Radford shooting victim ID’ed
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Radford shooting victim ID'ed
Police say Floyd Wright Jr. was killed. Officers still searching for the shooter.
Published: April 3, 2009
Updated: April 3, 2009
12:23 p.m.
Radford University says it sent out its first university wide alert at 9:34 p.m., nine minutes after it received its first report about the shooting.
The university says it sent out four additional alert updates through its emergency notification system during the following 5 and 1/2 hours.
The university confirms that SWAT teams and police conducted building-by-building searches of the campus.
“We applaud the response of the law enforcement agencies who responded to the situation, and to our students, faculty and staff who calmly complied with the Shelter in Place order,“ said RUPD Chief Colleen Roberts in a news release. “By working together, we were able to safely and swiftly secure the campus and bring this matter, from the university’s perspective, to a satisfactory conclusion,“ Roberts added.
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10:30 a.m.
Radford Police say 33-year-old Floyd Wilfred-Linn Wright Jr. was the man killed in the shooting near Radford Unviersity Thursday night. Officers say Wright was from Christiansburg.
Investigators believe Wright and at least one other man got into an argument outside a home in the 500 block of Calhoun Street, about two blocks east of the Radford Univ. campus. Investigators also do not believe the shooting was random.
Officers tell us the suspected shooter was wearing dark pants, a camouflage jacket, and may have had a goatee. Police say the shooting susptect was last seen going west on Jefferson Street, shortly after the shooting around 9:00 p.m. Thursday night.
Police say the victim has no known ties to Radford university.
State Police, Christiansburg Police, Blacksburg Police, Virginia Tech Police, Pulaski County Sheriff’s deputies, Town of Pulaski Police, Wythe County Sheriff’ deputies, a K-9 unit from the Bland County Sheriff’s Office, and ATF agents are helping with the investigation.
If you have any information about the shooting call (540) 731-3624
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Updated Friday 3:40 a.m.
Release from Radford University:
The Radford University Police Department lifted the Shelter In Place order at 2:55 a.m. Friday, five hours after an off-campus shooting that resulted in the death of the victim. The campus is secure and Radford University will now return to normal operations.
Neither the victim nor the shooting suspect are believed to be Radford University students and the incident is not being treated as a random act of violence.
According to Radford City Police, the incident began shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday with a shooting on the 500 block of Calhoun Street. The shooting suspect was seen fleeing toward RU’s campus, which prompted the precautionary measures and communications.
RUPD received its first call about the incident at 9:24 p.m. and initiated the university’s alert-messaging system at 9:35 p.m. Tactical teams from RUPD, RPD and surrounding jurisdictions performed a building-by-building sweep of the RU campus.
The lifting of the Shelter In Place order was made in consultation with Radford University Police Chief Colleen Roberts and Radford City Police Chief Don Goodman.
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Updated Friday 2:43 a.m.
RU PD and Radford City Police are continuing their search and clearing operations of academic buildings.
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Updated Friday 12:00 a.m.
A spokesperson with Radford University says the male shooting victim who was shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
He says the shooter is still at large and the campus is on lockdown.
Radford City Police and Radford University Police as well as other agencies are on the scene.
The suspect is also believed to have a beard or goatee.
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10:45 p.m.
A university spokesman tells WSLS the school received a report of a shooting off-campus around 9:10 p.m.
The victim was shot in the chest, and has been taken to the New River Valley Medical Center
The spokesman says the shooter ran toward campus.
The campus is currently on lockdown and everyone is urged to stay indoors.
At this point, it is not clear whether the victim or the shooter are students at Radford University.
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Update 10:35 p.m.
In the text message, the university says city police are searching for a male shooter with no shirt, a camo jacket, and a doo rag.
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10:01 a.m.
Radford University students are being advised to stay inside as city police search for a shooter.
A university spokesman confirms a text message was sent to students telling them the suspect was seen near the Bonnie student center earlier tonight.
The spokesman could not confirm if anything actually happened on campus.
We’ll pass along new information as it’s made available.
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Reader Reactions
obviously the friends did not see what I saw last night, I’m not saying that they are lying by any means but as I said I love right up the hill and as I was going home from the store right after 9:30-10:00 last night there were students walking in groups all over the place… I have to drive directly thru campus just to get to my home.. as I said in the past statement, I see most of the college from my front door step. they may have been on lock down… but there were quite a few students that didn’t listen to the warnings. But other than that Have a great day :-D
They probably have a name now, seeing as that they were able to determine that neither of them were students. They wouldn’t be able to do that without a name.
Melissa, are you saying that you can see students walking around the neighborhoods, or the campus? I’ve been contact with friends in lockdown in the theater building who have stated they are not allowed to leave
I live right up the road from campus… and I’ve not seen where they are on lock down… I can see the houses and most the colleges from my home, there are students walking around everywhere, and who was it that was standing out in the street hand cuffed??? I thought that was suspicious
I’d also advise any of your viewers/listeners that are familiar with facebook that some users seem to posting certain updates that cannot be verified as coming from the police or the university. So take these with a grain of salt.
yall need to update more often!!
Just saw the report off the news. To clarify, the area of the shooting is a neighbor of predominantly college students. While the report stated that the off-campus area was not completely locked down, I’ve been in contact with friends of mine on campus that have stated the authorities have helped secure them in lockdown.
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