Five people were wounded, one critically, in a shooting outside a residence hall at Virginia State University (VSU) in the early hours of Saturday morning, with police confirming that multiple suspects remain at large.
Officers responded to the scene at approximately 1:28 a.m. local time, finding five individuals with gunshot wounds. All five were transported to local hospitals; four sustained injuries considered non-life-threatening, while one was left in a critical condition. Among the victims, one was confirmed to be a VSU student — who has since been discharged from hospital — and another was under the age of 18. Chesterfield County Police are leading the investigation, assisted by local law enforcement and campus police.
"We don't have anybody in custody," said Lieutenant James R. Lamb of the Chesterfield County Police Department. "We know there was more than one shooter, so I would say the suspects are still at large." Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage and have not identified any of the five injured individuals as suspects. A temporary campus lockdown was lifted after the initial response, though a significant law enforcement presence remained on site.
VSU, located just over 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of Richmond, Virginia's state capital, is one of the United States' historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) — institutions established to provide higher education to African Americans who were systematically excluded from most other colleges. The university has an enrolment of approximately 5,000 students. The shooting occurred on the same day dormitories reopened for returning students, with the new academic term scheduled to begin on Monday.
The timing of the attack — at the very start of the academic year and in a space meant to signal safety and new beginnings — underscores the broader concern around gun violence on American campuses. With multiple suspects still unidentified and at large, the VSU community faces an unsettling start to the semester as the investigation continues.