by Adam Ghassemi
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Two people have been arrested inside of a dorm where a student was
robbed and shot over the weekend.
Tennessee State University police arrested the two suspects, who were not students, on Monday morning. Their identities have not been released.
An officer has been stationed in the lobby of Watson Hall ever
since the shooting. That officer was able to identify and arrest the suspects when he caught them trespassing.
One
suspect was arrested around 4 a.m. and charged with drug possession and
trespassing. The other was arrested on trespassing charges around 9 a.m.
Police said the victim was shot inside the Watson
Residence Hall early Sunday morning.
TSU
police Chief Richard Briggance said officials were still investigating the
shooting, and have not confirmed if they have the shooter in custody.
Officers
surrounded Watson Hall Sunday after the gunman confronted an 18-year-old
freshman student from Memphis. The suspect demanded a laptop and X-box, and
forced the victim into his dorm room before shooting the student in the leg.
The
victim has since been released from the hospital.
Briggance
said the two suspects arrested have not been specifically tied to the shooting,
but neither were students at the university and were trespassing inside of
Watson Hall.
"I
hope we have got the shooter in custody, but if we don't we'll continue the
investigation and see if we can talk to the victim and find out who the
suspects are," he said.
Briggance said he believed students may be letting non-students into the residence halls past hours, which may have led to the violence.
"We're
working diligently on these people who are unauthorized to be in these
dormitories," Briggance said. "If they don't have an ID card, or if
you don't think they're a student don't let them piggy back, don't let them in
your dormitory and be vigilant of your surrounds at all times."
Briggance
said controlling violence on campus is not impossible, but they need the help
of students to make sure everyone is safe.
"If
everybody would play a role in their security on-campus and be vigilant, and
not allow people into dorms or into buildings that's unauthorized, or call the
security. Call police if they see a person that just don't look right and just
let us come and check it out," he said.
TSU
officials admitted their alert system did not inform students about the
shooting until several hours after it happened. They said they have repaired
the problems, but also urge more students to sign up for the service.
Past Stories:
Email: aghassemi@newschannel5.com
Facebook: facebook.com/NC5AdamGhassemi
Twitter: twitter.com/NC5_AGhassemi
