Morgan State shooting news: Multiple people injured as police respond to Baltimore campus incident

At least five people have been shot near Morgan State University in Baltimore in what was earlier described as an “active shooter situation” on the campus. Police later said they no longer considered the incident an “active shooter” situation but urged people to shelter in place.

Lindsey Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Police Department, told the Washington Post that there were “multiple victims”. They have sustained non-threatening injuries.

Baltimore Police Department posted on X/Twitter on Tuesday night at 10pm that “there is an active shooter situation at Morgan State University. Students and staff are ordered to shelter in place and the public should avoid the area. We will send updates.”

Later, Morgan State University lifted the shelter-in-place order.

The police said that the shooting occurred within the 1700 block of Argonne Drive, which is the address of a residential complex at the northwestern edge of the campus.

Key Points

• Police: Morgan State incident no longer active shooter situation

• Four students battling ‘non-threatening’ injuries

• Baltimore Police order students and staff at Morgan State University to shelter in place

• Shooting occurred soon after a popular event at campus ended

Victims were likely ‘unintended targets’

19:50 , Ariana Baio

Baltimore Police said the five people who were injured as a result of a shooting at Morgan State University on Tuesday night were more than likely “unintended targets” of a dispute between two groups of people, Baltimore Police commissioner Richard Worley said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Mr Worley said that none of the people injured were not part of that dispute.

Four of the people injured were students at MSU. All five, ranging in age from 18 to 22, were hospitalised with non life-threatening injuries. One student has since been released from the hospital.

Unclear if homecoming events will continue

19:00 , Ariana Baio

After a shooting at Morgan State University (MSU) on Tuesday evening left five people on campus injured, the executive committee of the school will determine if homecoming events should continue this week.

As students and campus faculty were convening at the Murphy Fine Arts Centre to celebrate the crowning of Mr and Miss Morgan State University for homecoming week, shots were fired on the Historically Black College campus sending it into a lockdown.

Four of the five people injured were students.

MSU president David Wilson sent a message to members of the community and said they would determine if events should continue after the horrific incident later today.

“Please know that classes are being cancelled today. I will be convening a meeting with my Executive Cabinet this morning to rethink the rest of Homecoming activities this week and will inform the university community of our decision later this afternoon,” Mr Wilson said in a statement obtained by WJZ.

President of Morgan State University issues statement

18:00 , Ariana Baio

David Wilson, the president of Morgan State University, issued a statement on the shooting on Wednesday calling it a “senseless act of violence” and offering prayers to victims.

Mr Wilson said he was leaving the Murphy Fine Arts Centre, where the coronation of Mr and Miss Morgan State University when he was informed of the shooting that occurred in the vicinity of the building.

From there, he was informed by Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland governor Wes Moore of the shooting and subsequent investigation.

”Our prayers are with our students who suffered injuries, and their loved ones,” Mr Wilson said in a statement obtained by WJZ.

“This was such a senseless act of violence perpetrated on our community after what was a family-filled and fun evening of celebrating the pageantry and beauty of our students,” Mr Wilson said. “But Morgan is a strong family and we will march on with determination to keep moving on.”

Where is Morgan State University?

17:00 , Ariana Baio

Mayor of Baltimore condemns shooter

16:30 , Ariana Baio

Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott condemned the shooting that occurred on Morgan State University campus on Tuesday evening, saying the person responsible for the shooting did not possess enough responsibility to own a firearm.

“If you got into a basic conflict... you don’t pull out a gun and shoot someone,” Mr Scott said on WBAL Radio on Wednesday morning.

Five people were injured on the Historically Black College campus after shots were fired during homecoming celebrations.

Mr Scott said the Morgan State Baltimore Police Department are working with the Northeast Baltimore Police Department to investigate the matter and find out who conducted the shooting.

“They’re going to be working with Morgan State BPD (Baltimore Police Department) to make sure that we are looking at every single thing from video footage to going through talking to everyone that was there to gain every sense of information about who decided to cowardly shoot someone on Morgan’s campus,” Mr Scott said.

The mayor added that the person who conducted the shooting had “no respect for anyone or anything.”

Maryland governor says office ‘monitoring the situation'

16:00 , Ariana Baio

Maryland governor Wes Moore tweeted that his office was monitoring the situation at Morgan State University on Tuesday evening following a shooting that left five people injured.

“My office is aware of the shooting incident on the Morgan State University campus. My team and I are in close contact with officials on the ground and are monitoring the situation,” Mr Moore wrote.

He thanked first responders for rushing to the scene to tend to victims and ensure nobody else was hurt.

