Virginia Tech lockdown lifted after gun alert

A MAJOR university in the US was locked down yesterday when three teenage girls attending a summer camp said they saw a man holding what looked like a gun on the Virginia Tech campus where a 2007 massacre left 33 people dead.

The university issued an alert on its website at 9.37am (12.37pm Irish time) telling students and employees to stay inside and lock their doors.

University spokesman Larry Hincker said later in the morning that the campus alert remained in effect and that people should stay indoors until further notice.