Campus Shooting Leaves Two Dead, One Hurt

Police Question "Person Of Interest" In University Of Central Arkansas Shooting

(AP)  A shooting in the heart of the University of Central Arkansas' campus killed two students and wounded a third person, authorities said early Monday.

UCA police spokeswoman Lt. Rhonda Swindle said the first report of shots fired came at 9:19 p.m. An officer heard the shooting, which occurred near a male dormitory and behind the campus police station, and arrived on the scene in less than a minute, she said.

Witnesses described hearing as many as five gunshots ring out. One man died at the scene and another at a local hospital. A wounded man who wasn't a student was treated and released, Swindle said.

Swindle had no immediate explanation for the shooting, though she said police questioned one "person of interest" into the early morning hours. She said detectives believed four people were involved in the attack, though no arrest or search warrants had been issued in the case.

"We have really good leads we're following up on right now and we feel the campus is safe," Swindle said.

Swindle declined to identify the victims of the shooting, saying officers continued to try and reach their families. The lieutenant said their bodies would be sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for autopsies.

Interim UCA President Tom Courtway canceled classes Monday at the university, which serves 12,500 students. He stressed that every precaution was being taken to ensure the safety of the students who remained in their dormitory rooms.

"It doesn't matter where this happens in the country - it's awful," Courtway said.

Police used crime scene tape to keep people out of a large area around where the shootings occurred, including a nearby intersection.

Student Aprille Hanson, 20, said the shooting was "definitely an eye-opener" in the quiet city of Conway, about 26 miles north of Little Rock.

"This campus is very safe. I've never felt afraid on this campus," Hanson said. "Everyone's going to be a little more tense."

The campus remained under guard Monday morning, with police cruisers circling its quiet streets and officers roaming the grounds in flak jackets and blue jeans.

"The UCA campus itself is not locked down, although officers are posted at every campus entrance, and access to campus is limited to residents and authorized personnel," UCA spokesman Warwick Sabin said in an e-mail early Monday.

Faculty and students received phone calls and e-mails through an automated system at 9:38 p.m. warning them of the shooting and encouraging them to stay inside behind locked doors. Sabin said it was the first incident to prompt use of the university's new emergency e-mail and phone call system, purchased last year after the Virginia Tech massacre.

Swindle said video captured by surveillance cameras also installed at the campus after the massacre would be examined.

Sunday's shooting is the second at an Arkansas college this year. On Feb. 27, a man was shot and wounded at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Two suspects were eventually charged. The victim, James Earl Matthews, was hospitalized and had surgery before being released.

[missingamerica]

Most of the guns used in crimes in DC come from neighboring states with lax gun laws. DC doesn''t have an invisible, impenetrable shield to prevent those guns from making it into DC.

posted by elcantante1 at 11:29 AM : Oct 27, 2008

That argument is a little too pat, in that a demand creates a market and a supply inevitably shows up to fill it.

If every state in the nation had gun laws identical to D.C.s, for starters it would take decades and decades for the existing supply of "underground" guns to run out - so guns would still travel to wherever the market existed for them.

Even if every single gun in the United States of America were confiscated and destroyed, they would flow in from our neighboring countries and via small boats along our coasts, smuggling via aircraft, etc.

lolll...although if all the guns disappeared, I assure you that someone like Cheney would show up and attempt to assume the dictatorship of the United States of America.

You yourself would be working in underground armaments factories attempting to manufacture enough weaponry to regain control of America....

[lewiston14]

elcantante1: I agree with your post. I guess all I was trying to say is if you want one they are not hard to get and never will be.

[feddupp]

As long as these shootings keep being glorified in the news, there will be crazies wanting to make a name for themselves!!

As for safety, with the open liberties of the good old U.S.A., there is NO WAY EVERYTHING in our country can be "made" safe!!

People just need to keep their eyes and ears open, use their brains--if something feels "off," it usually means trouble! HEADS UP, everyone, be SAFE!!

[tired0fthebs]

You know what I changed my mind about Obama! I think he will be better for national security and the economy!

Plus sarah palin $150,000.00 on clothes, most Americans could have bought a home for that amount!

Besides I think Sarah Palin is really a Terrorist

Breaking News: The Terrorist Group AKA Alaska Independent party Calling on Russia to help secede from the Union
www.chilitoz.com
Extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll former leaders of the Alaska Terrorist group AKA Independence Party and friends of Sarah Palin are calling on Russia to help them gain independence from the United States.

Watch video of Sarah palin addressing The Alaska Terrorist Group also known as The Independence party. They are calling for a civil war against the mainland.
www.chilitoz.com

[maestro_tpt]

Yet another school shooting. The bad people will always be drawn to the places with the least resistance. Would this have happened if all the students were armed? I don%u2019t know. When was the last time a police station or military installation was attacked by a rogue shooter? I agree that gun laws are insane. Banning guns, however, will only make more people vulnerable. Gun ownership is severely restricted in D.C, but it has the highest rate of gun violence in the nation (check out http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/guns_in_america/html/framesource_map.html.
I pray for the victims and their families as well as the rest of us.

[yamuttya]

You just want to take away everyones guns and leave us defenseless.

Posted by gop_will_win at 09:39 AM : Oct 27, 2008


This is insane......
A well regulated militia !!!!
Every other country on earth has figured this out.
Cops with guns, criminals in jail.
Done.
Next question.