Student describes ‘chaotic’ situation on campus

15:30 , Ariana Baio

A student on the Morgan State University campus described the horrific and chaotic scene as their homecoming celebration turned sour due to a shooting.

“We were outside of our coronation, basically they let out and everybody was leaving, and then we see two gunshots hit the front window and everyone just started running,” the student named David told WBAL.

Morgan State University is a historically Black college.

Five people were injured in the shooting, four of which are students.

The school was preparing to celebrate its homecoming at its Student Center where two were to be crowned Mr and Miss Morgan State University.

David, who lives on campus, said the incident was pure “chaos” as he at first thought that the sounds were fireworks.

“I didn’t know what was going on I just started fearing for my life like everybody else did,” he said. “Then real fear set in and then I realized … this could be an active shooter.”

An almost a shooting at a historically Black college earlier this year

15:00 , Ariana Baio

In Jacksonville, Florida earlier this year a mass shooting could have occurred at Edward Waters University, a historically Black private Christian university, in the city.

The shooter, armed with an AR-15-style rifle and handgun, brought tactical gear to the university but left soon after students noticed his presence and flagged it to a security guard.

Police later determined the Jacksonville shooting was racially motivated.

White gunman killed three victims in Florida with assault rifle covered in swastikas

University offers counseling services to those affected

14:30 , Ariana Baio

Morgan State University officials said they would be offering counseling services to students after the shooting last night left five people injured.

On the school’s website and social media pages, they asked students in need of assistance to reach out to the University Counseling Centre.

Students are able to access this by visiting it’s physical location, it’s online website called UWill Counseling Services, or by calling it’s number: 443-885-3150.

The university also cancelled classes today (Wednesday 4 October) to allow students and faculty to take a break after the traumatising incident.

Shooting is one of more than 500 mass shootings this year

14:00 , Ariana Baio

The shooting at Morgan State University is just one of 531 that have plagued the US so far this year.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 3,067 teenagers have been injured as a result of mass shootings – the five people injured on the university’s campus are just a small portion of that number.

Americans are no strangers to mass shootings – especially school-related shootings.

What is Morgan State University?

13:40 , Holly Hales

Morgan State University is a historically Black college that is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Maryland.

It had more than 9,000 enrolled students with 7,609 undergraduates and 1,392 postgraduates in 2022.

Morgan State was founded in 1867 and officially became a higher education institution in 1975.

The university hit the headlines in 2020 when billionaire MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, made a $40 million endowment.

No arrests yet as shooting suspect remains unknown

13:20 , Holly Hales

No arrests have been made in relation to the Morgan State University shooting and the identities of any potential perpetrators remains unknown.

Richard Worley, the city’s police commissioner, said the location of those responsible remains unknown.

“The area was cordoned off, set up a command post and officers basically went to different buildings,” he said.

“We secured several buildings. We did not locate the suspect at the time.

The scene remains active and we are working alongside our many law enforcement partners to piece together everything that exactly happened.

Mr Worley went on to detail the suspect may have quickly fled the scene on foot.

“We didn’t open the campus up until our SWAT team had cleared the building where the suspect may have ran, or where we thought the shot came from,” he said.

Previous shootings had plagued university’s homecoming week

13:00 , Holly Hales

Morgan State University’s mass shooting on Monday night was not the first time gun violence has plauged its homecoming week.

One student was shot during a party reportedly held outside the college’s student centre during last year’s celebrations.

Another student was shot while in a fight during the week in 2021.

Parents, alumni on campus before shooting

12:40 , Holly Hales

Countless parents and alumni were at Morgan State University for homecoming celebrations on the night of the shooting.

President David Wilson said the college was kicking off its annual homecoming week with a ceremony to crown Mr and Ms Morgan State.

“We typically have parents coming from all over the state, all over the United States to witness their sons and daughters being crowned Mr and Ms whatever organisation they’re representing,” he said.

“This was an unbelievably beautiful event this evening and our students at the end of that were headed over to the student centre to rejoice and enjoy themselves when this unfortunate situation erupted on the campus.

“Since that time I have met with our students, I have met their parents, I have escorted them to their residential halls, I have ensured they get to where they need to go for the rest of the evening.”

The homecoming week is designed to lead up to the first football game on Saturday.

No parents or alumni were injured in the shooting.

Student’s safety plea after shooting

12:20 , Holly Hales

A student representative has questioned officials’ response to campus safety at Morgan State University.

The unnamed student addressed Morgan State University Police Chief Lance Hatcher at the post-shooting press conference.

“This is the third consecutive year we’ve had a shooting during homecoming week and homecoming celebrations on campus despite the increse of security measures” she said.

“What do you say to students who feel unsafe and don’t feel comfortable going to class.”

