5 Wounded In Morgan State University Shooting, No Suspect Identified
Five young people, including four Morgan State University students, were shot Tuesday night (Oct. 3) on the institution’s grounds in Northeast Baltimore, The Baltimore Sun reports. The scary incident took place during the university’s homecoming week.
Reportedly, around 9:30 P.M., Baltimore PD and federal agents were called to the HBCU after the institution’s police force heard gunshots. Authorities found five people suffering non life-threatening injuries near one of the campus’ residential buildings and fine arts facility. According to BPD Commissioner Richard Worley, the shooting victims were four men and one woman, ranging between 18 and 22 years old.
As of publication, no suspect had been identified. During a news conference following the incident, police stated that they believe the shooting took place outside, but cannot determine if there was one shooter or more.
Morgan State President David Wilson was attending the school’s homecoming court ritual at the time of the shooting, stating to the news, “It was a beautiful event.” Wilson noted that the gunfire erupted as students were walking to a reception that followed the court ritual.
The institution practiced safety measures, telling students to shelter in place until after midnight. Students were allowed to go back to their dorms, following the Baltimore SWAT team doing a sweep of the area where they believed a suspect could have run to, or fired from.
“They cleared every single floor twice,” Worley said. “After that, we realized the campus was most likely safe and we opened it back up becuase the shooter was nowhere around that we could find.”
Today (Oct. 4), classes at Morgan State have been canceled, with counselors available in-person for student and staff support. The school’s administration has not determined the next steps for possibly finishing out homecoming week, as of publication.
“Morgan State University will not be deterred,” Wilson said. “We will move forward, we will continue our momentum here at Morgan.”
This homecoming shooting, unfortunately, isn’t the first. Last year, a 20-year-old visitor to the school was injured during a Morgan State homecoming afterparty and in 2021, a freshman was shot by another student after an altercation while coming from the school’s homecoming football game.
“We’re going to continue to be here to support Morgan State University,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott stated today. “We are going to be here to support this school and these families during this tragedy.”
“Unfortunately, individuals respond to campus and act poorly,” Lance Hatcher, the school’s chief of police and public safety, also stated. “So, even though we take extraordinary measures to increase policing, increase our camera coverage, increase different technologies that we have deployed across campus, oftentimes you can’t stop a bad actor from doing bad acts.”
Police are asking anyone with information to contact Northeast District Shooting detectives at 410-396-2444.
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