A 19-year-old was arrested after being found hiding in a dormitory closet at Virginia State University, more than 12 hours after an overnight shooting on campus left five people wounded. Camron Harris of Henrico, Virginia, was located by Chesterfield County Police in Seward Hall, a residence hall, at around 4 p.m. Saturday, roughly 14 hours after officers responded to gunfire outside campus dormitories at about 1:28 a.m.
Of the five people shot, only one was a VSU student; the other four, ranging in age from 17 to 23, were not enrolled at the university, and neither is Harris. A 21-year-old victim remains in critical condition, while the other four suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Investigators initially believed more than one shooter was involved, though only Harris has been arrested so far. He faces eight felony warrants, including malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and is being held without bond, according to CNN. Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive.
The shooting struck at a particularly sensitive moment for the campus: dormitories had opened for returning students on Friday, and classes for the new academic term were due to begin Monday. Virginia State University, located in Ettrick just south of Richmond, is one of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities, institutions originally founded to provide higher education to Black Americans who were barred from most other universities. VSU enrolls more than 5,000 students.
Lt James R. Lamb of the Chesterfield County Police Department told the BBC on Saturday that authorities believed more than one assailant was involved, a detail that fueled hours of uncertainty on campus before Harris's arrest. Local outlets, including CBS 6 Richmond, reported that the extended manhunt kept parts of the campus on lockdown for much of Saturday as investigators searched residence halls.
University officials have not said whether the start of classes will be delayed or how security will be adjusted for the new term. Chesterfield County Police said their investigation is continuing, including efforts to determine whether additional suspects were involved in the shooting, and asked anyone with information to come forward. The case adds to a string of shootings on or near American college campuses this year and is likely to renew scrutiny of security protocols at VSU as the fall semester gets underway.
