Multiple people suffer non-life-threatening injuries in shooting at Morgan State University, Baltimore Police say

Dan Belson and Dillon Mullan, The Baltimore Sun
·2 min read
2

BALTIMORE — Multiple people suffered non-life-threatening injuries after gunfire broke out Tuesday night at Morgan State University.

Baltimore Police and federal agents responded to campus after shots were fired around 9:30 p.m., striking multiple people, near a campus residential building and the home of the institution’s fine arts department.

Shortly before midnight, police tweeted that there was no longer an active shooter situation on campus. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott tweeted that the matter is now an “ongoing investigation.” A shelter-in-place warning that was in effect for several hours Tuesday night has been lifted, the historically Black institution in Northeast Baltimore tweeted after midnight.

Police said all victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but did not provide a count of how many people were shot ahead of a news conference planned early Wednesday morning. Councilman Ryan Dorsey tweeted that police told him that five people were shot, and that they believe there were three shooters.

The police response was centered on the 1700 block of Argonne Drive, near the Thurgood Marshall Apartments and the Murphy Fine Arts Center, and close to the Northeast District Police Station. FBI personnel and special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene, the federal agencies said.

Gov. Wes Moore tweeted early Wednesday that he and his team “are in close contact with officials on the ground and are monitoring the situation.”

The shooting came amid the university’s homecoming week festivities leading up to a football game Saturday. On Tuesday evening, a few hours before the gunfire broke out, the fine arts center was slated to host the coronation of Mister and Miss Morgan State.

“It’s really sad actually, because this is our homecoming week,” Ray Issy, a sophomore from New Jersey, said while walking to her off-campus apartment. She was concerned the shooting would lead to the festivities being canceled. “It’s like, Bro, why can’t we ever have anything nice?”

Otis Williams was driving for Uber when his daughter, a freshman clarinet player at Morgan, called in a panic. The school’s marching band was practicing at the football stadium and locked themselves in a bathroom.

Williams, a retired U.S. Army National Guard Specialist from Baltimore City, drove straight to campus. He was unable to reach his daughter amid the lockdown but felt comfortable she was safe. He said he did his “protective dad duties” calming her over the phone.

“The stadium is pretty secure,” Williams said.

Shootings have soured past homecomings at Morgan, where a 20-year-old man — who was not a student at the school — was injured last year when he was shot at a homecoming afterparty. The year before, a freshman was shot as crowds cleared from the school’s homecoming football game.

_____