Two officers were killed in a shooting at Bridgewater College, a small liberal-arts institution in Virginia, said David W. Bushman, the president, in a statement on Tuesday. John Painter was a campus police officer, and J.J. Jefferson was a campus safety officer; both were killed on the campus.
The officers were close friends, Bushman’s statement said. Painter had been best man at Jefferson’s wedding this year, and they were known as the “dynamic duo.”
“I know we all have so many questions and not many answers,” said Bushman. “We will rally around one another and support each other as we move forward from this day.”
Around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, local, county, and federal police officers responded to a report of an active shooter on the campus, near Harrisonburg, according to Bridgewater College’s Twitter account. State and local law-enforcement officials took a suspect into custody at 1:55 p.m. after a “massive search operation.” An investigation is underway.
The shooting came not long after other threats of violence on college campuses. There were bomb threats at many historically Black colleges and universities in January, and then again on Monday and Tuesday. Albany State, Bethune Cookman, Bowie State, Delaware State, and Howard Universities, as well as Southern University and A&M College, received threats on Monday, The Chronicle reported. According to The Washington Post, about two dozen colleges have faced threats this year, with many closing down and investigating. The Biden administration said it is in touch with federal law enforcement about the threats.
Also on Tuesday, the University of California at Los Angeles moved classes online because a former lecturer posted a video that referred to mass shootings and sent an 800-page manifesto threatening specific members of the philosophy department, The Chronicle reported. The former lecturer was taken into custody in Colorado, the university said.
Bridgewater College’s Twitter account sent messages throughout the afternoon telling community members to shelter in place. In one Tweet, the college said to “text to let your loved ones know you are OK.” At around 5 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the college sent an “all clear” notification.
