Five people were wounded Tuesday in a shooting at Morgan State University in Baltimore, police said, an attack that marred homecoming celebrations at the historically black university.
None of the victims had life-threatening injuries, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at a news conference early Wednesday. The four men and one woman are between 18 and 22 years old.
Morgan State Police Chief Lance Hatcher said four of the victims were students at the university, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities did not announce any arrests or signs of any suspects.
Classes at Morgan State were canceled for Wednesday.
Tuesday, Baltimore police said on social media that they were responding to an active shooter situation on the Argonne Drive campus.
About 40 minutes later, police confirmed that there were “multiple victims involved” and advised people in the area to shelter in place, an order that lasted about two hours. Concerned family members who arrived in the area were told to avoid campus and report to a nearby Safeway supermarket.
Baltimore City Councilman Ryan Dorsey posted on X that police “believed there were three shooters shooting at [a] crowd, no one has been detained or identified at this time.”
Councilwoman Odette Ramos told a local news station that she was “horrified” for the students upon learning of the shooting, but said that those injured “were going to be fine.” Ramos noted that the shooting occurred in the middle of pre-homecoming activities.
Those activities included the state Mister & Miss Morgan pageant, which elects representatives to serve as “ambassadors” for the university.
The school advised people to stay away from areas near the school’s Thurgood Marshall Hall and the Murphy Fine Arts Center, where that event was taking place. Dozens of students dressed in togas and suits took shelter there during the incident, the Associated Press reported. Shortly after midnight, dozens of people dressed in robes and suits began filing out of the arts center, many appearing stunned.
Konnor Crowder, a sophomore from Baltimore, said he and his friends had been waiting for the coronation ball to start when they saw people running around campus.
“First I wondered what they were running for; So I was wondering where we should go,” she said.
At the scene Tuesday night, a police helicopter flew overhead, the AP reported.
Glenmore Blackwood, the father of a Morgan State senior, arrived on campus after his son told him what had happened and that he was taking shelter in the arts center’s auditorium.
“That’s my son. He’s going to make sure I know he’s okay,” Blackwood said.
Special agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting police, according to the Baltimore Banner.
The school has a population of approximately 9,000 students, including more than 7,600 undergraduates.
