Two officers killed down the road from me yesterday

[Belsnickel]

I'm posting this here not because I intend it to be political, but just in case the conversation turns into a political one.

https://www.dnronline.com/news/local/suspect-facing-murder-charges-held-without-bond/article_09dc08c2-8545-523d-a507-a4e09043a5af.html

Quote:BRIDGEWATER — A 27-year-old man has been charged with the killing of a Bridgewater College police officer and a safety officer in a shooting on campus Tuesday afternoon.

Alexander Wyatt Campbell, whose last known address is in Ashland, was taken into custody after a lockdown of the school following the shooting.

Campbell has been charged by VSP with two felony counts of capital murder, one felony count of first degree murder and a felony count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to the Virginia State Police.

The charges have been filed after consultation with Marsha Garst, Rockingham County commonwealth’s attorney, and more charges may be forthcoming as the investigation proceeds, according to VSP.

John Painter, former Grottoes police chief of 18 years and Bridgewater campus officer, was killed along with safety officer J.J. Jefferson. Painter stepped down as chief of the Rockingham County town in 2019.

Jefferson was a former Department of Public Safety sergeant at Shenandoah University in Winchester, a position he took on in 2013. He studied at the school between 2012 and 2018, according to a press release from the school.

“These officers were close friends, known to many of us as the ‘dynamic duo,’” Bridgewater College President David Bushman said in an email to students later Tuesday afternoon.

Painter served as Jefferson’s best man at his wedding this year, according to Bushman.

Campbell is being held at the Rockingham County Jail without bond, Corrine Geller, Virginia State Police spokesperson, said in a press conference at Nininger Hall at BC on Tuesday evening.

Law enforcement is still investigating the shooting and a potential motive. Geller asked anyone with information about the incident or videos and photos from the incident to share it with VSP by email through vsphtcs@vsp.virginia.gov. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also assisting in the investigation.

“It’s still a very complex and very active investigation,” Geller said.

Geller declined to say if Campbell was a student and also could not provide any information about whether Campbell was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the incident. Based on available evidence, the shooting was isolated and Campbell is the lone suspect.

Campbell was previously a member of the school’s track team, according to witnesses at the scene.

According to an online bio on the Eagles athletic website, which was taken down late Tuesday, Campbell last ran for BC in 2015, placing 13th at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference meet, and was a graduate of Patrick Henry High School.

Geller also said she could not provide any information about a criminal history of Campbell. Multiple firearms were recovered as evidence both on and off campus Tuesday, according to Geller.

Officers were called to the area around Memorial Hall and Flory Hall on the Bridgewater College campus just before 1:20 p.m. due to reports of a suspicious person carrying a duffel bag, according to Geller.

Other Bridgewater College staff first came upon Campbell and startled him around Memorial Hall, according Geller. Geller said Campbell was not supposed to be in the area, but declined to elaborate on why.

Painter and Jefferson responded to the call, came upon Campbell and after a short interaction with the law enforcement officers, he fired at them, Geller said. They died from their injuries, according to Geller. In his role as a campus police officer, Painter was issued a firearm, but Jefferson was not.

Campbell fled the scene on foot across the North River adjacent to the college campus on Riverside Drive and was taken into custody by other law enforcement officers around 1:55 p.m. on a small island in the river, Geller said.

When Campbell was taken into custody, he had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. VSP is still investigating whether his wound was self-inflicted or was caused by one of the campus officers, Geller said.

He was transported to Sentara RMH Medical Center and was treated before being transported to the county jail, she said. Geller declined to say where the gunshot wound was on Campbell’s body.

Unless it’s determined one of the campus officers shot Campbell, no law enforcement officers discharged their firearms in the incident, according to Geller.

Bridgewater College is a small, private Christian college of about 1,500 students located in the south Rockingham County town of Bridgewater.

According to VSP, there were no students in immediate danger during the incident, though students the Daily News-Record spoke with Tuesday following the incident discussed how stressful and distressing it was to them.

Students were mostly in classes at the time of the shooting, Bushman said during the evening press conference. Students told the Daily News-Record about calling their family members to say they loved them and goodbye as they barricaded themselves into their classrooms after they heard the gunshots.

So, when this occurred I was literally right down the road. I was turning out of a local market after getting lunch onto a main highway when I saw police from my city, which is about 5 miles away, fly past me going to Bridgewater. This, naturally, confused me and I tried to look down the road to see if they were chasing anyone. I saw nothing, so turned north and proceeded home. Then I saw VSP going flying in the same direction. A friend was on the other major highway that connects my city with this town and reported the same thing on our friend group text chain, only she said "This is an active shooter situation. It reminds me too much of when I was a student at VT." Then we heard what was going on.

This is something that hits home in so many ways. Bridgewater is a town I have spent a ton of my life in. It's just down the road from me, both of my maternal great-grandparents graduated from there in the early 1900's, I have friends that both work there and have graduated from there, I've spent a lot of time on that campus as well as the church connected to it (grew up Church of the Brethren and this is a COB college), I have had family both live and work in that town, and I still spend time there as I have Scout units there that I work with on a regular basis. I was just there on Monday evening and from where I was I could have seen everything unfold. This is a small town and a small college and I'm still wrapping my head around all of this. I'm really curious about the motives of the shooter in this situation.

I'm not posting this to make it a conversation about gun issues or school safety or anything. I just wanted to share this because it has hit national news and it is something that hits very, very close to home for me. I didn't know either of the officers that were killed, but I do know a lot of people who did know them. I know people who were at J.J.'s wedding where John was his best man. The ripples in the community from this are just starting to be felt.