2008.02.27
Sheriff: Authorities still looking for man with gun at Ferrum
Law enforcement officials continue to search for a white male who reportedly had a gun on the Ferrum College campus Tuesday morning, Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt said today during a news conference in Rocky Mount.
Other information released during the news conference:
-- Fourteen "persons of interest" have been interviewed and then released since a housekeeper on the campus reported that she saw a man with a gun Tuesday morning in a dormitory building. The housekeeper is the only witness police have in the case.
-- Law enforcement continues to investigate the incident and say they have no reason to doubt the housekeeper's story.
-- Essentially everyone on the campus yesterday, about 1,000 people, were sent to the school's gymnasium by police as part of the law enforcement response plan. Last night, the housekeeper, who has not been identified publicly, was positioned so she could watch the white males leaving the gym. They were systematically released so the housekeeper could look at them in a line-up-type fashion.
-- Classes have been canceled for the remainder of the week, in advance of the college's scheduled spring break, which was slated to begin this weekend. Classes are scheduled to resume March 10. The college is setting up off-campus housing for students who are unable to leave right away.
