fox 5 s will thomas is following new details in the newsroom. good evening. the video just came back to the newsroom. witnesses say a man was randomly firing his handgun into the air and into apartments and within moments of police arriving they opened fire on him. let s go to the scene there. again this is clay terrace in northeast d.c. just before 7:00. officers confronted a man who was firing his gun. we re told he d shoot off a round or two, then conceal the gun. police say he refused orders to drop it and that s when four officers fired on the suspect. witnesses and neighbors say they heard at least 30 gunshots. here s chief cathy lanier. there were several calls that came in, first for a man with a gun shooting at the houses. then calls came in for a man high on pcp firing a weapon. as officers entered the block, they heard the gunfire and observed the gunfiring. they were performing cpr on the suspect. we don t know if police identified him yet. investigators are
spotsylvania county. police are trying to figure out what made him drive to the university and shoot the police officer. a dean s list college student turned armed robber of his landlord s office and then cop killer. that is how virginia state police are describing ross truett ashley, but what set him off is still a mystery. reporter: this is the face of a killer, 22-year-old ross truett ashley. he was a part-time student at radford university in virginia and now we re learning a day before the deadly shooting on the virginia tech campus ashley entered a real estate office in radford and at gunpoint stole a white mercedes suv from an employee. he later dumped it on the catch us of virginia tech sometime campus of virginia tech sometime before his delivered confrontation thursday with virginia tech campus police officer 39-year-old deriek crouse. so far police have not been able to determine a motive for the crime. the motive is the crux of the investigation right now,
the suspected gunman dead. tonight the series of events that brought back the emotions of that terrible day in 2007. thanks for joining us tonight. i m shawn yancy. i m brian bolter. new details about the deadly shooting that sent shock waves through the virginia tech campus again. police just released this photo of the officer who was killed this afternoon. he s identified as 39-year-old deriek crouse. he was apparently ambushed during a traffic stop. fox 5 s bob barnard has been learning more about it, joins us live from the virginia campus down in blacksburg. bob. reporter: brian, officer crouse was from the nearby community of christiansburg. he was an army veteran, married, the father of five children and step children, his murder this afternoon touching off another terrifying day here at virginia tech. keep your heads up. we ll take care of your, promise. our hearts are broken you, promise. our hearts are broken again and we extend our deepest condolences.
backpack. then about half a mile away in a parking lot known as the cage. police found the suspected gunman dead. apparently of a self-inflicted wound. ballistics tests show the weapon near him was used in both shootings. this campus is left to mourn as students wait for some kind of answer as to why. everybody knows what happens and everybody knows that, you know, we have to be strong. now there are grief counselors on hand and officers from surrounding agents are here to support the virginia tech police. this hit them very, very hard. we heard about it in the press conference yesterday about a potential connection to a carjacking reported in radford. do you know anything about that? virginia state police tell us they are investigating whether or not there is a connection. here s what we know about that. apparently wednesday morning, a young man walked into a real estate office in radford with a gun and stole a mercedes suv. the reason they thought there may have bee
the trauma our family has been through. i want no other family to go through this. tonight, we re bringing you every angle of this stunning courtroom drama. fox 5 news at 10:00 starts right now. thanks for joining us. i m shawn yancy. brittany norwood sits in a jail cell right now facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for a brutal murder that stunned the entire country. our crews were inside the courtroom as the verdict was handed down. they have been following the trial since it started. let s start with you, paul, on how this went down in the courtroom. brian, the jury caught the case at 5:55 this evening. within an hour, they sent a message to the judge that they reached a verdict. as they filed back into the courtroom, these six men and six women were watched by brittany norwood. she looked up at them. she didn t do what she was normally doing, which was looking down at the desk, which wasn t paying attention to what s going on. the clerk said to