Mr Hatcher slapped down the claims not enough was being done to combat on campus violence.

“First I’d like to say, we take their safety very, very seriously and we do everything humanly possible to ensure their safety,” he said.

“So we do everything humanly possible to ensure their safety. We’ve taken extraordinary measures to bring additional security resources to campus.

“Unfortunately individuals come on the campus and act poorly.”

Four of the five victims in the latest shooting are Morgan State University students. All received non-life threatening injuries.

Baltimore mayor calls for gun control changes

12:02 , Holly Hales

Baltimore’s mayor has made a fresh plea calling for an end to gun violence in the wake of the Morgan State University shooting.

Brandon Scott spoke out during an early morning press conference saying the issue needed addressing across the country.

“It reminds us all, that we are dealing, not just here in Baltimore, not just at Morgan State University, but across the United States,” Mr Scott said.

“(It is) an epidemic when it comes to guns and gun violence and it’s time for us to get serious about that, not just at the local level where we’ve recovered over 2100 guns but at the national level.”

Mr Scott previously worked on an ambitious plan to curb the city’s rampant gun violence and made the issue central to his mayoral platform.

Police refuse to confirm number of shooters

11:40 , Holly Hales

Baltimore police have refused to confirm if there were multiple gunmen involved in the Morgan State University shooting.

BPD Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters the force “can’t confirm” any information in relation to who was involved.

“That’s still part of the ongoing investigation, we can’t release that right now,” Mr Worley said.

He confirmed no arrests had been made in relation to the shooting.

Baltimore City Council Member Ryan Dorsey previously claimed on Twitter that “there were three shooters firing into the crowd”.

Classes cancelled for day after shooting

11:20 , Holly Hales

Classes at Morgan State University will be cancelled for at least one day as the college deals with the aftermath of its shooting.

University president David Wilson made the announcement to reporters early on Tuesday morning, hours after the chaos erupted.

“I have cancelled classes here at Morgan tomorrow and we can asses what will happen for the rest of the homecoming week as early as tomorrow morning,” he said.

The university is in the middle of its homecoming week which brings together students, parents and alumni on campus

Inside ‘beautiful’ campus event before shooting

11:00 , Holly Hales

A “beautiful” and “ritualistic” event was held on Morgan State University’s campus immediately before the shooting, according to the college’s president.

David Wilson told reporters countless students had gathered on Monday night to watch the coronation of Mr and Miss Morgan State University.

“This is a ritualistic event on the campus of Morgan State University at the commencing of homecoming week,” he said.

“This was an unbelievably beautiful event this evening and our students at the end of that were headed over to the student centre to rejoice and enjoy themselves when this unfortunate situation erupted on the campus.”

Mr Wilson said the event meant the campus’ auditorium was “almost filled to capacity” just before the chaos erupted.

What we know about Morgan University shooting victims

10:40 , Holly Hales

Five young people, including four Morgan University students, have been revealed as the shooting’s victims.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said each sustained non-life threatening injuries and all are receiving treatment.

“Preliminarily at this time we know there are five victims, aged 18 to 22,” he said.

“We believe all have non-life threatening injuries at this time. There were four males and one female.”

It is not known if any of the victims were known to the shooter or shooters.

How police responded to incident

10:20 , Holly Hales

Campus police heard a series of gunshots which immediately alerted them to the incident, according to the university’s top cop.

Morgan State University Police Chief Lance Hatcher told reporters officers were on patrol around 9:25 p.m. when they heard discharging.

“Morgan State University police officers were on patrol on the campus when they heard discharges from a firearm,” he said.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the response was swift after police became aware.

“The area was cordoned off, set up a command post and officers basically went to different buildings,” he said.

WATCH: President and police react to Morgan State University homecoming shooting

10:00 , Rachel Sharp

Number of shooters unknown

09:40 , Rachel Sharp

At least one suspect is still at large following the shooting at Morgan State University in Maryland on Tuesday night.

Baltimore City Council Member Ryan Dorsey said in a post on X that he had been told there may have been three separate shooters firing into the crowd outside the campus.

At the press briefing, police refused to confirm how many shooters they believed there to be.

No arrests have been made and no suspect named.

PICTURED: The aftermath of the shooting at Morgan State University

09:23 , Rachel Sharp

Shelter-in-place order lifted by Morgan State

07:40 , Maroosha Muzaffar

At around 11.45pm yesterday, police said it no longer considered the incident an “active shooter” situation but urged people to shelter in place.

Half an hour later, Morgan State University announced on its website that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted.

No suspects in custody so far

07:32 , Maroosha Muzaffar

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Baltimore police commissioner Richard Worley reported that no suspects were in custody so far.

