Virginia Tech university, scene of the worst school shooting in US history, was on lockdown yesterday after a man was reported to have been spotted possibly carrying a handgun on the campus.

Police later yesterday confirmed that nobody was found matching the description given by three youths, who were attending a camp at the university in Blacksburg, Virginia, but were still patrolling the campus in search of the man.

The university’s police chief Wendell Flinchum told reporters: “The alert that went out earlier in the day yesterday asked people to go inside, secure themselves until further notice.”

Police had stopped and questioned several people throughout the morning.

Memories are still fresh in Virginia of the 2007 massacre that saw Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, shoot to death 32 fellow classmates and teachers before turning the gun on himself.

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