ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Two people are dead and one person wounded after a shooting at a South Carolina State University residential complex, the university said, prompting a nearly eight-hour lockdown that was lifted early Friday.
The Thursday night shooting happened a little over four months after two shootings during homecoming celebrations on Oct. 4. One, which happened near the same residential complex, killed a 19-year-old woman. A man was injured in the other shooting. School officials announced new safety measures afterward.
University officials have not confirmed the identities of those who died in Thursday’s shooting or the condition of the person wounded, the school said in a news release.
The school put the campus in Orangeburg on lockdown at about 9:15 p.m. when a report of the shooting in an apartment at the Hugine Suites student residential complex came in. The lockdown was lifted about 5 a.m. Friday, the university said.
Kaya Mack had just finished making a food delivery on campus when she heard gunshots and saw lots of police officers coming through a gate.
She said she wasn’t sure where the shots were coming from.
“Their loud sirens kind of shook me,” she told WLTX-TV. “We were looking around, me and other people on campus, we’re all looking around like ‘What’s going on?’”
Investigators were on site and law enforcement was patrolling the campus and areas nearby. The university said it asked the State Law Enforcement Division to investigate the shooting. An email seeking comment was sent to an agency spokesperson.
The university canceled Friday classes and was making counselors available to students.
Several people have been arrested on gun-related charges in connection with the October shootings.
After the October shootings, university President Alexander Conyers announced the addition of new fencing along the campus perimeter and additional security patrols to better control pedestrian access, according to a news release at the time. Crews were also set to repair damaged perimeter barriers.
Ahead of the university’s annual Youth & ROTC Day set on Nov. 1, the university announced safety and security measures, including a second layer of fencing along the perimeter between Hugine Suites and Goff Street and repairs underway along the shared boundary between SC State and Claflin University.
