1 fatally shot at Texas college housing complex

Updated: 6:06 p.m. | Posted: 1:08 p.m.

A student was killed and another person was wounded in a shooting outside a Texas Southern University student-housing complex on Friday, and police detained at least two people for questioning, authorities said.

The university quickly went on lockdown after the shooting was reported around 11:30 a.m. in a parking lot at the University Courtyard Apartments, which is on the edge of the Houston campus. Students and teachers were told to stay inside until the lockdown was lifted Friday afternoon, after two men were detained, but police said no charges have been filed.

University President John Rudley said the student who was killed was a freshman, but that his name and age haven't been released. The second victim, whose name also hasn't been released, was shot twice and is hospitalized in stable condition, Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said.

Silva said investigators were still searching for a motive, but that police weren't treating it as an "active shooter" investigation. The incident occurred just hours after another shooting near the same housing complex, though it's unclear whether the shootings were related.

"I'm most definitely concerned. I did plan on moving here," said Brittney Solomon, a 19-year-old psychology student from Houston. "It's really nerve-racking feeling that a person here could have a gun."

Rudley urged the school's roughly 9,700 students to be more vigilant, reminding them that the campus was in a large city. He also criticized what he said was a culture among some students who believe they shouldn't snitch on each other.

"We're in the inner city. Crime is all around us," he said.

Classes were cancelled following the lockdown Friday. Rudley said classes will resume on a normal schedule Monday.

The university said in a statement that an earlier shooting occurred early Friday morning, and that the school was increasing police presence on campus. Police said one person was treated and released for a minor wound, but it's unclear if the two incidents were linked.

"My main concern is what they're going to do now," Daijsa Fowls, a 19-year-old pharmacy student from Houston, said as she stood outside the gate to the housing complex. "There's no enforcement. There's no way that outsiders should be allowed in a person's dorm room. I'm supposed to be moving on campus and it shakes me up."

Fowls noted that she had a 3-year-old son, and said she wouldn't feel safe walking with him on campus. She said she planned to move into one of the nearby housing units but is now considering transferring to another school.

"A bullet has no name," she said. "It could hit anybody."

The incidents follow a fatal shooting earlier Friday at Northern Arizona University, where an overnight confrontation between students escalated into gunfire that killed one person and wounded three others. Last week, eight students and a teacher were fatally shot at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. The gunman in the Oregon shooting also wounded nine people before turning the gun on himself.

"Like President Obama says, this is getting to be too regular," Rudley said.