A gunman is at large after two people were killed at Virginia Tech this afternoon, the university said in a statement.
Virginia Tech said the "status of the shooter is unknown" but has warned people on campus to stay inside.
One of the dead men is a police officer who was shot during a "routine traffic stop", the university said.
"Shortly after noon today, a Virginia Tech police officer stopped a vehicle on campus during a routine traffic stop in the Coliseum parking lot near McComas Hall," a statement posted to Virginia Tech's website said.
"During the traffic stop the officer was shot and killed. There were witnesses to this shooting.
Witnesses reported to police the shooter fled on foot heading toward the Cage, a parking lot near Duck Pond Drive. At that parking lot, a second person was found. That person is also deceased."
The statement added: "The status of the shooter is unknown. The campus community should continue to shelter in place and visitors should not come to campus."
Police officers block a road on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg Photograph: Matt Gentry/AP
Virgina Tech said several law enforcement agencies have responded. Virginia state police are leading the investigation.
A spokeswoman for Virgina Tech confirmed the statement on the website was correct. She was unable to provide further information.
The Collegiate Times, the student newspaper for Virginia Tech, was evacuated from its office as police pursued the gunman. The paper's Twitter feed reported police activity around the campus's Squires Student Center.
AP reported that the shooting came the same day that Virginia Tech, which has an enrollment of about 30,000, was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university's response to the 2007 rampage, when a student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself.
A police officer secures the scene where a gunman killed a police officer and another person after a traffic stop Photograph: Matt Gentry/AP
The Collegiate Times reports that the police SWAT team has left Squires Student Center after finding "no suspicious persons inside". The Guardian cannot confirm this.
The Washington Post has a map of the university campus which shows where the deceased were found this afternoon. The police officer was shot and killed at the Coliseum parking lot. A second victim was found at the Cage parking lot, according to the Post.
Unconfirmed reports are suggesting police are hunting a burgundy Mitsibushi in connection with the shooting at Virginia Tech.
Reddit user enginerdy says they are listening into a police scanner feed, and are providing a rolling commentary.
Enginerdy has ascertained from the feed that police have cleared Rector Field House and Johnson Hall. The Guardian cannot confirm his account.
Exams scheduled to take place at Virginia Tech tomorrow have been postponed, according to the university's Twitter feed.
Virginia Tech said a media briefing would be held at Schott Media Room in Lane Stadium at 4.30pm.
An audio stream reportedly picking up communications from police leading the operation at Virginia Tech is available on radioreference.com here.
Just a few minutes ago officers could be heard discussing a possible suspect – which can be heard in this recording. One officer says:
My partner just talked to a subject advised there was a 10-100 walking in the field behind the old [inaudible] sewage plant, wearing a hoody. Possible suspect.
A response comes through: "Dispatch unit to old sewage plant, see if that's it."
Flickr user daniellinphoto has uploaded photographs from Virgina Tech this afternoon.
Officers can be seen carrying weapons at the campus.
The latest update from Virginia Tech's twitter feed says:
< p>In this second audio grab from the police scanner feed a report comes in of a suspicious male having been spotted two miles west of Virginia Tech.
< p>We have a 10-100 at Heather Drive at Tall Oaks, skinny white male [inaudible] shirt wearing prescription glasses and a maroon avalanche. No tag available, unknown direction of travel, acting suspicious.
There is a Heather Drive/ Tall Oaks Drive intersection two miles west of the university campus.
<
Virginia Tech police officers console one another as they move toward the scene where a fellow police officer was killed Photograph: Don Petersen/AP p>
On Reddit, enginerdy is continuing to post updates he says are gleamed from a police scanner in the area. The posts make interesting reading and give a sense of a multi-pronged police operation in the area. Police appear to be tracking various leads. There are multiple reports of a suspect wearing a "maroon hoody".
The Republican governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has issued a statement on the shootings at Virginia Tech this afternoon. He says:
I am deeply saddened by today's news of another tragedy affecting the Virginia Tech community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those impacted by these shootings.
Since this news first broke we have been monitoring the situation closely and I have made available all requested state resources to Virginia Tech, including the Virginia State Police. I have also spoken to Virginia Tech President Charles Steger earlier this afternoon.
