Two Delaware State Shootings Rock Campus Within Span Of Nine Hours, Police Hunt For Suspects
Two shootings took place at Delaware State University in the span of nine hours this weekend, leaving police searching for suspects and investigating whether the incidents were connected in any way.
The first shooting took place Saturday afternoon during a university-planned Greek cookout. Officials say a fight broke out and escalated quickly, with one party-goer reportedly opening fire and wounding three others.
Police said there were more than 1,000 people in attendance at the party when the shooting occurred, leading to what one witness called “controlled chaos,” as they tried to clear out the scene and attend to the victims.
A student attending the party also described the shooting as a chaotic scene.
“One guy was on the ground bleeding out,” said the witness, who did not want to be identified. “The other guy was limping.”
In the wake of the first Delaware State shooting, school officials locked down the campus and told students to remain in place.
“The student residential population has been directed to stay in their residential halls,” said DSU president Harry L. Williams. “Non-DSU individuals are being directed off-campus.”
Williams later released a statement saying that the shooting remained under investigation.
“This is currently an active investigation. No arrest(s) have been made as of 11 p.m. on April 18. The safety of our students continues to be paramount and our police will aggressively continue their investigation until an arrest or arrests are made in this shooting incident. DSU campus police are the lead agency investigating the incident. The Dover Police Department, Delaware State Police and other agencies are providing assistance.”
But despite the measures, a second Delaware State shooting took place just hours later. On Sunday morning, a second shooting took place at the University Courtyard apartments, which are just a block away from the campus and are run by the university.
No one was injured in the second shooting, police said.
The shootings at Delaware State were the latest incidents of violence to take place on a college campus. Last week, a shooting at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina, left one person dead. Nearby schools were placed on lockdown while police searched for the suspect.
Police have not said if the two Delaware State shootings are related, but have released a description of the first suspect. They say the gunman is a man 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11 with dreadlocks and was last seen wearing a tan and blue long-sleeved T-shirt.
