6 Shot at Va. Law School

Associated Press

GRUNDY, Va. – Three people were killed and three wounded in a shooting spree today at the Appalachian School of Law, officials said.

Among the dead was Anthony Sutin, dean of the school established in 1997, said Ellen Qualls, spokeswoman for Gov. Mark Warner, a former member of the school’s board. Also killed were a student and another member of the faculty, she said.

State police believe students apprehended the shooter, who is now in custody, Qualls said.

Three students were wounded and taken to Buchanan General Hospital, Qualls said. She said the weapon was a .380 semiautomatic handgun.

A man who answered the phone at the law school refused to comment.

Sutin, a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School, was dean and associate professor of law at the school. He previously worked on election law and campaign finance issues at the Hogan &Hartson law firm in Washington, D.C. He worked for the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign in 1992, according to the Web site of Jurist, the Legal Education Network.

The Buchanan County law school opened in 1997 in a renovated junior high school. The school’s enrollment is about 170.

The school was opened with the hope of easing a historic shortage of lawyers in the coalfields of far southwest Virginia, as well as help change the region’s image and foster renewal in Appalachia.

The school has about 15 faculty members, including alumni of law schools at the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia, Harvard and Howard universities.