Morgan State University shooting leaves multiple people shot at Baltimore school

Four students were among five people shot at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Tuesday night during homecoming week, sending the school into lockdown for over two hours. No arrests were made in the shootingon the campus of the historically black university in Maryland by early Wednesday and police didnt reveal if they believe

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Four students were among five people shot at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Tuesday night during homecoming week, sending the school into lockdown for over two hours.

No arrests were made in the shooting on the campus of the historically black university in Maryland by early Wednesday — and police didn’t reveal if they believe more than one suspect opened fire.

Four males and one female between the ages of 18 and 22, all students at the college, were shot when the gunfire erupted around 9:25 p.m., according to police.

None of the injuries were life-threatening, police said.

Morgan State University police were patrolling the campus when they heard the gunfire and called Baltimore police for backup. 

The campus cops located the victims and treated them at the scene before they were rushed to area hospitals. 

Officers noticed multiple windows had been shattered by bullets and feared the shooter might have been ready to commit more violence. 

Baltimore police then put out an alert around 10 p.m. warning of an active shooter situation near the campus in the 1700 block of Argonne Drive and urged residents to shelter in place.

By 11:45 p.m., police said there was no longer a threat of an active shooter, and just after 12:30 a.m., Morgan State University announced the shelter-in-place order was lifted and shuttle service had resumed.

A Baltimore council member said there may have been more than one shooter.

“It’s believed there were three shooters firing into the crowd,” City Council Member Ryan Dorsey said on X, formerly Twitter.

At least four people were shot on the campus of the Maryland college, Baltimore police spokesperson Vernon Davis told the Baltimore Banner. WJZ
The shooter reportedly shot from an on-campus dorm room window. WJZ

But police officials were not able to confirm the number of shooters early Wednesday. 

Morgan State University had asked people to stay clear of the area surrounding its Thurgood Marshall Hall and the Murphy Fine Arts Center. It also asked concerned parents to avoid the campus area and instead report to a nearby parking lot during the lockdown.

Its students had been celebrating homecoming week ahead of the university’s big game scheduled for Saturday when the bullets flew. 

Just hours earlier, the college hosted a coronation event to crown Mister and Miss Morgan State. 

The injuries of those shot at Morgan State University were not life-threatening. AP
Evidence markers outside a building at Morgan State University after a shooting on Oct. 4, 2023, in Baltimore. AP

University president David Wilson said the event at the Murphy Fine Arts Center was almost filled to capacity as parents from across the country joined students on campus. 

“This was an unbelievably beautiful event this evening and our students at the end of that were headed over to the Student Center to rejoice and to enjoy themselves when this unfortunate situation erupted on the campus,” Wilson said at a press conference early Wednesday. 

The traumatic shooting overshadowed the week’s homecoming celebrations and classes were canceled Wednesday, with around-the-clock counseling available to students. 

Police enter a dorm room at Morgan State University. @Evvstacks / X
Police went searching through dorms at Morgan State University. @Evvstacks / X

One student told local CBS affiliate station WJZ that she mistook the sound of gunshots as fireworks due to the week’s ongoing celebratory events. 

The brother of a different student said his brother was locked down in a bathroom on campus following the shooting. 

“Right now, my brother just texted my mom saying that they’re just locked down in the stadium’s bathrooms right now just waiting for when they can leave out,” Antonio said.

Baltimore police alerted the public of an active shooter situation in the 1700 block of Argonne Drive, near the campus of the historically black university, just after 10 p.m. AP
Police were unable to confirm the number of shooters at Morgan State University. Fox 5 DC

The station posted images of a shattered seventh-floor window with a clear bullet hole through it in a residence hall occupied mostly by freshmen. It’s unclear whether the gunman had fired from the dorm room through the window or into the room from outside, WJZ reported. 

Baltimore police, SWAT officers and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) could be seen entering the building and conducting a full sweep of the room with the shattered window, according to the news station. 

Police officials later said the shooting occurred outside. 

The Baltimore office of the ATF confirmed that it was assisting local police at the scene. 

Morgan State University’s campus was locked down for about two hours Tuesday night. AP

The shooting is not the first to occur on campus around the time of homecoming.

One year ago, in October 2022, one student was shot during an unsanctioned homecoming party outside the college’s student center, and two years ago, in October 2021, a different student was shot in a fight on campus amid the celebrations, the Baltimore Banner reported.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, however, said the issue of gun violence is not specific to the university or the city but is an epidemic across the country that must be addressed at the federal level. 

“This morning, the entire city of Baltimore’s heart aches for the Morgan community, for these victims and their families and for our city as a whole,” he said at an early morning press conference. 

“This unfortunate and unacceptable tragedy joins, as we know, a long line of colleges and schools around this country that have seen incidents like this … We need action.”

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