8 wounded in shooting near Virginia’s James Madison University, police say
An early morning shooting near Virginia’s James Madison University campus on Sunday left eight people wounded, police said.
At least one shooter fired into a crowd during a gathering after 2 a.m., leaving each of the victims with non-life-threatening wounds, the Harrisonburg Police Department said.
The shooting occurred less than a mile away from the university’s campus in Harrisonburg in northern Virginia. Each of the victims, who range in age from 18 to 27 years old, were hospitalized, according to officials.
“HPD is currently investigating whether there was one or multiple individuals who fired shots,” police said Sunday. “There were no suspects on the scene when officers arrived.”
No arrests have been made and a motive has not been made public. Police considered the shooting to be an isolated incident and don’t believe the community is at further risk.
Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed slammed the shooting as “unacceptable.”
“There is no place for violence such as this in our society. Certainly not in Harrisonburg, a community that at its heart will always remain committed to being a loving, welcoming place where all feel safe,” Reed said. No one, and no act, can shake us from that belief.
“I call on all in our community to support those suffering today,” Reed said.
James Madison University, which was founded in 1908, enrolls more than 21,000 students. None of the victims are students at the university, the college’s chief of police said Sunday.
James Madison University Police issued a shelter-in-place notice after the shooting, and urged students to keep the victims “in your thoughts as they recover.”
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