Gunfire was reported at the campus at approximately 9.25pm and multiple people were shot, Mr Worley said.

The victims, comprising four men and one woman aged between 18 and 22, were transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Students recall moment they saw bullets hit a window: ‘It was chaos’

07:20 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Two students who were leaving a Morgan State University event on Tuesday night said they saw bullets hit a window as they left the building.

“Everybody started running. It was chaos,” one student was quoted as saying by WBAL TV.

Baltimore councilwoman 'horrified' over the Morgan State shooting

07:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Baltimore City councilwoman Odette Ramos told WJZ that she was “horrified” when she heard of the shooting.

“It’s been a sad, sad evening, especially since Morgan has homecoming coming up, and that is usually a big celebration of how wonderful campus is and still is,” she said.

Ms Ramos said she was relieved to find out that the gunshot victims would be able to recover from their injuries. “I’m here to show my support to the students.”

There were 3 shooters, says Baltimore City councilman

06:55 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Baltimore City councilman Ryan Dorsey announced on social media that police told him five people had been injured during the shooting.

“It’s believed there were three shooters firing into the crowd, none apprehended or ID’d at this time,” Mr Dorsey said.

Maryland governor issues statement on Morgan State shooting

06:48 , Maroosha Muzaffar

In a statement to WJZ, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said: “My office is aware of the shooting incident on the Morgan State University campus. My team and I are in close contact with officials on the ground and are monitoring the situation. We are grateful for the heroic efforts of the first responders who rushed to the scene and are actively working to ensure safety.”

Shelter-in-place order lifted by Morgan State

06:20 , Maroosha Muzaffar

At around 11.45pm yesterday, police said it no longer considered the incident an “active shooter” situation but urged people to shelter in place.

Half an hour later, Morgan State University announced on its website that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted.

Students recall moment they saw bullets hit a window: ‘It was chaos’

06:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Two students who were leaving a Morgan State University event on Tuesday night said they saw bullets hit a window as they left the building.

“Everybody started running. It was chaos,” one student was quoted as saying by WBAL TV.

Shooting occurred soon after a popular event at campus ended

05:51 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The shooting took place soon after the coronation of Miss and Mr Morgan State University — a popular event that takes place each year during homecoming week.

The shooting occurred not long after that event ended, local media reported.

At least four students were injured and are battling non-threatening injuries at the moment. Parents, staff and students have been asked to avoid the campus and shelter in place.

Four students battling ‘non-threatening’ injuries

05:33 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Baltimore police has confirmed that the four students who were shot are suffering from non-threatening injuries.

The police told 11 News that the suspect fled into a dorm building and they are working to clear the dorm and apprehend the alleged shooter.

Police: Morgan State incident no longer active shooter situation

05:33 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The Baltimore Police Department say they are investigating the shooting at Morgan State but it is no longer an active shooter situation, WBAL TV reported.

Police, however, asked everyone in the area of the 1700 block of Argonne Drive to continue to shelter in place.

Morgan State: A historically Black university with 9,000 students

05:19 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Morgan State is a historically Black university which currently has over 9,000 students enrolled for this semester, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Its campus has the capacity to accommodate approximately 2,600 individuals.

The university proudly identifies itself as one of the most diverse Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the country, and it holds the distinction of being the largest such institution in Maryland, according to its website.

Eyewitness recounts moment they were alerted to police helicopter

05:03 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Twenty-year-old Ish Sargent who lives near the campus told Associated Press that she and her friends came outside when they heard the helicopter.

She did not hear gunshots but was alerted by the drone of the police helicopter at the shooting site.

Ms Sargent said she doesn’t usually worry about gun violence in the area. “At a school though, that’s crazy,” she said. “People just out here shooting.”

At least four people were shot near the Morgan State University in Baltimore yesterday and police said there was an “active shooter” on the campus.

Morgan State University asks concerned family members of students to avoid the campus

04:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The university said in a message on X/Twitter that “an active investigation” was underway “related to a report of shots being fired on or near campus.”

The university asked students to “stay clear of the area surrounding Thurgood Marshall Hall and the Murphy Fine Arts Center”. It also asked them to shelter in place. Baltimore police and Morgan State officials urged concerned family members of students and staff to avoid the campus area.

Baltimore Police order students and staff at Morgan State University to shelter in place

04:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

After four people were shot near Morgan State University in Baltimore, the police posted on X/Twitter on Tuesday night that “there is an active shooter situation at Morgan State University. Students and staff are ordered to shelter in place and the public should avoid the area. We will send updates.”

04:26 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Welcome to The Independent’s live blog of the developing active shooter situation at Morgan State University in Baltimore.