(Washington) Two people were killed and another injured during a shooting Thursday evening on the campus of South Carolina State University, announced the establishment, hit for the third time since October by such an event.
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This shooting is the latest example of gun-related drama at American universities.
The South Carolina State University (SCSU) campus was placed on lockdown around 9:15 p.m. local time Thursday (9:15 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday) after a reported shooting at Hugine Suites student housing, university officials said in a statement.
The facility is located in Orangeburg, approximately 70 kilometers southeast of Columbia, the state capital.
South Carolina police were put in charge of the investigation. Neither the university nor investigators have specified the identity of the victims and the state of health of the injured.
No information has been released either on the possible escape of the shooter(s).
In October, two unrelated shootings had already taken place on the SCSU campus, leaving a total of one dead and two injured, while the establishment was organizing festivities for the start of the university year.
The university then implemented additional security measures, “including controlled entry points for major events, increased camera surveillance and improved emergency communications protocols,” according to its vice-president.
“Classes canceled”
“Friday classes are canceled,” the establishment said on Facebook. Advisors are available to students.”
Founded in 1896, South Carolina State University has more than 3,000 students, according to its website.
The last shooting at an American university dates back to last December, when shootings on the campus of Brown University in Rhode Island, one of the most prestigious in the country, left two dead and nine injured.
That of Thursday evening also comes two days after a killing which left eight people dead in a high school in British Columbia, where this type of event is, however, very rare.
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In the United States, the Second Amendment to the Constitution states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
For decades, this right has been the subject of strong controversy within American society, marked like no other developed nation in the world by tragedies involving firearms.
On numerous occasions, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed this right and the right to carry a weapon in public. By 2023, nearly a third of Americans said they owned a gun in a Pew Research Center survey.
