Va. mall gunman announced shooting online minutes before

Michael Winter, USA TODAY | USA TODAY

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. — An 18-year-old community college student was charged with wounding two women with a shotgun at a mall branch of the school in southwestern Virginia Friday afternoon.

Just before the attack, writing from inside the school, he posted his intentions to an online message board, noting he was "10 minutes away from Virginia Tech."

Police said Neil Allen MacInnis, of Christiansburg, was subdued by an off-duty mall security guard and two officers shortly about 2 p.m. at the New River Valley Mall. He is being held without bail at the Montgomery County Jail.

Last year, MacInnis, who is enrolled at New River Community College, completed the Christiansburg Citizen Police Academy training, Police Chief Mark Sisson said at a Friday night news briefing.

"Today has been a very tough day," he said.

Investigators are trying to determine a motive and MacInnis' connections to the women who were shot. One was a part-time college employee.

Police said their identities would not be released "to protect their privacy."

One victim was airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, but spokesman Eric Earnhart could not provide additional information on her identity or condition.

The other victim was taken by ambulance for treatment. She was in stable condition Friday afternoon but was transferred to another hospital to get specialized care, said Nancy May, a spokesman for Lewis Gale Hospital at Montgomery.

One of the women was shot through a window and suffered cuts to her face and was also hit in the hand.

Gawker.com reported earlier that the shooting was apparently announced on the 4chan message boards just three minutes before it was reported.

Sisson said police were investigating the post.

The poster identified himself as Neil MacInnis. He said he was a New River Community College student, was writing from the school inside the shopping center and would use a "Stevens 320 shotgun" with "Buck shots and slugs."

"I'm gonna give y'all the details because the news never gets it right," the post said. "Wish me luck."

The poster included a photo of the mall and school entrances and linked to his college profile, which includes a photo and a portfolio of his work.

Gawker included a screen shot of the 4chan posting, which it said had been deleted, probably automatically, because of the site's rapid turnover. Someone provided an archive and the screen shot.

The town of 21,000 residents is less than 10 miles from Blacksburg, home to Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people and wounded 17 others April 16, 2007, before committing suicide.

Friday's shooting was reported at 1:55 p.m. and officers arrived about five minutes later.

The suspect dropped his weapon when officers arrived, telling them, "Come get me," WDBJ-TV reported.

WDBJ-TV posted a bystander's cellphone pictures of the suspect being taken into custody.

In the 4chan message, the poster stated he was writing at school: "I'm a bit nervous because I've never really handled a shotgun but a few times with the Christiansburg police. Anyways this is not a highscores game but actually a lesson (that's why I'm at school). ..."

He wrote that he did not intend to kill himself -- "heroing" -- unless the situation seriously deteriorated, using an obscene metaphor.

On his college profile page, MacInnis wrote that he was studying computer graphics and Web design. He said his favorite site for graphics is Deviant Art.

Investigators Friday night were searching "numerous locations potentially linked" to MacInnis.

Police said they wound not identify the gun used, how it was obtained or the number of shots fired, citing the investigation.

Witnesses, however, described the shotgun and accounts of the shooting.

A man using a public computer in the mall toldThe Roanoke Times that he saw the a man with a gun walk into the college lobby and point his weapon at a woman. He ran and did not see the shooting. Others reported they heard three shots.

Student Josh Brown said he was working on a computer near the classrooms when the shots were fired.

"I heard one gunshot, and I didn't know what it was. … I saw people running out," he said.

Brown then got up and ran.

"I'll be scared to come back to school," he told the newspaper as he started to cry. "What's wrong with people? Who would do something like this?"

Friday isn't usually a busy day at the school's mall campus, Ben Kramer, an activities counselor for the community college, told the newspaper. Enrollment is roughly 1,500, and about a third of those students likely were on campus, he said.

The community college was closed Friday following the shooting and Saturday classes were cancelled, according to its website.

Montgomery County Schools were briefly locked down as a precaution.

Contributing: Associated Press;