Police are looking for four suspects in Orangeburg, S.C., where a student was shot and killed in an attack on the campus of South Carolina State University Friday afternoon. Officials identified the victim as Brandon Robinson, 20, a member of the school's football team.
The shooting took place at a dormitory around 1:30 p.m. The campus was locked down for hours afterward; the search for the suspects is still underway off-campus, officials said.
The local Times and Democrat newspaper cites a university statement with more details of what allegedly took place:
" 'Eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident identified at least four suspects in the shooting. Police immediately began pursuit of the individuals who left campus,' the university said in a statement.
" 'Students are safe, the perimeter of the campus has been secured, but the suspects have not yet been apprehended,' the statement said. 'For this reason, the university has initiated a campus lockdown in the event the perpetrators attempt to return to the campus.' "
According to theTimes and Democrat, Robinson was a native of Orangeburg who died one day before the scheduled funeral of his stepfather.
South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division has taken over the investigation, which also includes university and Orangeburg police.
"I want to reassure parents who have children on this campus that your children are in good hands," University President Thomas J. Elzey said in a statement released this afternoon.
Saying the school is "saddened by the loss of one of our own students," Elzey later added, "I have the fullest confidence in our law enforcement officials to successfully bring this investigation to a close and arrest those responsible."
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