A man was arrested in connection with a shooting that left five people wounded, one critically, outside of residence halls at Virginia State University early Saturday, officials said.
The Chesterfield County Police Department said in a statement Saturday night that an alleged shooter, identified as Camron Harris, 19, of Henrico County, was arrested in connection with the violence.
Police said investigators obtained arrest warrants for malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and said additional charges could be added later. Harris was being held at Chesterfield County Jail.
It wasn’t clear if Harris has obtained legal counsel. The office of the Chesterfield Public Defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday night.
Harris was found Saturday afternoon hiding in a residence hall closet, the department said, adding that he is not a student at the school.
Henrico County, just outside Richmond, is roughly 24 miles north of the VSU campus.
The shootings at the campus in Ettrick, Virginia, prompted a campuswide lockdown. The university earlier reported “multiple suspects” in the gunfire that occurred at around 1:28 a.m.
One of the victims was a VSU student, described by police only as a 20-year-old man and confirmed by university officials as enrolled. That student’s injuries were not life-threatening and he has been discharged from the hospital.
Police said the four other shooting victims were a 21-year-old man, who was critically injured, as well as a 17-year-old boy, 23-year-old man and 19-year-old woman, all three of whom suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting happened in the area of the Quad Annexes, Virginia State University police said.
The university said at around 8:20 a.m. that the lockdown had been lifted but that there would be a large police presence on campus.
The Chesterfield County Police Department is leading the investigation, the university said, with assistance from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
Virginia State University is a historically Black university located in Ettrick, about 24 miles south of the state capital of Richmond. The public university has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans. Most of its students are undergraduates.
The shootings happened just before the start of the academic year at Virginia State. According to the university’s website, residence halls opened for students a week ago, and classes are set to begin on Monday. Many students had just completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she was praying for the people who were shot.
“Adam and I are praying for a quick recovery for those who were shot this morning at Virginia State University, and our thoughts are with the VSU community,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to the first responders and law enforcement who responded to the scene.”
