Bridgewater College shooting leaves two campus security officers dead; suspect in custody

[Hoodat]

Bridgewater College shooting leaves two campus security officers dead; suspect in custody

Paul Best  |  1 Feb 2022

Two campus security officers were shot and killed at Bridgewater College in Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, prompting the school to issue a shelter-in-place order.

One male suspect was taken into custody at 1:55 p.m., about 30 minutes after the shooting, according to police.

The liberal arts college, which is home to about 1,500 students, lifted the shelter-in-place order around 4:30 p.m. after police cleared campus buildings.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/virginias-bridgewater-college-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-shooter-situation

[Cyber Liberty]

WTF is going on?

[Smokin Joe]

WTF is going on?

Dunno. Bridgewater is just down the road from my undergrad Alma Mater, so this is a shocker.

[mystery-ak]

Two Officers Shot and Killed on College Campus in Virginia

AWR Hawkins 2 Feb 2022

A campus police officer and a safety officer were shot and killed Tuesday on Virginia’s Bridgewater College campus.

The Daily News-Record reports police officer John Painter and safety officer J.J. Jefferson were both shot and fatally wounded.

The suspected shooter, 27-year-old Alexander Wyatt Campbell, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses described Campbell as “a former student at Bridgewater College…[who] ran cross country for the Eagles.”

CNN quoted a statement from Bridgewater College president David Bushman:

Campus Police Officer John Painter and Campus Safety Officer JJ Jefferson were shot and killed on campus while protecting us…These officers were close friends, known to many of us as the ‘dynamic duo.’ John was JJ’s best man in his wedding this year. They were beloved by students, faculty, and staff. I hurt for their families and loved ones, as I know we all do.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/02/two-officers-shot-and-killed-on-college-campus-in-virginia/

[Mod5]

Topics merged.

[Free Vulcan]

WTF is going on?

I know there were all sorts of bomb and shooting threats at black and other colleges yesterday.

Way too many at once to be random and uncoordinated. I'm curious to see the political beliefs of this shooter.

[Hoodat]

I know there were all sorts of bomb and shooting threats at black and other colleges yesterday.

Very suspicious.   A caller calls every HBC identifying himself as a "neo nazi"?  Seriously, who in the hell does that?  This entire threat thing has been staged to push the incompetency of Joe Biden out of the news cycle.

[Free Vulcan]

Very suspicious.   A caller calls every HBC identifying himself as a "neo nazi"?  Seriously, who in the hell does that?  This entire threat thing has been staged to push the incompetency of Joe Biden out of the news cycle.

It definitely sounds like an Antifa type ops.

[Fishrrman]

The shooter:

[Hoodat]

Two officers shot and killed at Bridgewater College, suspect facing 5 charges

Feb. 1, 2022

BRIDGEWATER, Va. (WHSV) - College officials report that there was an active shooter on the Bridgewater College campus. A Bridgewater College Campus Law Enforcement Officer and Campus Safety Officer were shot during this incident. A suspect is now in custody.  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  Campus Police Officer John Painter and Campus Safety Officer J.J. Jefferson were shot and killed.

The initial report came in that Painter and Jefferson had responded to a call of a suspicious individual was on campus in Memorial Hall. After a brief interaction, 27-year-old Alexander Wyatt Campbell, opened fire and shot both officers.

Campbell then fled on foot and was located on Riverside Drive in Bridgewater. By 1:55 p.m., the male shooter, Campbell, was taken into police custody. The suspect was taken to Sentara RMH for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, where he was treated and released. He is being held without bond at Rockingham County Regional Jail.

Virginia State Police are still working to determine how the suspect was shot.

Campbell was charged with 2 felony counts of capital murder, one felony count of first-degree murder, and one felony count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. VSP filed an additional charge of aggravated felony murder of more than 1 person within 3 years. Campbell’s next court date, a status hearing, is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.

Bridgewater College confirms that Campbell was once a member of the Bridgewater College track & field and cross country teams. According to court documents, he had four years of education but dropped out of Bridgewater College. He had also been banned from the main dining hall on campus, court records showed.

https://www.whsv.com/2022/02/01/reports-active-shooter-bridgewater-college-campus/

[sneakypete]

Evidentially this guy has been koo-koo koka puffs for several years now,so it's hard to believe in all that time he wasn't put away for both his own good,as well as the safety of the public.

[Hoodat]

'It is about mental illness,' says mother of Hanover man charged in killings at Bridgewater College

Reed Williams , Lyndon German  |  2 Feb 2022

A former Hanover County man accused of killing two officers at Bridgewater College has ongoing mental health issues and needed help, his mother said in an interview Wednesday as her son made his first appearance in court.

“My son is mentally ill and he did something that I could not control and no one could come to help him,” Cheryl Campbell told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in her Hanover home. “I’m sorry for what has happened. I could not prevent it.”  .  .  .

.  .  .  Cheryl Campbell said she does not know the facts of what happened Tuesday at Bridgewater. When asked what specific mental health challenges her son has faced, she said: “I just don’t even know how to respond to that. As a parent, I have not been able to help him because he’s a legal adult.”

