A shooting was reported at Fort Valley State University Wednesday evening, prompting a campus lockdown as police searched for a suspect. By Thursday, authorities had not announced an arrest.
Fort Valley State University confirmed the shooting took place on its main campus, according to school officials cited by WSB-TV. WGXA reported that authorities identified the victim as a non-student.
Campus Lockdown
The shooting prompted a campus lockdown.
WGXA reported that the police department did not elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting or the extent of the victim's injuries.
Search for a Suspect Continues
Local and state authorities are actively searching for a suspect whose identity has not been released. Fort Valley State University's police department requested help from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the GBI has been called in to assist, per the same account from wgxa.tv. The shooting investigation remains ongoing, per the GBI.
Not the First Shooting Near FVSU
Wednesday's incident isn't the first time gunfire has rattled the area around the historically Black university, located about 105 miles from Atlanta. A 2021 shooting near campus killed 27-year-old Tyler French, who was confirmed not to be an FVSU student, according to Newsweek. That same shooting, according to AP News, left one person dead and seven others wounded near the campus. Newsweek's reporting on past incidents also points to a shooting at Virginia State University that injured a woman inside a freshman dormitory and prompted a temporary lockdown there.
Campus safety context
FVSU’s Wildcat Alert by Rave Guardian page says the service can send emergency alerts to mobile devices. That describes the alert system, not the specific steps taken during Wednesday’s incident. In its account of the separate 2021 incident, FVSU reported that a shooting at an off-campus event near the university caused student injuries and one death; the person who died was not an FVSU student.
Founded in 1895 as Fort Valley High and Industrial School, the university has a long history rooted in the post-Reconstruction South. The state of Georgia acquired the school in 1939, and Fort Valley State College was established that same year, eventually growing into the university that sits at the center of this week's investigation.
