Bad: Shooting inside Hampton University dorm

[JonInNY]

Shooting inside Hampton University dorm

HAMPTON, Va. - Hampton Police and Hampton University school officials confirm there was a shooting on campus overnight. It happened in Harkness Hall, a freshman's dorm, around 12:30 a.m.

Hampton Police tell WAVY.com that an 18-year-old Richmond man, entered the dorm and shot two men, a 62-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, both from Hampton. He then turned the gun on himself.

The three men were transported to local hospitals where they are currently being treated for their injuries.

One of the men shot is a pizza delivery driver, and WAVY.com spoke with the man's wife. She does not want to identify her husband or where he worked, she says her husband was shot in the face, chest and hands. He is currently in intensive care, but is stable and conscious.

She tells WAVY.com her husband lost his job in February and was just delivering pizzas to make some money. She says she has know idea what the family will do now.

No current students at the University were involved or injured during this incident.

Officials evacuated the dorm within minutes, and a text message went out to students saying "There has been a shooting at Harkness Hall. The suspect has been apprehended and the campus is safe."

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Hampton Police Division at 727-6111 or Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jumper2501]

Very sad. Pointless. A little more info.

[retsupt99]

The article...

3 Va. men hurt in shooting at Hampton University
By STEVE SZKOTAK - Associated Press Writer

HAMPTON, Va. -- A former student shot the night manager and a pizza delivery man inside a Hampton University dorm early Sunday before turning the gun on himself, police and school officials said Sunday. All three were hospitalized.
No students were injured in the shooting reported around 1 a.m., Hampton police said.
The suspect, who is from New York, shot two Hampton men, ages 62 and 43, before shooting himself, police said in a statement.

The 18-year-old shooter is a former student and the older victim is the night manager of the dormitory, Harkness Hall, school spokeswoman Yuri Rodgers Milligan said.
Names of those involved were not immediately released.

"The Hampton University community is praying for those injured in this tragic incident." Hampton President William R. Harvey said in a statement.
Jelani Holland, 18, a freshman from Los Angeles, said he and other students were playing music and video games in the all-male freshman dormitory when they heard a fire alarm about 12:30 a.m. As they left their rooms, they saw the delivery man shot in the neck and stomach outside the night manager's office. Police were applying pressure to his wounds, he said.
"He was shaking a lot and talking with police," Holland said.

Officials did not have the motive for the shooting, which prompted a campus lockdown that was lifted later in the morning.
Per university policy, all students, faculty and staff were notified about the situation via text message and e-mail.
Harvey said when he arrived on campus about 15 minutes after the shooting, a lockdown was already in place and Harkness Hall had been evacuated.
David Wilkins, a freshman from Germantown, Md., said when he and his fellow dorm mates left Harkness they were instructed to go to other dorms.

"A lot of people didn't know what was going on in Harkness," he said of other students on campus. He said the first alert wasn't issued until 2:30 a.m.
"People were trying to figure out what was going on," Holland said.
Milligan could not immediately say when the first alert was issued.

Hampton University is a private school in southeastern Virginia with about 5,700 students. It was founded in 1868 during Reconstruction to educate black leaders for the newly freed slaves.

[grady]

Sounds like some 18-year-old former student came back to settle a score with the 62-year-old dorm night manager, and perhaps the 43-year-old pizza delivery man showed up in the middle of it.

The pizza delivery guy had lost his job recently, so he was delivering pizzas to help make ends meet. Now with him in the hospital and his recovery uncertain, his wife doesn't know how they are going to pay the bills.

I'd put the 18-year-old so far away they'd have to pump air back to him. If either of the victims die, I'd seek the death penalty on the punk.

[mcp1810]

But Grady, he really is a good kid! If he hadn't been influenced by the wrong crowd he would have been an eagle scout and president of his student council and volunteered at a homeless shelter.

Too bad he wont earn enough in prison to support his victims and pay their medical bills. That is about the only value I can see him having for society.

[DaveH]

Sounds like some 18-year-old former student came back to settle a score with the 62-year-old dorm night manager, and perhaps the 43-year-old pizza delivery man showed up in the middle of it.

A twofer -- Two employees required to be unarmed by their employer, injured. IMHO -- the employers should share in bearing the expenses of the victims.

Too bad he wont earn enough in prison to support his victims and pay their medical bills.

Yep, That's why I think the deep pockets of both the employers should be tapped. If Virginia Tech needed to pay millions for everyone hurt and to the families of ever one killed, why not these employers?

[narcberry]

How can someone just walk onto a campus with a gun? They need to outlaw that so it NEVER happens again.

