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Higher Education Shootings Leave 1 Dead, 5 Wounded
A wave of on-campus shootings at colleges and universities in four states has left one dead and five wounded.
In Virginia last month, a man was shot repeatedly in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses while standing outside the student center at Norfolk State University. According to witness reports, a gunman opened fire in front of the Miles E. Godwin Jr. Student Center before jumping into a car and driving off.
The incident left Marcus McGee, a 9-year-old who is not enrolled at the university, dead. As of CSJ press time, police were looking to question a 26-year-old man, also unaffiliated with the university, regarding the shooting.
After the killing, members of the administration tried to relieve students’ fears by announcing that the shooting was unrelated to the university and that the campus was still a safe place to learn.. But university spokeswoman Sharon Hoggard told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper that the shooting was "completely different from what we’ve experienced before." The Norfolk State shooting was one of several at higher education campuses of late, including:
- At the University of California Los Angeles, a university police officer shot and wounded a 50-year-old man after what police say was an on-campus physical altercation. The officer is on administrative leave while the incident is investigated. At Rider University in New Jersey, a student and a campus visitor were shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries after an early-morning altercation outside the university’s student center. Police had not detained any suspects as of press time.
- At Benedict College in South Carolina, two students were shot while crossing a busy street that runs through the campus. The students apparently verbally confronted a motorist who failed to yield to them in the crosswalk, and the motorist retaliated with several shots from his vehicles, wounding a male and female student. No arrests had been made as of CSJ press time, but university officials. reiterated the need to close the street to improve safety at the campus.
December 2003
Indiana Student Shot to Death by Former Student
4/2/01
A 10th-grader was shot to death in the parking lot of his Gary, Ind., school by a former student, the Associated Press reported March 30. Neal Boyd, 16, was shot in the head outside Lew Wallace High School by a 17-year-old former student. School Superintendent Mary Guinn said the suspected gunman had stopped coming to school about a year and a half ago.
According to police, the teenage boy admitted to shooting Boyd. Police Chief John Roby also said the suspect told police where the gun was hidden.
Police are unsure whether the two boys knew each other or what the motive was for the shooting.
"It was a one-on-one incident. Basically what happened, the 17-year-old walked up to the 16-year-old and put a gun to his head and fired one shot,"
Roby said. "I guess the fortunate thing about it is that there was only a small crowd around."
The shooting occurred before classes started for the day. The student body
was sent home for the day. Authorities arrested the shooter at his home minutes after the incident. Roby
said he would be charged as an adult. The high school, located in an area of the city notorious for high crime, has
been plagued by gun violence in recent years.