One person was killed and seven others were wounded on Sunday morning in the second shooting at Grambling State University, Louisiana, in four days, officials said.
According to a news release from the university, the on-campus shooting took place at around 1 a.m. on Sunday. Multiple shots were fired in the quad area of campus, according to the statement.
The individual who was fatally shot wasn’t a student, and among the seven wounded, one is a student who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
“At this point, we have no suspect information for this shooting,” Louisiana State Police Master Trooper Michael Reichardt said, CNN reported. “Our investigators are doing everything they can.”
Reichardt added that the motive behind the attack is unknown.
Grambling State University President Rick Gallot told reporters during a press briefing on Sunday that the shooting occurred near a dining facility where a homecoming breakfast was being prepared, adding that he believes the attack was unrelated.
“The campus-sanctioned event was 100 yards away from where this happened,” he said, adding: “Why would someone come to campus and commit an act of violence?”
“Our campus community has worked tirelessly to keep our students and others safe for the homecoming activities. Yet with all of our planning and coordination with our local, parish, regional and state law enforcement partners, we still find ourselves grieving the loss of life and injuries just as too many communities in our country have experienced as well. Why would someone come to the campus of our Dear Ole Grambling and shoot innocent people?” Gallot said in a statement prior to the press conference.
The university has imposed a curfew from 9:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice, and canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday.
The shooting incident comes after one person was fatally shot and three others were injured in a separate on-campus attack on Wednesday morning in front of the student union building. The university in a press release said that the gunfire involved two people who were not students, while two students sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
A temporary shelter-in-place order was imposed by the university for students until authorities cleared the scene.
“While Grambling State students were not seriously injured, we certainly offer our condolences to the family of the deceased,” Gallot said on Wednesday.
The university added that it planned to ramp up its security on campus after the incident.
Louisiana State Police said in a news release on Sunday evening that Jatavious Carroll, 18, was named a suspect in Wednesday’s shooting, but he has not yet been taken into custody. Both on-campus shootings are being probed by the department, it said, adding that both incidents are believed to be unrelated.
Previously, in October 2017, a student and his friend were fatally shot at the university after an altercation that began between two dorms.
Grambling State University is a historically black university in northern Louisiana with an enrollment of nearly 5,000 students.
Anyone with information related to the shooting on Sunday is asked to contact the Louisiana State Police at 318-345-0000 or 318-374-2222.
