Two students shot at Delaware university; police question two

People console each other at the entrance to Delaware State University in Dover, where two students were shot and wounded, one seriously, early Friday. See the story, page 2A.

KU safety update

Kansas University Provost Richard Lariviere assured Kansas Board of Regents this week that the university was making good progress in updating campus security protocol.

He said the emergency text message service would be put out to bid soon, and would be in operation sometime after a bid is accepted. So far, 11,253 people have signed up for the service.

In the interim, and in addition to the text message service, Lariviere said that a majority of the buildings on campus, especially those where students live, have been equipped with an emergency alarm that can be connected with emergency dispatchers. In the event of an emergency, those buildings can get individual instructions about how to stay safe.

The university has also activated broadcast phone calls and e-mails that can go to every campus phone and every e-mail in the university’s system.

Dover, Del. ? Two students were shot and wounded, one seriously, at Delaware State University early Friday, prompting administrators mindful of the massacre at Virginia Tech to order a swift shutdown of the campus while police searched for the gunman.

Police identified two students as “persons of interest,” questioning both of them, while students remained locked in their dorms and officers lowered gates to keep anyone from coming onto the campus of the 3,690-student historically black university.

“The biggest lesson learned from that whole situation at Virginia Tech is don’t wait. Once you have an incident, start notifying the community,” said university spokesman Carlos Holmes.

The shooting, reported to police at 12:54 a.m., happened as a group of students were returning from an on-campus cafe. A 17-year-old male student was in stable condition; a female student, also 17, was shot in the abdomen and in serious condition.

The two students were shot on the Campus Mall, between the Memorial Hall gymnasium and Richard S. Grossley Hall, an administrative building. Investigators believed the shootings may have been preceded by an argument at the cafe, and officials said it did not appear to be random.

“This is an internal problem,” said Allen Sessoms, the university’s president. “There are no externalities … this is just kids who did very, very stupid things.”

The male student, who was wounded in the ankle, refused to answer questions by police about the shootings, raising the likelihood that he knew his attacker, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

“This not an act of terrorism,” said university police chief James Overton. “This was not a crazed gunman who found his way onto campus.”

Officials didn’t wait. Within about 20 minutes of the shooting being reported to police, even as the victims were being taken to hospitals, campus police and residence hall advisers were telling students to stay in their dorm rooms, although not all were told there had been a shooting.

By 2:11 a.m., Overton was meeting with another university official to discuss the school’s response. Notices were posted in dormitories and the school Web site by about 2:40 a.m., and the decision to cancel classes was made shortly after 5 a.m., well before the school day started.

Students were still being advised Friday afternoon to remain in their dorms, but were being escorted to the cafeteria for meals.