Two people were killed in a shooting at the University of South Carolina on Thursday, and the large southern school was placed on lockdown for about an hour as rumors of an active shooter situation circulated.
A South Carolina law enforcement division spokesman, Thom Berry, said the deaths of two unidentified individuals was an “isolated incident” in a room at the university’s Arnold School of Public Health, and that there was never an active shooter.
Students huddled in libraries and barricaded classroom doors after a campus-wide text sent out at 1.16pm told students: “SHORS [sic] FIRED AT NEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH.” By 2.17pm, another text alert told students that, “There is no longer an existing threat on campus,” but warned people to avoid the area.
During the incident, police parked three cars deep outside the campus on the capital city’s streets, which is overlooked by the South Carolina statehouse. Some state legislators tweeted images of the university surrounded by police.
It is not yet clear whether the two individuals killed are affiliated with the university. The Richland County coroner is expected to release more information on the deaths, possibly by Friday.
The expansive 480-acre campus is in the heart of Columbia. More than 133,000 people live in the city, a huge portion of that made up by students of the university. The campus claims to have more than 31,000 students studying 300 different degrees.
