The gunman who killed a policeman and then himself at the Virginia Tech university campus was acting alone, state police said today.

Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the attacker ran from the scene where he shot the officer and changed clothes before shooting himself in a car park half a mile away.

Ms Geller told a news conference that the gunman, whose identity has not been released, put his clothes in a backpack and left it behind a greenhouse on campus.

She said investigators are still trying to find out why he ambushed the policeman, Deriek W Crouse, as he was carrying out a routine traffic stop.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.