2 dead after University of South Carolina shooting

By RYAN GORMAN

Two people are dead after a Thursday afternoon shooting caused authorities to order a lockdown at the University of South Carolina.

The horrific incident, a murder-suicide, unfolded around 1:00 p.m., according to the Daily Gamecock, USC's student newspaper. The paper cited law enforcement officials in detailing the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Authorities are not willing to say if the victims are USC students. Identities have yet to be released.

Students at the school's Columbia campus were ordered at 1:15 p.m. to shelter in place, according to The Daily Gamecock. The lockdown was lifted about an hour later, according to the school's alert system.

The Arnold School of Public Health remains closed and students have been advised to avoid the surrounding area, according to the latest alert.

The building was quickly evacuated as SWAT officers armed with AR-15s searched floor-by-floor, according to The State newspaper.

Images from within the locked-down campus showed students barricaded inside classrooms while rumors persisted that the shooter is still at-large. That no longer appears to be the case.

Conflicting reports claim the nearby statehouse, Columbia is the state capital, was also on lockdown. But that has yet to be confirmed.

This is a developing story, more information will come as it is made available.