A deadly day at school: Two killed in college campus shootings in Texas and Arizona
Two unrelated shootings at universities in Arizona and Texas on Friday left two students dead and four injured, continuing a skein of campus violence following last week’s rampage at an Oregon community college that killed nine.
The shooter in the Texas Southern University slaying remains at large, and an 18-year-old freshman at Northern Arizona University has been charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say he opened fire on a group of students after a late-night conflict in a parking lot on the Flagstaff campus, leaving one student dead and three others injured early Friday.
One student was shot as he cradled a wounded friend who had just been fired upon, police said.
Hours later, one student was killed and another person injured after someone opened fire outside a Texas Southern dormitory, prompting a lockdown at the Houston campus.
The shootings come as a wave of gun violence on college campuses throughout the U.S. has reignited a debate over gun control and laws that block students from carrying firearms on campus. The shooting also came the same day President Obama visited Roseburg, Ore., to console family members of the eight students and teacher who were shot and killed at Umpqua Community College on Oct. 1.
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The student killed at Northern Arizona University was identified as Colin Brough, an athletic young man originally from Annapolis, Md. Brough was a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, an honor society for first-year students, and served as a lifeguard at the Flagstaff Aquaplex, a city swimming facility.
Brough had also worked as a lifeguard in Castle Rock, Colo., where he graduated from Castle View High School in 2013.
Brough loved playing lacrosse and basketball in addition to skateboarding and snowboarding, said one of his friends from Annapolis, Jason Egelanian, 20.
Brough was a “super, super lighthearted, happy person, very, very peaceful, loved his family and friends,” said Egelanian, now a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who said he was “crushed” at the news of the shooting.
“I’ve been crying all morning. I can’t believe it, man,” Egelanian said. “He’s my best friend. I’ve been bawling my eyes out. … I’m angry. A lot of anger, too. I’m angry at this person who decided he had to shoot people. … It’s a good chance I’ll be in that trial room watching that kid get sent off to the death penalty in Arizona.”
The Northern Arizona shooter, identified by campus police as Steven Jones, surrendered his handgun to campus police and was taken into custody shortly after the 1:20 a.m. incident, authorities said.
“He stopped his action with his handgun, and everything calmed down for a few minutes as our officers arrived,” campus Police Chief Greg Fowler told reporters in Flagstaff.
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Jones faces three counts of aggravated assault. He was set to appear in court late Friday.
The students wounded in the attack were Nicholas Prato, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring. Their conditions were not released, but Fowler said “it would be safe to say [they were shot] multiple times.”
“Nick Dimo Prato was hit in the neck and is currently in ICU,” his aunt, Terri Prato Gilgour, wrote on Facebook. She could not be immediately reached for comment. “Sadly, his best friend was killed in front of him.”
Prato’s Facebook profile suggests he is from Oceanside, Calif. His girlfriend, Abbey Norcutt, apparently witnessed the shooting, and was also shot at, according to her father.
“Nick ran to help his friend,” Earl Norcutt, who said he was at an emergency room in Flagstaff, wrote in a Facebook post.
“Shooter had apparently fallen, then turned and shot Nick as he was holding his friend. Our Abbey was holding the other, second one shot, and was calling 911 as Nick was shot. She escaped being hit by the shooter as she ran,” the post said.
Authorities could not immediately say what led up to the confrontation. Like other major Arizona campuses, Northern Arizona University does not allow students to carry guns on campus.
“Arizona law allows you to have your gun in a car in a locked compartment on campus. That’s where it has to stay. You cannot carry it around on campus,” Fowler said.
He said he did not know whether the gunman had the weapon in his possession when the confrontation broke out.
Social media accounts under Jones’ name identified him as “NAU Class of ‘19,” and his Instagram account consists primarily of photos of himself, including some of Jones posing with guns.
One Instagram photo from 13 weeks ago showed Jones wearing American-flag attire and holding a shotgun over his shoulder. Another photo, from more than two years ago, showed Jones posing with a submachine gun. “It’s a full auto kinda day,” he wrote.
An “error” prevented the university’s alert system from widely distributing warnings after the shooting happened at 1:20 a.m., according to a statement from the school. A final “all clear” message was sent to the entire campus at 2:52 a.m., the statement said.
University officials said classes would continue as scheduled Friday, although university President Rita Hartung Cheng said: “This is not going to be a normal day at NAU. Our hearts are heavy.”
The gunfire at Texas Southern erupted outside the University Courtyard dormitory about 11:35 a.m., said Eva Pickens, the school’s associate vice president of communications.
The dead student was an 18-year-old freshman from Houston. His identity is being withheld pending notification of his family. A wounded victim was in stable condition at a Houston-area hospital, Pickens said. “It’s crazy,” she said. “It’s broad daylight.”
School officials initially said that three “persons of interest” had been detained by Houston police. In a statement issued later Friday, the school said only two were in custody.
Jodi Silva, a Houston police spokeswoman, said the two men who are considered persons of interest were seen running to the fourth floor of the University Courtyard apartments shortly after the shooting. They were detained at the scene without incident, Silva said.
It was not clear if more than one gunman was involved in the attack, according to Silva, who said the weapon used was a handgun.
It was also not clear whether any of the people sought by police were students or how they were connected to the university. Silva would not comment on any relationships between the victims and persons of interest.
A motive for the shooting remained unclear. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.
The incident was the second shooting on campus in just 12 hours. Gunfire left one person injured outside the same dormitory around midnight Thursday, according to a statement issued by the school.
MORE ON THE CAMPUS SHOOTINGS
Obama in Roseburg urges nation to ‘come together’ over gun violence
Police searching for gunman who killed freshman at Texas Southern University
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