Police from multiple jurisdictions swarmed Bridgewater College yesterday afternoon following reports of active shooter on the close-knit campus.
Two men, a Bridgewater College Campus Law Enforcement Officer and a Campus Safety Officer, were gunned down. The suspect is now in custody.
WHSV has more on the tragedy in the Shenandoah Valley:
At approximately 1:20 p.m. Feb. 1, 2022, the Bridgewater College Police Department, Town of Bridgewater Police Department, Virginia State Police, Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, City of Harrisonburg Police, Augusta Sheriff’s Office, Town of Dayton Police Department, FBI, and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries responded to a report of an active shooter on the Bridgewater College campus.
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.
According to reports, Virginia State Police are investigating when and how Campbell got shot.