We should also outlaw crime, I mean really, why haven't we done that yet?

[United93]

Text message sent to students:
'There has been a shooting [...], the campus is safe.'

Don't make me laugh, this isn't supposed to be funny. If the campus is safe, why has there been a shooting? People need to wake up.

[paramedic70002]

Three injured in shooting at Hampton University dormitory | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

By Patrick Wilson
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 27, 2009

HAMPTON

A former Hampton University student armed with three loaded handguns shot a dorm manager and a pizza delivery driver inside a school dorm early Sunday before turning the gun on himself, officials said. Three handguns for a robbery? Um, no.

All three survived, and a suspect was quickly arrested. A motive for the shooting was not clear.

The dorm manager, who was shot three times, had been released from a hospital on Sunday. The delivery driver and the suspect, age 18, remained in a hospital in stable condition, university officials said.

No students were injured in the shooting at Harkness Hall, an all-male dorm, which happened around 1 a.m., Hampton police said.

Hampton University President William R. Harvey and campus police Chief Leroy Crosby met with reporters and students on campus Sunday afternoon to answer questions.

Harvey said he arrived about 15 minutes after the shooting to find the campus on lockdown, the dorm evacuated and the suspect in custody.

"This is a tragedy, and we are fortunate and blessed that no student was involved," Harvey said. "The Hampton University community is praying for those injured in this tragic incident."

Crosby said the shooter, who had been visiting his brother in Norfolk, parked a vehicle off campus and walked onto campus, walking behind the pizza delivery driver into the dorm after the doors were opened for the driver.Security is dependent upon students securing the door. How many have the testicular fortitude to shut a door in someone's face?

Harvey spoke with the dorm manager after he was released from the hospital.

When he heard gunfire, Harvey said, the manager pulled a fire alarm, prompting students to evacuate.

"What he wanted to do was to immediately evacuate, which was the right thing to do," Harvey said. I guess locking themselves in isn't always the best idea?

According to Harvey, the dorm manager heard gunfire, got up from his desk, and the pizza delivery driver "half fell" into the manager's office.

"That's when the gunman came around the door and aimed the gun at him," Harvey said.

As the gunman fired, the dorm manager raised his hands and was shot three times - once in each arm and once in a leg.

The gunman shot himself by the time campus police arrived on the scene, Crosby said. He did not try to rob the delivery driver, he said.

The shooter's mother lives in New York and his father lives in Richmond, university officials said. A statement from the university said the gunman had been living in New York; Hampton police identified him as being from Richmond.

The shooter lived in Harkness Hall when he was a Hampton student for several months in the fall of 2008, university officials said. He withdrew from the school in November.

Names of those involved have not been released. Hampton police are heading the investigation; they released little information and did not join university officials at Sunday's news conference.

Harvey met with students at various times on Sunday, praised efforts of first responders, and said the university would release as much information as it could to the public about the shooting.

University officials held a closed meeting for students Sunday to answer their questions. About 220 students live in Harkness Hall, but several students said campus was quiet early Sunday because it was a warm weekend and many students were out.

A meeting for students will be held at 5 p.m. today in Ogden Hall.

Jelani Holland, 18, a freshman from Los Angeles, said he and other students were playing music and video games in the dorm when they heard a fire alarm about 12:30 a.m., The Associated Press reported. As they left their rooms, they saw the delivery man shot in the neck and stomach outside the night manager's office. Police were applying pressure to his wounds, he said.

"He was shaking a lot and talking with police," Holland told The AP.

Harvey said telephone messages were sent out to the campus immediately after the shooting, but text messages did not go to students until about 3 a.m.

Text messages are sent only to students who signed up to receive such alerts, he said.

The university will review that policy as it looks into the incident, he said.

Students said they were shaken by what happened, and some who signed up for text alerts said they never got the alert.

Kristen Douthit, a sophomore from New York, said she questioned a security system that allowed an armed man to get inside a dorm. Had he not shot himself, she said, the situation could have been worse. So what are they supposed to do, frsk everybody?

"If you went on a spree... a lot of people could have been very hurt," she said. "I know that parents are worried and students are really upset."

Harvey said the school would be reviewing campus security, including the ability of someone to walk onto campus unrestricted.Walls, fences, gates, checkpoints?

"There is no greater priority for us than the safety of and well-being of our students, faculty and staff," he said. "We will look at every aspect of this."

In his 31 years as school president, Harvey said, there had never been a shooting like Sunday's.

Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com

[United93]

Your remarks are spot on.

[obxned]

How could this happen - the campus is a 'gun free' zone, and an 18-year-old isn't allowed to own a handgun.