Mississippi State University Shooting Kills One, Suspects At large

A male student at Mississippi State University was shot and killed on Saturday night in Evans Hall. Police are currently looking for three suspects who fled the scene.

ABC reports that campus police were notified about the shooting in the male dorm at about 10 o’clock last night. Officials arrived on the scene within one minute, according Mississippi State University president Dr. Mark Keenum, where they found 21-year-old John Sanderson in grave condition. Sanderson was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died shortly after arrival.

Dr. Bill Kibler, vice president of student affairs at MSU, said:

“The perpetrators fled our campus, but we’re still attempting to identify who those perpetrators are and so we’re following every lead in order to do that…. Our local city police department and the county sheriff’s office are all participating cooperatively in patrolling our campus and conducting a full scale investigation…”

Kibler said that the shooting was an isolated incident and that the other students weren’t in any danger. The school is currently operating under “advisory conditions.” Kibler said:

“No one’s being admitted to the residence halls other than residents themselves. That’s all being screened very carefully… We have not locked down the entire campus.”

The school has also set up a call center for worried parents.

Dr. Keenum said in a press conference this morning that this was the first shooting in the school’s history. Keenum also reassured parents that their children were safe and that the shooting was an isolated incident. Keenum said:

“This is the first time in our school’s history that such a tragic incident has occurred, involving a student being shot on campus.Our campus is known as a safe place, and I want to assure students, parents, faculty, and staff that it continues to be safe…. I do not believe there’s any imminent threat to our students on the campus right now,” Kibler said. “This appears to be an incident that was contained there involving those that were involved.”