This article was updated on Nov. 4 at 11:13 p.m.
At 11:07 p.m. on Nov. 4, the Vanderbilt community received an AlertVU message saying that the suspect of a shooting that occurred at the Veterans Administration Hospital on 24th Avenue was taken into custody, and that officers have secured the area.
The shooter, who was identified as a veteran, fired 12 shots into the air, injuring no one. He then left the gun outside, went into the hospital, and said that he was suicidal and had come to get help, Metro Police told The Green Hills Patch. The man was cited for altering the serial number on the gun, but he was not arrested, police told the Patch.
“Resume normal activity but stay clear of the VA Hospital area during the investigation process,” said the AlertVU message, which students received via text message, email and phone.
At 10:42 p.m., the community had received an AlertVU message saying that a shooting was reported. According to the message, police were already on the scene. Students were instructed to take shelter.
In the original message, the suspect was described as a 6’4″ white male wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. At the time of the original message, the suspect was said to be headed towards the Vanderbilt Hospital Plaza area.
The first message instructed students to seek shelter immediately, and to confirm that they had received the message either by replying “YES” to the text message or by clicking a link in the email message.
Check alertvu.vanderbilt.edu for updates as they are available.