Shooter May Have Posted Online Before Va. Community College Attack - East Idaho News
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Shooter May Have Posted Online Before Va. Community College Attack

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Getty 122711 ShootinghHemera?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1365875294772Hemera/Thinkstock(CHRISTIANSBURG, Va.) — An 18-year-old college student may have posted messages online that detailed the weapons and ammunition he planned to use before allegedly shooting two women at a Virginia community college on Friday.

“I’m nervous because I’ve never really handled a shotgun but a few times with the Christiansburg police,” Neil MacInnis, of Christiansburg, Va., reportedly posted just minutes before he opened fire at the satellite campus of New River Community College at New River Valley Mall, police said.

“Stevens 320 shotgun. Buck shots and slugs,” MacInnis reportedly posted before the attack.

Investigators could not confirm if the information in the post matched the details of Friday’s attack.

Christiansburg Police Chief Mark Sisson said MacInnis had participated in the town’s Police Department Citizens Academy program in 2012.

The 12-week course allowed participants to ride along with police officers, tour the officers’ training facility, as well as practice with firearms at the firing range, the Associated Press reported.

The type of weapon, how it was obtained and how many shots were fired during the incident were not being released due to the ongoing investigation, Sisson said at a news briefing on Friday night.

MacInnis was charged with two counts each of malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bail in Montgomery County Jail.

MacInnis, who is a student at the community college, wounded one student and one school employee in the attack. One of the victims was airlifted to the hospital for medical attention, while the other was taken by ambulance, Sisson said at the news briefing.

MacInnis was subdued by an off-duty security guard less than 10 minutes after the shooting began on Friday.

Authorities have not yet established the shooter’s motive.

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