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According to a Virginia State Police press release, 22-year-old part-time Radford student Ross Ashley was in Blacksburg on Wednesday afternoon, the day before he allegedly shot and killed Virginia Tech Police officer Deriek Crouse.
The state police released a new timeline of Ashley’s movements leading up to Thursday’s shootings.
As previously reported, Ashley stole a 2011 white Mercedes SUV from a woman working in the Gilbert Real Estate office in the 600 block of Calhoun St. in Radford, Va., at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7. At about 12:11 p.m., Radford Police issued a “be on lookout” alert for the SUV and Ashley.
A new development in the case is surveillance video from an unnamed "Town of Blacksburg retailer” that shows Ashley was in Blacksburg on Wednesday afternoon. The release said the video was not recovered until after Thursday’s shootings.
At about 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute notified the Blacksburg Police about a vehicle that they found parked on a gravel driveway near the VTTI/SmartRoad complex. Police responded to that notification and determined that the vehicle was the 2011 Mercedes SUV stolen from Radford the day before. Blacksburg Police then notified Radford Police of their discovery.
At about 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, Crouse was shot while sitting in his unmarked patrol car just after making a routine traffic stop in the parking lot near McComas Hall and Cassell Coliseum. In-car video shows Ashley shooting Crouse and then fleeing on foot.
At about 12:45 p.m., Ashley seems to have shot himself in the parking lot known as The Cage. A Montgomery County deputy who was assisting the search noticed a lone male, Ashley, behaving strangely and walking alone in the parking lot. The deputy decided to approach the man to question him. Before the deputy was able to drive through the rows of parked cars to approach the man, Ashley had shot himself.
Ashley was wearing different clothes at the time he shot himself than he was when he allegedly shot Crouse. Because they could not be certain at the time that Ashley was the suspect, law enforcement officials continued searching Tech’s campus for the shooting suspect Thursday afternoon.
Then, at about 5:20 p.m., officers discovered Ashley’s backpack which had clothes in it that matched the descriptions of eyewitnesses of the initial shooting.
The state police press release also said Ashley’s weapon was a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun that Ashley legally purchased in January 2011 from a licensed, Virginia gun dealer.
A version of this article appeared in the Dec 14 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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I hope that you all have made a mistake in the timeline or you can do more research as to the identification of Ashley before 5:20. As lock down was lifted before 4:30. Students were released before they found the change of clothes? Scary.
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Not really that big of a deal if they found the backpack at 5:20. If you fire a gun, there is enough residue on you to know that you fired the gun. It is very possible that they were able to identify him without the backpack. Also remember that they had the camera footage from the car as well.
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It also raises the question of where the backpack was? If it was in the police's hands, you would think its contents would be immediately checked.
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Well I guess it's a good thing that he was caught on the in-car camera. There were already some conspiracy theories starting to creep up in the comments of other articles claiming something along the lines that Ashley either wasn't the shooter or wasn't the only shooter.
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I don't understand why the Radford PD did not release a photo or information about him after the carjacking in Radford. During the WDBJ report yesterday, they said he actually drove his car to the real estate office and left it there when he stole the SUV. Couldn't they have linked it to him and released a photo of him from the DMV, instead of just a vague description?
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The backpack and clothing were not found by search dogs until close to 8:00 pm that night next to the greenhouse complex. There is also suspicion that he attempted to start and steal a truck from the same location. Explains where he was in that half hour.
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The backpack and clothing were not discovered by tracking dogs until around 8:00 pm that night near the greenhouse complex. There is also evidence to suggest that he attempted to start and steal a truck from the same location. Likely explains where he was for 30 minutes.
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Has anyone heard anything more about the writing that was found of a wall near the greenhouses and if that was related?
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The writing appears to not be connected.
From the Roanoke Times:
Near the backpack was graffiti addressed to a woman, police said.
On Tuesday, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the graffiti did not seem significant.
"At this point, it's been ruled out as being connected to this case," Geller wrote in an email.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/302365
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(I apologize if this comment appears multiple times - commenting on CT articles is awful!!)
It appears that the writing is not related.
From the Roanoke Times:
Near the backpack was graffiti addressed to a woman, police said.
On Tuesday, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the graffiti did not seem significant.
"At this point, it's been ruled out as being connected to this case," Geller wrote in an email.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/302365
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(I apologize if this comment appears multiple times - commenting on CT articles is awful!!)
It appears that the writing is not related.
From the Roanoke Times:
Near the backpack was graffiti addressed to a woman, police said.
On Tuesday, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the graffiti did not seem significant.
"At this point, it's been ruled out as being connected to this case," Geller wrote in an email.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/302365
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Did Ashley have gunshot residue on his hands/clothing?
Were his fingerprints on the weapon?
How close to his body was the weapon found?
How do they know the backpack belonged to Ashley? Because his ID was found inside?
Is Ashley recognizable in the police car's video?
Why didn't the staff in the control booth of the heavily-surveilled 'Smart Road" immediately note Ashley abandoning the stolen vehicle?
