Escape freezes Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A manhunt for an escaped convict suspected in the slayings of a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy shut down the Virginia Tech campus on the first day of classes Monday as sharpshooters were posted on university rooftops and students scrambled for safety.
Authorities later captured William Morva, 24, after he was found hiding in a briar patch along a trail off-campus, Blacksburg Police Chief Kim Crannis said. The spot was about 150 yards from where the sheriff's deputy was slain during the search Monday morning. A weapon also was recovered, but police didn't elaborate.
Hundreds of police scoured the 2,600-acre campus as Virginia Tech Vice President Kurt Krause canceled classes for the school's 26,000 students and sent some 6,000 professors and other workers home.
Morva had escaped from a hospital — about two miles from campus — where he had been taken for treatment of a sprained wrist and ankle early Sunday. According to police, Morva overpowered another Montgomery County sheriff's deputy at the hospital, took the deputy's gun and then shot an unarmed hospital security guard. The guard was identified as Derrick McFarland, 26. The deputy was in stable condition with a concussion and other severe head injuries he suffered in the attack.
Morva had been jailed while awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year and apparently shed his orange prison jumpsuit after escaping. He then is suspected of gunning down sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin as the decorated police veteran got closer to the fugitive on a hiking and biking trail about 7 a.m. Monday. Morva was wearing shorts with no shirt or shoes when he was captured around 3:30 p.m. Police earlier had said he was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and khakis and feared he would blend in on campus.
"It's very scary," said sophomore Kelly Engbersen of Williamsburg. "Every person you see you look hard (and wonder), 'Is that him?"'
As police sirens wailed to signal the arrest, shopkeepers in this college town celebrated the end of the tense search.
"Hallelujah. I'm ready for life to go back to normal," said Paula Bolte, who had put a sign in her grocery store to welcome students back to campus.
Morva was charged with capital murder, use of a firearm in a felony, escape and felony assault on a police officer. He had not been charged with Monday's shooting.
Akio Robrecht, 27, of Blacksburg, said Morva was a couple years behind him in school. Morva "seemed like a nice, quiet kid," he said. "It's kind of hard to believe."
