Ross Truett Ashley identified as Virginia Tech shooter: police
Investigators have confirmed that Ross Truett Ashley, 22, of Partlow, Va., took his own life approximately a half-hour after fatally shooting a Virginia Tech Police Officer.
Police authorities identified the Virginia Tech shooter who killed a police officer Thursday before taking his own life as 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley who attended the nearby Radford University.
Ashley, who caused a campus lockdown Thursday at Virginia Tech after reports of gunfire, killed officer Deriek Crouse while the policeman was in his car, the BCC reported. Crouse was one of 50 officers on the campus force and worked there for four years.
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Investigators are still trying to figure out Ashley’s motive and ties with Crouse, if any existed.
Ashley is from Spotsylvania County, Va. but lived in the town of Radford, enrolled as a part-time student at Radford University majoring in business management.
Ashley allegedly hi-jacked a white 2011 Mercedes SUV at gunpoint from a real estate office in Radford on Wednesday at 11:25 a.m. according to state police.
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He drove off in the vehicle and later left it on the campus of Virginia Tech some time before his deadly confrontation with 39-year-old officer nearly 24 hours after the car was stolen, according to Reuters.
Thursday's campus lockdown rattled the community, shaken from a April 2007 shooting where 23-year-old Virginia Tech student Cho Seung-Hui shotand killed 32 people on campus before killing himself. It was the deadliest campus shooting in US history.
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