1 student wounded as shooting puts university on edge

Author: the associated press
Published:
MGN

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – A late-night shooting wounded a student and prompted a lockdown that rattled a North Carolina university hours after the kickoff of homecoming festivities.

Around 11 p.m. Sunday, officials at North Carolina Central University issued a campus-wide alert through automated phone calls and electronic messages warning students to seek shelter.

“Active shooter. If safe, seek shelter away from gunfire. Active shooter. Lock your door,” the university said on Twitter.

An all-clear was given after about an hour, and authorities determined that the gunfire at the edge of campus was related to an argument.

Campus Police Chief Willie Bell said at a news conference that the shooting was isolated and not random. Investigators are looking for multiple suspects, but no arrests were made by Monday afternoon.

An unnamed 19-year-old sophomore was hit once in the buttocks, Bell said. The man was taken to a hospital but released early Monday.

“He’s doing fine,” the chief said.

Bell said it was appropriate to put the campus on lockdown until investigators determined that it was an isolated shooting.

“We err on the side of being safe,” Bell said.

The historically black university has 8,100 students, but not all live on campus, officials said. The shooting happened hours after a concert and other events that kicked off Homecoming 2015, which culminates with a football game Saturday against Norfolk State University.

Students were walking to and from class Monday, and campus appeared to have returned to normal hours after squad cars from multiple departments converged on campus.

Angela Quijada received an automated call late Sunday warning of the lockdown, then she exchanged calls and texts as her friends checked on each other. The 19-year-old sophomore from Raleigh lives on campus but was at the State Fair at the time of the shooting.

“It was kind of scary because I didn’t know if anyone got hurt,” she said. “I was worried for my friends.”

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