Student Shot At Savannah State University


Savannah State University was placed on security lockdown Thursday night. An emergency dispatch supervisor and university officials said police were called to the scene of a shooting on the campus.

An employee answering the telephone at the university’s Public Safety Department confirmed there was a shooting on the campus, but declined to give any further information.

Shortly after, when asked by Reuters if there was an active gunman on the campus at that time, another department employee replied, “No, there is not.”

Savannah State University posted a Twitter message, at about 11:20 p.m. Eastern time, saying, “The campus is currently on lockdown due to a shooting incident that occurred this evening.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper and broadcaster WSBV-TV reported one person was hospitalized after being wounded near or inside the student union.

Savannah State University provided a statement saying that the injured student was a male and that he had been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. A student newspaper, The Tiger’s Roar, reported that there was blood on the floor of the student union building.

The New York Times reports Loretta Heyward, a university spokesperson, said that the lockdown was lifted shortly before midnight; however, no suspect had been arrested. She said that an investigation was continuing, but that the administration knew few details of the episode.

The student newspaper provided an audio recording on its YouTube page. The recording told students to shelter in place and said that the campus police were searching for a male suspect, believed to be in the area of the University Commons.

NBC Newscoverage of this incident said a reporter for NBC station WSAV spoke with two women who were in the union at the time of the shooting. The women said that there was a fight that ended in one person being shot in the collarbone area. The station added that other students applied pressure to the wound before first responders arrived.

Cars were allowed to leave campus after being searched by police, and at around 11:30 p.m. and some time later; cars were allowed to enter the campus as well.

Savannah State University’s website cites that the university has about 4,600 students and a campus of more than 200 acres. Savannah State University campus is in the heart of Savannah, an Atlantic seaport that is Georgia’s oldest city and the seat of Chatham County.

[Featured image via Savannah State University]

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