Opinion
Bridgewater College shooting suspect attended the school from 2013-2017
Alexander Wyatt Campbell, the suspect accused of taking pictures and killing two officers Tuesday on the campus of Bridgewater Faculty, attended the college from 2013 to 2017 and was on the observe and area workforce, in accordance with a spokesperson for the college.
Campbell, 27, was arrested about half an hour after the taking pictures and faces 4 felony fees, together with two counts of capital homicide.
A spokesperson for Bridgewater Faculty mentioned the college couldn’t present different information for Campbell beneath the Household Instructional and Rights Privateness Act. It’s unclear if he graduated.
Alexander Wyatt Campbell, 27, is going through two counts of capital homicide and different fees after allegedly taking pictures and killing a police officer and campus security officer on Bridgewater Faculty’s campus Tuesday.
(Rockingham County Jail)
Campbell’s solely earlier run-ins with legislation enforcement got here in the summertime of 2017, when he was charged with shoplifting and trespassing in relation to an incident on June 9, 2017, in Rockingham County, in accordance with Virginia courtroom information. He was additionally charged with failure to look in courtroom in 2018.
He was sentenced to a yr of supervised probation within the shoplifting and trespassing case.
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The officers – campus police officer John Painter and security officer J.J. Jefferson – responded to a report of a “suspicious particular person” round 1:20 p.m. close to Memorial Corridor, in accordance with Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
After a short interplay, Campbell allegedly opened fireplace on the officers, placing and killing each of them.
Police strategy a suspect on the south financial institution of the North River in Bridgewater, Va. following a taking pictures at Bridgewater Faculty Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022.
(Daniel Lin/Each day Information-Document By way of AP)
Campbell fled the scene however was apprehended about half-hour afterward an island after wading via the North River. Pictures present about ten legislation enforcement officers dashing in to arrest Campbell, who was shirtless and mendacity face down on the bottom.
He sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was transported to an area hospital for remedy earlier than being booked into the Rockingham County Jail, the place he’s being held with out bond. It’s unclear if the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or got here from a gunfight with police.
Campbell’s final identified handle was Ashland, Virginia, about 100 miles southeast of Bridgewater Faculty.
Each officers succumbed to their accidents, in accordance with Bridgewater Faculty President David Bushman.
“These officers had been shut associates, identified to many people because the ‘dynamic duo,’” Bushman wrote in a letter to the faculty neighborhood.
“John was J.J.’s greatest man in his wedding ceremony this yr. They had been beloved by college students, college and workers. I damage for his or her households and family members, as I do know all of us do.”
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Painter was issued a firearm as a police officer, however Jefferson didn’t carry a firearm since he was a campus security officer, in accordance with the Virginia State Police.
A number of weapons had been found by legislation enforcement as they retraced Campbell’s steps following the arrest.
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Bridgewater Faculty is house to about 1,500 college students in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
“Phrases should not enough, not practically so, to precise the grief, disappointment, concern and — justifiably — the anger all of us really feel,” Bushman, the faculty president, mentioned Tuesday.