There's just a ton of unanswered questions here.
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Jesus, will you just stop?
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Gee, I'm sorry for being a vigilant citizen who is demanding some answers. So if everything is on the up-and-up, why couldn't these questions be addressed?
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Because the investigation is still ongoing! For every answer you get, you'll probably have 10 more amirite?
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my source is the news. Not facebook , not twitter. The news.
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ANSWERS:
YES
YES
WITHIN A FEW FEET
YES AND IT WAS SEEN IN CAR VIDEO
YES
THE CAR WASNT ON THE SMART ROAD, IT WAS NEAR SMART ROAD ON A GRAVEL ROAD. THE SMART ROAD HAS CAMERAS BUT THEY DONT COVER AREAS NOT ON ROAD
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What is your source?
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Why was the VT PD not notified that a stolen car with a known "college aged" male with a handgun was found within a few miles of campus? The timeline says that Blacksburg PD notified Radford that the stolen car was found, but doesn't say they warned VT. If not, why not?
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Do you know how many crimes happen in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford? Do you want a text every time there is a fight in town? Everytime there is a break in? Everytime a car is stolen. There comes a point when you are responsible for yourself. Pay attention to your surroundings. When you leave college there will not be a text message, voice mail, and tweet everytime a crime happens. In case you have not figured it out as soon as you step off campus the rules change. Blacksburg PD does not have to play by the Department of Education rules of notification. Put on your big boy pants and act like an adult.
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If the Blacksburg PD knew about the stolen car, they should have also known that the man had a gun because he stole the SUV at GUNPOINT. With the history of this campus, I would expect the PD to notify the VT Police that a man with a gun is on foot near the campus. All those other crimes you listed as examples cannot be compared to someone running around with a gun around campus. And yes, if there is another man running around campus with a gun, I would hope to get a text message. Especially if it would save a life.
And yes, I realize I cannot expect to be spoiled with notifications in the real world. But I am at school NOW. This is not about, "oh stop complaining..blah blah!" Someone lost their life. With the amount of money this campus receives, I would expect top notch safety. I could care less about all the unnecessary things this school buys my tuition money...but thats another story....
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I agree. If it was the same vehicle from the Radford jacking, they knew he had a handgun on him. Because of April 16th, the chances of a repeat shooting happening increases by 55%. So with the stolen vehicle being so close to campus, I as well feel that VTPD should have notified campus with at least a BOL.
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55%? what data suggests that? please cite it
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There is more to what happened here then is in the news.
I have heard rumors regarding Gilbert Realty and a possible reason to target that location for the theft, butrather then spread those rumors I would like to hear what other commenters might have to say on the subject.
Further, Ross Ashley took a little known backway in to 'the smart road.' I find it highly unlikely that he stumbled on that route and access point accidently. He either had help, had been there before with friends, or something of that nature.
His visit to Virginia Tech, parking where he did, and so forth was pre-planned. I am clueless as the rest of you on why he would target Officer Crouse. From what I understand however, Officer Crouse was known to work traffic duty and park at that location on a regular (possibly predictable basis?).
James Pollock
Bulldog Investigations
www.bulldogpi.com
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At this point, the only tie I have between Ross Ashley and Deriek Crouse involves football. It appears that Ross Ashley was almost obsessed with football, and Deriek Crouse had arrested Zach Luckett a few years back for a DUI (resulting in his suspension from the team, and almost costing him his football scholarship).
I do find it absurd for people to go along with the concept that Ross Ashley intended to shoot himself in the parking lot. That was 'plan B.' You don't bring a change of clothes, stash them, change your clothes and ditch your drivers license if you intend to put a Kamikaze routine.
I'm leaning towards the possibility that Crouse was specifically targeted by Ashley, but again, other then the football scenario I see no motive. If Ross Ashley just wanted to shoot a police officer, it would of been far easier to just do so in Radford. He also arrived in Blacksburg the day prior to the shooting, and stuck around. Where did he sleep? Where was the car Wednesday night?
Sounds to me like he had at least partial help (hiding himself and the car). As stated, there was a method to his madness, a plan involved. Something went very very wrong for him towards the end. I'm wondering if perhaps he was anticipating a ride out of dodge from the vicinity of the cage... which of course never materialized.
James Pollock
Bulldog Investigations
www.bulldogpi.com
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This bulldog has too much time on his hands. Please solve the kennedy assasination first.
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You dont change your clothes to kill yourself! I've learned something since I moved to this area, the press and the PD hide things. They think people are to dumb to realize or question what they are told. During the press conference how long did it take for them to make it clear it was a 3rd person who shot him, they made it seem like the driver of the car that was pulled over shot him, to sketchy this story.
I think the cop shot Ashley myself....he was a cop killer, the pd was pumped to get him they would cover that right up.
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Different people in all countries get the loans from different banks, just because it is easy and fast.
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The personal loans suppose to be important for people, which are willing to organize their organization. In fact, it's not really hard to receive a term loan.
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