19-year-old held after Virginia State University shooting leaves 5 wounded, found in dorm closet
Police have arrested a 19-year-old in connection with an overnight shooting at Virginia State University that wounded five people on Saturday. One of the victims, a 21-year-old man, suffered critical injuries.Camron Harris of Henrico was found hiding in a dormitory closet, Chesterfield County Police said, according to AP. Harris is not a student at the university, while four of the five injured people were also non-students, authorities clarified.Police have issued eight felony warrants for Harris, including allegations of malicious wounding and firearm use during a felony, AP reported. Authorities have not disclosed a motive or said whether he has legal representation.The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 am near the university’s Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers found five people with gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. Only one of the five victims, a 20-year-old, was a Virginia State student. The victims, aged 17 to 23, were hospitalised. A 21-year-old man sustained critical injuries, while the student was later discharged and the other victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.The university had initially said the shooting involved multiple suspects. However, police did not provide further information on the search for additional suspects.Virginia State University, a historically Black university in Ettrick, has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans.The incident prompted a campus lockdown, which was later lifted after law enforcement determined there was no immediate threat to the campus community. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office were assisting investigators.“We recognise the concern this incident has caused among our students, parents, alumni, friends, and the broader VSU community,” the university said in a statement, according to AP. “The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority.”The shooting came as students prepared for the new academic year, with classes scheduled to resume Monday. Residence halls had opened a week earlier, and many students had completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students.Arthur Fridrich, a former university director of distance education who lives near the campus, described the incident as particularly difficult for the community.“To start a new year with this event is very tragic. It casts a shadow in the minds of all students, and for some it will be difficult to rid their minds of this term,” Fridrich told AP, adding, “For those that were shot, my heart bleeds. I hope that they all mend and somehow do not let this event define their lives.”
