Man Arrested Near Va. Tech In Two Killings

McDonnell said Morva appears to be a "Timothy McVeigh-like anti-government type," referring to the man who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. "He is one of those self-described anti-government survivalists who apparently has some great opposition to authority and government," said McDonnell, who was briefed on the incident Monday.

Whitt confirmed that assessment. He said Morva had previously expressed "anti-government, anti-social and anti law-enforcement" views to other police officers.

McDonnell said Morva grew up in Blacksburg and is familiar with the dense woods near the Virginia Tech campus.

Many in Blacksburg knew Morva from coffee shops around town, where he hung out barefoot in the summer and coatless in the winter, drinking coffee, playing backgammon, reading and arguing. "He was a happy guy, and everyone liked him," said Andrew Mullin, 18, of Blacksburg, who was close to Morva.

Mullin described him as a survivalist -- someone who got by on his own, who owned a gun and who went camping and hunting for long stretches, drifting from place to place -- and militant.

"He sort of denounces society's view of what's normal," Mullin said. "He didn't like the government -- taxes and police and control, and he sort of felt like money and materialism kind of held you down."

In capturing Morva, police credited the huge armed presence that descended on the area. More than 24 agencies, including officers from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Virginia State Police and neighboring police departments, blanketed the campus and its surroundings.

Kurt J. Krause, vice president for business affairs at Virginia Tech, said the cordon of heavily armed officers was designed to keep Morva from escaping, and he said he ordered students and others to stay inside to keep them away from Morva.

"There were just too many rumors, too many people walking around," he said of the decision to cancel classes and essentially quarantine students.

Susan Ruggiero was doing yard work at her Stafford County home when her freshman daughter, Sarah, 17, called.

"Here she goes to her first day of class, and this happens," said Susan Ruggiero, who checked the news all day, watching for updates. "The whole thing with this moment in time -- when you allow your child to go off to college, you can't protect them from the world."

Havens Smith of Reston was filling out forms in her first class -- biology -- when a police officer burst into the auditorium carrying a big gun, she said, and told everybody to leave the building immediately.

When she was safely back in her room, she tried to call her parents but couldn't get through on her cellphone. Finally, her father called the land line in her room: Her grandparents in Florida had seen Virginia Tech on the news.

"As a parent, you work so hard to get your kid to have this opportunity," said Mark Smith, her father. "In our case, Havens is our only child. You get 'em all geared up for this experience in life, you get 'em down there, all moved in and everything, and you never dream -- two days later you wake up, listen to the news, and this is going on."

Staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this report from Richmond. Kinzie reported from Washington.