Shootout at US college: 2 officers, 1 student dead

Washington: A gunman shot dead three people on the campus of Bridgewater College in the American state of Virginia before fleeing the scene of the crime. Security officials and emergency crews arrived at the scene following authorities at the college alerting them to an "active shooter".

A student was killed and one wounded, while the remaining deceased have been identified as a campus law enforcement official and a safety officer respectively. The suspect, a 27-year-old man named Alexander Wyatt Campbell, was later apprehended, Virginia State Police said, adding that he had a "non-life-threatening gunshot wound."

It was not clear whether he had inflicted the wound himself or whether he had been injured in the encounter with law enforcement. Campbell has been charged with two felony counts of capital murder, one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony charge of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said at a Tuesday night news conference.

"Multiple firearms associated with Campbell have been recovered as evidence," she said.

Several people heard or witnessed the shooting, Virginia State Police said, and the agency is asking for the public's help for any information.

Emergency services and police arrived at the scen at around 1:30 PM local time when the college out out an "activet shooter" report. An "all clear notice" was issued at around 4:30 PM on the college website.

Campus Police Officer John Painter and Campus Safety Officer JJ Jefferson have been identified as the deceased law enforcement officers who were alerted to the presence of the suspect and had a brief interaction with him before being shot and killed.

Campbell ran off after the deed and waded through a river, where he ended up on a small island, Ms. Geller said. He was captured at 1:55 PM after a "massive search operation" involving local, state and federal law enforcement officials, the college said in a statement.