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Shot fired at Kent State University in Ohio; suspect in custody

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<i>This post has been updated. See below.</i>

At least one shot was fired Wednesday at Kent State University in Ohio, according to school officials.

[Update 10:15 p.m. PDT April 2: A suspect was apprehended off campus, according to an advisory on the university’s website. Police say there is no longer a threat, according to school officials.

The university will not release details about the suspect until a Thursday morning news conference, reported Kentwired, a news website run by Kent State student journalists.

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Earlier, police officers and cars swarmed the campus near Bowman Hall and the Business Administration Building, Carrie Blazina, managing editor of the Daily Kent Stater, told The Los Angeles Times in an email. Campus loudspeakers announced the lifting of a lockdown earlier in the evening, she said.]

[Updated, 8:11 p.m., PDT April 2: A shelter-in-place advisory for the Kent State University campus has been lifted, Eric Mansfield, a university spokesman, said at a news conference Wednesday evening.

No injuries had been reported, Mansfield said. Police do not think the suspected shooter is still on campus and approved the lifting of the advisory, he said.

Kent State President Lester A. Lefton said the university had worked hard to train its students in what to do in such situations and that students know how to behave when told to shelter in place.

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Lefton said the campus is a “place of intellectual discourse” and that it tried to teach young people to resolve disputes without violence.]

Earlier the university had cautioned people in the area to stay in place Wednesday evening and described the suspect as a “black male wearing basketball shorts and carrying a silver handgun,” according to an advisory on the university’s website.

A shot was fired into the ground near Bowman Hall, according to the university.

Phone lines for Kent State University were busy Wednesday evening, and the Kent Police Department earlier had said they had no further information immediately available.

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hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson | Google+

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