North Carolina campus shooting leaves 2 dead, 4 injured

A shooting on a North Carolina university campus left two people dead and four wounded Tuesday, prompting a lockdown and chaotic scene in the state’s largest city.

UNC Charlotte issued a campus lockdown late Tuesday afternoon, saying shots had been fired.

“Shots reported near kennedy. Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately,” the university said in an alert, referring to the school’s Kennedy building on campus.

Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency said on Twitter that two people were found dead at the scene, two others have life-threatening injuries and two others have injuries that are not life-threatening. They said the numbers could change.

Aerial shots from local television news outlets showed police officers running toward a building, while another view showed students running on a campus sidewalk.

The university later reported that law enforcement officers were sweeping campus buildings.

It was not immediately clear whether the victims were students or whether a suspect was in custody. School officials couldn’t be reached for immediate comment Tuesday evening.

The campus was to host a concert at the school’s football stadium.

The university has more than 26,500 students and 3,000 faculty and staff.

Sam Rice, a senior on UNC Charlotte’s tennis team, told Spectrum News that he was in the library studying for a final exam when he heard people yelling “shooter, shooter.” He said he heard police yelling for people to stay down and stay on the floor.

He was “waiting for someone to tell us everything was going to be OK.”

When people were told to leave, he ran out in his socks, running over glass on the floor.

His reaction is “just shock,” he told the television station. “It doesn’t feel real.”

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Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh contributed to this report.