Washington, Aug 15 (IANS) Five people were shot outside residence halls at Virginia State University in the US early Saturday, leaving one person critically injured and prompting a campus lockdown as police searched for multiple suspects.
Officers responded to the 3300 block of Boisseau Street at about 1:28 am and found five people suffering from gunshot wounds outside the university’s residence halls, according to a campus safety update.
All five were taken to hospitals in the area. One was in critical condition, while the other four had injuries that were not life-threatening, the university said.
An initial alert had said multiple people were shot near the Quad Annexes in the area of Boisseau Street and Third Avenue. It directed students and staff to avoid the area and follow instructions from law enforcement officers.
The university initially said none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. A subsequent update said one of the five victims was in critical condition.
The campus was placed under lockdown as officers responded to the shooting. The lockdown was later lifted, but the university said a “significant law enforcement presence remains on campus” as the investigation continued.
Police had confirmed that one of the victims was a student, Lt. James R. Lamb of the Chesterfield County Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Major Crimes Unit told CBS News.
Investigators believed the other victims could be from communities surrounding the university, Lamb said. The incident was not a drive-by shooting, and police were searching for multiple shooters, according to the report.
Authorities did not immediately release the identities or ages of the five victims. They also did not provide descriptions of the suspects or disclose what may have led to the gunfire.
Chesterfield County Police were leading the investigation.
The shooting came as students were returning to the campus for the new academic year. Residence halls had opened a week earlier, and classes were scheduled to begin on Monday. Many incoming students had recently completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” programme.
Virginia State University is a public, historically Black university in Ettrick, about 24 miles south of Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1882, it was the first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher education for Black Americans and has an enrolment of about 5,700 students.
--IANS
lkj/ksk/dan
