The Virginia Tech campus remains on lockdown as police continue to hunt for a suspected gunman.

Three teenaged academic campers reported seeing someone carrying what appeared to be a gun near Dietrick Hall at the Blacksburg, Va. campus Thursday morning. After verifying the credibility of the information given, the school issued a campuswide alert shortly after 9:30 a.m., the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

"We have not had any reported sightings or any more information regarding this person," Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum told reporters at a news briefing.

"We're in a new era," Hincker added. Obviously this campus experienced something terrible four years ago... Strictly, as an abundance of caution, we are going to keep the campus under alert status."

The alert urged everyone on campus to stay indoors and protected while authorities searched for the suspected gunman.

Virginia State Police as well as officers from at least four other law enforcement agencies are patrolling the campus, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On April 16 2007, Virginia Tech English major Seung-Hui Cho killed 33 people in a rampage that ended with his own suicide. The school has been widely criticized for waiting two hours and fifteen minutes to issue a warning after two students were slain by the gunman.

Virginia Tech is currently appealing $55,000 in fines for federal violations U.S. Department of Education in March found the school in violation of the Clery Act, Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

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