“This is a very hard time for Wyatt and his family and for the families that he has affected,” added Campbell, in tears, her voice quavering. “It is not about gun control. It is not. And I need you as a journalist to get that out there. It is about mental illness and how we have no control over that, the way society is right now. I can’t help my son.”

https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/it-is-about-mental-illness-says-mother-of-hanover-man-charged-in-killings-at-bridgewater/article_2640ef8d-2a82-513d-8b8d-859d0ed68b8f.html


Hanover County is just north of Richmond.  Bridgewater College is in Rockingham County in the Shenandoah Valley (maybe 140 miles away).  The two are not close.  Not sure why he was still in the area if he was still using a Hanover address as his residence.

[mountaineer]

Evidentially this guy has been koo-koo koka puffs for several years now,so it's hard to believe in all that time he wasn't put away for both his own good,as well as the safety of the public.

I agree, but is that even possible anymore? The rights of the dangerous mentally ill person to run free are greater than the community's right to live safely, it seems.

[Kamaji]

Part of the problem - a big part - is how to reliably determine that any given individual is mentally ill to the point where they should be preventively locked up to protect society from them.  How does one reliably separate the wheat from the chaff, and should we err to the side of being too inclusive - locking up some who, in actuality, are not dangerous - or of being not inclusive enough - failing to lock up some who, in actuality, are dangerous (and who, to boot, subsequently demonstrate that fact in fatal fashion)?

Red Flag laws, anyone?

[mountaineer]

Yes, it's a fine line. The family may have a very good idea of the person's tendency or likelihood to commit violence, but "probably will" is not enough to lock him up in a psych ward.

[Kamaji]

Yes, it's a fine line. The family may have a very good idea of the person's tendency or likelihood to commit violence, but "probably will" is not enough to lock him up in a psych ward.

What makes it even more difficult is that oftentimes, it will be a family member with an axe to grind who may be the most willing to abuse the system to try and get a disliked relative locked up.

It's a very easy idea to state, but a very, very difficult idea to implement in a way that is both fair, and productive.

[sneakypete]

I agree, but is that even possible anymore? The rights of the dangerous mentally ill person to run free are greater than the community's right to live safely, it seems.

@mountaineer

I am GUESSING it is still legal to arrest someone and have their mental health evaluated for their own safety,as well as the safety of others.

And,of course,have a competency hearing to have a judge/court determine if he or she should be locked away in a mental institution of their own good,as well as for public safety.

And,"Yes,I DO realize who dangerous such programs can be if not properly supervised."

Still,as the old saying goes,"We don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater.",and something needs to be done to protect the pubic,as well as the nutcases.

[sneakypete]

Yes, it's a fine line. The family may have a very good idea of the person's tendency or likelihood to commit violence, but "probably will" is not enough to lock him up in a psych ward.

@mountaineer

Maybe not,but it should be enough to get them a hearing in front of a court with mental health professionals on both sides taking part.

[Fishrrman]

Rebuild the psychiatric hosptials.
Rebuild the criminally psychiatric prisons.
Lock 'em up, as many as we can round up and get off the streets.

"One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", writ large.
Let 'em rot, if need be.
Sorry if you don't like that.

[Smokin Joe]

What makes it even more difficult is that oftentimes, it will be a family member with an axe to grind who may be the most willing to abuse the system to try and get a disliked relative locked up.

It's a very easy idea to state, but a very, very difficult idea to implement in a way that is both fair, and productive.

Along those lines, there may well be a profit motive involved, where someone is declared non compos mentis and their 'caregivers', with power of attorney, proceed to loot their estate. With the judicious administration of controlled substances, virtually anyone who would otherwise be okay can be made to seem crazy.
I know of one person who did that to his girlfriend to try to gain custody of their son.
(Thankfully, that sh*tbird is in prison, now.)

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Two officers shot and killed at Bridgewater College, suspect facing 5 charges

I hope he faces the Almighty sooner than he had realized.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I agree, but is that even possible anymore? The rights of the dangerous mentally ill person to run free are greater than the community's right to live safely, it seems.

Not in the eyes of the Dems.

Republicans are all dangerously mentally ill so must be locked up for the public's good.

That is the plan.

[sneakypete]

Along those lines, there may well be a profit motive involved, where someone is declared non compos mentis and their 'caregivers', with power of attorney, proceed to loot their estate. With the judicious administration of controlled substances, virtually anyone who would otherwise be okay can be made to seem crazy.
I know of one person who did that to his girlfriend to try to gain custody of their son.
(Thankfully, that sh*tbird is in prison, now.)

@Smokin Joe

Who says there is never any good news reported?

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

Who says there is never any good news reported?

Might have saved me some charges of my own. The girl is family.

[Kamaji]

Along those lines, there may well be a profit motive involved, where someone is declared non compos mentis and their 'caregivers', with power of attorney, proceed to loot their estate. With the judicious administration of controlled substances, virtually anyone who would otherwise be okay can be made to seem crazy.
I know of one person who did that to his girlfriend to try to gain custody of their son.
(Thankfully, that sh*tbird is in prison, now.)

That, too.  That is a huge problem with the elderly and the way that guardianships are granted; too often, the "guardian" ends up being the victimizer.