News

Shooting at Ark. University Kills 2, Wounds 1

by Associated Press , October 27, 2008

CONWAY, Ark.

The head of the University of Central Arkansas said Monday that campus was safe after a shooting left two students dead and a third person wounded.

Police said the killings did not appear to be acts of random violence and that there was no remaining threat on the 12,500-student campus.

Police said they were questioning two people and seeking two others. All four are male and from the central Arkansas area. Police said they were not students.

Police had no motive yet for the shooting.

"It does not seem at this time that it was a random act," said campus police Lt. Preston Grumbles.

Interim president Tom Courtway, who canceled classes Monday, said, "Our campus is safe."

University police Lt. Rhonda Swindle said two people were being questioned Monday morning but that neither was under arrest. One was pulled over by police during the night and another turned himself in, authorities said. Police said they believed they knew the identity of the other two suspects.

After the shots rang out Sunday night, one victim died on the sidewalk along a narrow alley between a dormitory and a fine arts center. Police said the two other victims rushed into the dorm, where paramedics found them.

Swindle identified the dead as Ryan Henderson, 18, and Chavares Block, 19 both students. A non-student, Martrevis Norman of Blytheville, was shot in one leg and was released from a hospital after treatment.

"This is just an awful tragedy. It's the worst thing that can happen on a college campus," Courtway said earlier. "We have to start looking at everything."

The campus was quiet Monday morning. Police cars cruised its quiet streets and officers roamed the grounds in flak jackets.

Student Aprille Hanson, 20, of Mountain Home said the shooting was "definitely an eye-opener" in the quiet city of Conway, about 30 miles north of Little Rock.

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