Two university students shot, wounded on campus

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Two students were shot and wounded, one seriously, at Delaware State University early Friday, prompting administrators mindful of the massacre at Virginia Tech to order a swift shutdown of the campus while police searched for the gunman.

Police identified two students as “persons of interest,” questioning one and looking for the other, while students remained locked in their dorms and officers lowered gates to keep anyone from coming onto the campus of the 3,690-student historically black university.

The shooting, reported to police at 12:54 a.m., happened as a group of students were returning from an on-campus cafe.

A 17-year-old male student was in stable condition with an ankle wound; a female student, also 17, was shot in the abdomen and in serious condition.

The two students were shot on the Campus Mall, between the Memorial Hall gymnasium and Richard S. Grossley Hall, an administrative building.

Investigators believed the shootings may have been preceded by an argument at the cafe.

Within minutes

Within about 20 minutes after the shooting was reported to police, even as the victims were being taken to hospitals, campus police and residence hall advisers were telling students to stay in their dorm rooms.

Notices were posted in dormitories and the school Web site by about 2:40 a.m., and the decision to cancel classes was made shortly after 5 a.m., well before the school day started.

At the start of the semester, the campus held a memorial service for three students and an incoming student who were shot execution-style Aug. 4 as they hung out at an elementary school in their hometown of Newark, N.J.

The only survivor helped police identify six suspects who have been arrested.