a long time one of the safest places to live in Virginia, this is unusual. Virginia Tech now has the feel of downtown Oakland, CA, where my childhood home was occasionally sprayed with bullets. Let's hope they get this guy soon and return sleepy little Blacksburg, VA back to its usual serenity.