A shooting involving multiple suspects and five people shot at Virginia State University prompted a campus lockdown and police investigation early Saturday.
It happened near the university's Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers discovered five people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. Officers responded just before 1:30 a.m. and the lockdown was lifted at about 9 a.m., county police said.
The five were transported to hospitals, and one initially listed as having life-threatening injuries has been upgraded to critical condition, county police said. The others sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The university said in a statement that the shooting involves “multiple suspects.” The statement asked people to avoid the immediate area on Saturday morning.
“A significant law enforcement presence remains on campus as the investigation into this morning's shooting continues,” the university said after the lockdown was lifted.
The campus had a large law enforcement presence on Saturday morning. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff's Office were assisting, county police said.
Virginia State University is a historically Black university located in Ettrick, Virginia, about 24 miles south of the state capital of Richmond. The public university has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans. Most of its students are undergraduates.
The shooting happened just before the start of the academic year at Virginia State. According to the university's website, residence halls opened for students a week ago, and classes are set to begin on Monday. Many students had just completed the university's “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students.
The university has grown in recent years while attempting to improve safety and retain its historic charm, said Arthur Fridrich, the university's former director of distance education, who lives near the campus and visits regularly. A shooting like this just as students return for classes is heartbreaking for the community, he said.
“To start a new year with this event is very tragic. It casts a shadow in the minds of all students," he said.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.
