Authorities reported to the University of South Carolina after it was discovered that a murder- suicide had taken place at around 1:20 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
The university went under immediate lockdown Thursday afternoon when news of the shooting was reported; students had no time to gather belongings and evacuated as soon as possible. Meanwhile some students ignored the lock down and continued to walk around the campus.
The Columbia police force held a press conference shortly after investigators showed up at the scene. The shooting took place inside the New School of Public Health Research building, and it is still unclear whom the identities of the shooter and victims are.
The state newspaper, is unaware if the victims in the crime were part of the campus community, and have yet to reveal who is responsible. SLED spokesman Thom Berry only stated, “There was no active shooter other than the two deceased,” indicating that the shooter who took his own life after he shot the undisclosed victim.
State Law Enforcement Division spokesman, Thom Berry, said very little about the incident and did not reveal where the bodies were found in the building; he was the one to state how there was a, “no active shooter situation,” he then went to say that the scene and crime were isolated.
The newspaper stated that there was a floor-to-floor sweep of the building by officials who were dressed in SWAT gear carrying AR-15s.
One student, Hayden Dunn, stated that he was in the building that afternoon close to the time of the shooting, but told the police that he did not hear any sort of gunshot. He said that another office told him that the shooting occurred, and that was the only reason he knew what had happened.
Photo: AP/The State, Tim Dominick
