ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A shooting at a small college in eastern North Carolina left one person dead and six others wounded and prompted a campus lockdown early Sunday, the university said.
The shooting occurred in the center of Elizabeth City State University’s campus following Yard Fest, the final event of the historically Black university’s weeklong Viking Fest celebration, the school said in a statement.
A 24-year-old man who was not a student was pronounced dead. His identity wasn’t immediately released pending notification of his family, the statement said.
Four people sustained gunshot wounds, including three students, while two other students were injured during the commotion. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. All the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment, the statement says.
A call to campus police was referred to a university spokesperson, who didn’t immediately return a telephone message.
“The university is deeply saddened by this senseless act,” the university said in an earlier statement.
The lockdown was later lifted, and the university increased patrols across campus as a precaution. Access to the center of campus remained restricted later Sunday.
The university has 2,300 students and is about 50 miles south of Norfolk, Virginia.
