Saturday morning Shippensburg University students got a very early wake-up call when the university sent out an SU Alert around 1:15 a.m.
The alert read: “Shooting reported at Sunbeam Court. Shooter, described as black male, may be feeling toward campus. Take precautions. Contact police with information.”
The alerts were not over, though.
About a half hour later, students received another SU Alert.
This one read: “Shooter remains on the loose. Police say everyone should stay inside until further notice.”
By this point, people who were near the house, 45 Sunbeam Court, made their way over to see what happened. SU senior Scott Clay was one of those students.
“One of my brothers at the TKE house heard shots and sent a text to all of the brothers saying he heard shots and not to go,” Clay said. “So, I ran over to the house and there were cops and dogs everywhere.”
According to the Carlisle State Police, the incident occurred when a group of men and women approached the house wanting to start a fight with someone they believed to be inside.
People inside tried to resolve the situation, but could not. A fight occurred and somebody threw a chair out of a first-story window.
Police said a male pulled out a pistol and fired one shot through the broken window. The shot flew through the window and grazed a 20-year-old man in the torso and the shooter fled the scene.
Although this is the first incident with a gun, this is not the first time an incident of aggravated assault has occurred this semester.
On Nov. 6, a stabbing occurred on the 300 block of Fort Street. The victim, Nicholas Fortenberry, of Shippensburg, came to the Shippensburg Police Station with stab wounds on his head and neck.
In the past year, the types of crimes occurring in Shippensburg have changed, according to Shippensburg Police Chief Fred Scott.
“We used to have disorderly conducts and domestic violence, but now it’s knives and guns and beatings,” Scott said.
There have also been numerous break-ins and assaults, according to Scott.
“The crime rate has not increased, but the types of crime have,” Scott said.
Although it seems there are more crimes happening, Scott thinks it is from the Internet and social media becoming more popular. He said it is easier for news to get out faster, making it seem more frequent.
The shooting remains under investigation and anybody with information is asked to contact Carlisle State Police Trooper Steven Nesbit at 717–249–2121.
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