Ugh,When will this end!
SWAT on scene of Va. Beach shooting; P.A. High locked down
Posted to: Crime News Virginia Beach
Police officers and SWAT team members have descended on the Thalia Gardens section at this hour after reports that at least two people have been shot and that a gunman is on the loose.
Adam Bernstein, a police spokesman, said the location is near the intersection of Inverness Road and Boggs Avenue. "We still have a very active scene," he said at 6:45 p.m.
Police have closed off several streets in the area as a precautionary measure to keep citizens out of the line of any possible gunfire. Residents of nearby homes and apartments have been told to stay indoors.
Princess Anne High School was placed under lock down, said Kathleen O’Hara, a school system spokeswoman, with participants in afternoon activities being kept indoors. It was unclear how many students and faculty were affected.
Heavily-armed SWAT team officers appeared to be focused on the 4100 block of Inverness Road early this evening. Shortly after 7 p.m., police began issuing orders by loudspeakers to the gunman to come out of a two-story, brick apartment building where he is believed to have taken refuge.
Dominion Virginia power crews have been called to the scene by authorities and may be asked to cut off power to the building in order to limit the gunman's access to outside information.
Details of the shooting remain scarce, but at least one woman was reportedly taken to a hospital by ambulance while another victim was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital by the Nightingale helicopter ambulance which landed on a sports field behind Thalia Elementary School.
Bernstein said he was unable to offer any immediate details on the extent of injuries.
"We have more than one victim who has been shot," Bernstein said shortly before 6 p.m. He asked local media to not allow any live television feeds from helicopters that might reveal police tactics and locations in the area.
Police issued an alert about 7:30 p.m. for officers in the city to be on the lookout for a man in his mid-20s in connection with the shooting. But it was unclear if the person sought was believed to be a witness or more directly involved.
The man was described as being white with an unkempt appearance wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and a baseball cap.
Matthew Jette, an area resident, said he and others in the area heard the gunshots.
Initially, "we thought we heard a tire pop," he said this evening. But then there were more shots, he said: "Pop, pop, pop."
He estimated that he heard from 10 to 15 gunshots with the first coming slowly ad then speeding up. Moments later, he said he saw what he believed to be a shooting victim, a woman laying on the ground outside an apartment building.
"It was just insane," Jette said.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/swat-scene-va-beach-shooting-pa-high-locked-down
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