Suspect in University of Virginia Shooting Had Guns in His Dorm Room, Report Says
Two guns were found in a dorm room, possibly left there by a student who opened fire on his dorm floor last Friday, according to the University of Virginia police.
The guns were found in a dorm room on the second floor of Olden Hall on Friday and were believed to be those of the suspect in the shooting rampage that killed three students and two employees, officials said.
A student who was found dead on the first floor was identified as Peter Wang, 22, the university reported.
The other student, identified as John Allen Muhammad, 22, also had guns in the dorm room, according to officials. Muhammad’s father, Abdullah Mohammad, told The Washington Post that the two guns belonged to him and the university police chief declined to provide copies of the weapons’ serial numbers.
University Police Chief Timothy Howard said the guns were not part of a larger collection of weapons that were found and that the only ones recovered were those that were used in the massacre.
“I believe Peter W went to the gun shop and bought two guns,” Howard told The Washington Post.
A university spokesman told The Post Muhammad had been found “naked, drenched in blood and standing in the middle of the floor.”
He said Muhammad was shot in the chest and that the bullet entered his body at an angle such that police believe it may not have hit any vital organs.
“He was standing near the entrance to his room,” the spokesman said. “The door was ajar. He was shot in the back, which indicated that a second gunman was still inside.”
The spokesman said police had yet to determine if Muhammad had been the triggerman.
“It was definitely a shotgun that was found in the dorm room,” he said.
Howard later told The Post that the two guns had belonged to Wang and that both were