Shooting near North Carolina Central University causes campus-wide lockdown
DURHAM (WTVD) -- Durham police are still looking for the shooter who interrupted an otherwise joyful celebration on North Carolina Central University's campus Saturday night, sending one man to the hospital.
An ABC11 crew arrived on the scene as the 23-year-old male victim was being taken away to the hospital. At last check, police believed his injuries to be serious but said his condition was stable.
It all happened in the 2200 block of Fayetteville Street just before midnight. Many NC Central students and alumni were in the midst of a weekend celebrating the school's homecoming. As a result of the shooting, the campus was quickly put on lockdown for an hour. And even those students who were safe in their rooms said they were frantically trying to reach friends near where the shooting occurred.
"We didn't know really where it was at exactly, and a couple of them [my friends] actually heard the gunshots, so they just tried to get to a safe place as soon as possible," said freshman Fallon Roberson.
"It's supposed to be a happy time. It's supposed to be fun, like our boys won today [Saturday] and we're supposed to be celebrating, not shooting people," exclaimed junior Demiree Briones.
While the campus is back to normal, students say they're worried about their safety and also their school's image.
"I definitely sent out a few texts, called a few people to make sure that everyone I knew around this area was okay," said student Avery Young.
"I feel as though it shouldn't be associated with the campus most of the time because this is an open campus. We are in the community basically, so anybody can walk on campus. It doesn't have to be an NCCU student," added student Raven Pickett.
NC Central and Durham police are providing little additional information at this time. So far there's no word on a suspect and authorities will only say that they're urging anyone with information to contact Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.