I want to thank the multiple law enforcement agencies and all of the officers for their speedy response and focus during this difficult time. I also want to commend Virginia Tech leadership, students, faculty and staff who cooperated to efficiently respond to this emergency.
While we will await the completion of the initial investigation of this incident before commenting further, I want to again offer our continued support to all of those impacted by this tragedy. Virginia Tech is a university of great resolve, and I have no doubt that the students, alumni and faculty of this proud institution will emerge from this sad day stronger and more united than ever before. There will continue to be needs in the days ahead as we move forward from this situation and I will ensure that those needs are met completely and fully by the commonwealth.
Law enforcement officials believe the second casualty at Virginia Tech University was the man who shot and killed the campus police officer, according to NBC news.
Law enforcement officials tell NBC News they believe the second shooting victim at Virginia Tech University was the man who shot and killed the campus police officer.
>NBC's Pete Williams reports that authorities say they're awaiting final confirmation but that they believe the campuswide alert for a gunman at large will soon be canceled.Just in:Officials tell @NBCNews they believe 2nd shooting victim may be gunman. aj.vg/vWIPY3
— Craig Kanalley (@ckanal) December8, 2011
A weapon has been recovered at the where one of the two dead men were shot, local news station WDBJ7 reports.
Virginia Tech has just announced on Twitter that police on the campus have declared the emergency over.
>Law enforcement agencies have determined there is no longer an active threat or need to secure in place. Resume normal activities.
— Virginia Tech News (@vtnews) December8, 2011
The Virginia Tech press conference is about to start. You can watch it on the live stream above. You may need to refresh this page.
Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech, confirms the lockdown at the campus has been lifted.
Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech, describes a "wanton act of violence", where a police officer was murdered during a routine traffic stop".
He says: "Our hearts are broken again, for the family of our police officer, and we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences."
Gene Deisinger, deputy chief of Virginia Tech police department, says police received a report saying a suspect had been seen approaching an officer and fired a gun. Police responded and found an officer "who had received a gunshot", he says.
At about 1pm an officer saw a suspicious person. When he approached the man, he found him dead from a gunshot wound.
This afternoon police have been following up leads from members of the public.
Students talk on their cell phones and take pictures downtown in Blacksburg Photograph: Jared Soares/Getty Images > Sergeant Bob Carpentieri of Virginia state police is speaking now. The dead officer served on the force for four years.
After the officer was found another body, of a white man, was found near the duck pond on Virginia Tech campus, he says. He had also suffered a gunshot wound.
A gun was also found, but Carpentieri will not discuss the weapon or its calibre. Carpentieri says there have been no further shootings since the two bodies were found.
Carpentieri will not confirm whether police believe the second dead person to be the shooter, and says he does not have the identity of the second dead person.
Deisinger clarifies the information on the second deceased man. Witnesses at the scene of the first shooting reported that the gunman had fled toward the "cage lot". A dead man was later found there.
Asked if the second dead man was the same person who was initially the subject of the traffic stop, Carpentieri says no. The shooter walked up to the officer while he was dealing with the incident.
The press conference is drawing to a close. The only other pertinent piece of information to have emerged is that police had been investigating an armed robbery in nearby Radford yesterday. This WSLS report says the robbery happened at 11.25am in Calhoun Street, at the offices of a real estate agent.
The suspect demanded the keys to an employee's car when he left, described as a 2011 white Mercedes SUV with Virginia tag KLF-6778.
Here's a summary of events at Virginia Tech today.
Two people have been killed at Virginia Tech university, leading to a manhunt and campus lockdown. A police officer was shot dead just after midday during a routine traffic stop and a dead man was found with a weapon nearby.
The shootings took place at the same college that was the scene of the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in US history. In April 2007 incident, 32 people died when a student, Seung-Hui Cho, went on the rampage. He was able to buy guns despite having been diagnosed with mental health problems.
In today's incident, the dead officer, who had served with Virginia police for four years but has not yet been named, was conducting the traffic stop when witnesses saw another man approach and shoot him. Police said the gunman was not connected with the traffic stop. Witnesses saw the shooter run in the direction of the Cage parking lot.
The gunman was later found dead. About 45 minutes after the first shooting, the police spotted a man acting suspiciously in the Cage parking lot. By the time officers approached him, he was dead from a gunshot wound. The police said they did not shoot him.