[gop_will_win]

But if the amount of guns around is reduced the number of shootings will be reduced as well. Less guns=Less shootings. Less shootings=Less homicides. Guns are designed to kill people. When you go to a shooting range you shoot at a target shaped like a human torso. You hit the head or the chest you score higher because you KILLED him. That''''s practicing to KILL PEOPLE!~ Guns are a nuisance to our society. We can''''t even send our kids to college without worrying about them being shot to death by another student. Dr. Mathew Miller from Harvard University conducted a study about armed students in colleges and it said "Gun possession is significantly more likely among students who binge drink and drive, or who damage property afar drinking". Do you wonder why we have so many shootings at college campuses?




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Posted by elcantante1
==========================
No only the law abiding citizens will not have guns under your delusional vision thus leaving the criminal with more defenseless victims to rape, rob, and murder.

[flreason]

At the time the Constitution was framed, a gun was an expensive but necessary item. In seasons when fresh vegetables were unavailable, survival often depended on hunting. Human nature being what it is, there were also murders...for many of the same reasons as now: anger, profit, and racial prejudice.

I don''t think there are many people who object to hunters having their rifles. The problem is the proliferation and relatively easy acquisition of guns designed for war--for killing large numbers of people in a short amount of time. There is no reason why any citizen outside of the police or military should be able to purchase these weapons. They are inefficient for hunting, since the goal is to minize damage to the edible parts of the animal. If people want to use them for recreational purposes, i.e. target shooting, then a controlled situation (a shooting range where the weapons are provided) would fill the "need." For person protection, they are the equivalent of using a sledge hammer to kill a fly. The second amendment was primarily about the need in colonial times for states to be able to quickly recruit armed citizens for military units in case of a foreign invasion. The industry that profits proliferating weapons preys on people''s fears and increases risks of these types of incidents. Permitting the proliferation of these weapons of war makes about as much sense as allowing biological or nuclear weapons on our streets.

[qutlaw104]

I read this AM where an eight year old boy shoot him self at a uzi gun show in MA. They are writting it off as an accident, it is no accident he shouldn''t have been there to start with. His parents should be charged with homicide. Uzi is one of the guns that should be outlawed . When is the ARA going to wake and help the government write a gun law that would outlaw certain weapons.

[gop_will_win]

gop said "You just want to take away everyones guns and leave us defenseless."

Nope. I want to stop all these shooting and gun deaths. We can''''t shoot anyone without guns. Is that so hard to understand?



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Posted by elcantante1
=======================
Someone will always have guns. Making it illegal doesnt change anything.

[gop_will_win]

gop said "Well we cant count others praying and being without sin these days."

So you have a gun and an armed student shoot you in your back before you see him or have a chance to defend yourself so what was your gun good for? A student starts shooting in your direction. You have two choices, RUN or fire back to save lives. The bullets are ricocheting in the walls around you and you no longer feel like Dirty Harry but your underware is dirty. You realize your dreams of "heoic acts" were stupid. What''''s your gun good for? The student disarms you and uses your gun to shoot you. Your gun is good for killing YOU and others.



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Posted by elcantante1 at 09:26 AM : Oct 27, 2008
+ report abuse
gop said "This would never had happened if all the students were armed."

Nothing says "I''''m a gun NUT" more than the obtuse statement above. The chances of a shooting are based on the number of guns around. There can''''t be a shooting without guns. The chances of a shooting INCREASE with the number of guns. The claims of the gun lobby are ultra-pathetic.


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Posted by elcantante1
===========================
You just want to take away everyones guns and leave us defenseless.

[tomadams99]

Hmmm, Mr. Policeman...I believed you missed the point of the generalized statement of the writer you responded to. The essence of what he is saying is even though there are laws, the typically reactive policeman is not proactive, and cannot/does not protect the civilian populace. It is more important for police to sit in the woods like a cockroach, then run out and catch a speeding vehicle. We must protect ourselves, because obviously the assigned body for community security has failed to take care of their responsibility. The typical answer is ""give us another law," yea, that''s it, let''s ban all knives, rocks, clubs, better yet...anything that can be used as a weapon.

[gop_will_win]

I guess I''''m just not that much of a gun expert. I didn''''t know they made you invulnerable to bullets. So you''''re saying if these guys had guns on them they couldn''''t be shot? Interesting.....



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Posted by gotagrip
========================
Well we cant count others praying and being without sin these days.

[gotagrip]

This would never had happened if all the students were armed.


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Posted by gop_will_win at 08:49 AM : Oct 27, 2008

I guess I''m just not that much of a gun expert. I didn''t know they made you invulnerable to bullets. So you''re saying if these guys had guns on them they couldn''t be shot? Interesting.....

[brucie2006]

Blame it on Huckabee...

[gop_will_win]

This would never had happened if all the students were armed.

[qutlaw104]

To bad these things happen but there is no law that that could stop these thing. They might write law that would slow them down but stop them "no". I am not in favor of banning all guns" but I am in favor of resticting the types of weapons indivual can own.

[inglind]

This crime has nothing to do with gun laws. Criminals don''t follow the rules. This has to do with idiots who take revenge and rage into their own hands.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

[cmhbob]

Boy, it''s a shame there were no laws in place to prevent this. Gosh! What could we do? I mean, just because there''s a law against murder; what good does that do?

[lewiston14]

Gun laws. First if your a bad guy laws mean nothing. Second if you flash some cash and ask to see your local gun dealer in 30 minutes along comes a car with a trunk full of everything except a nuke. You could get one of those to but im sure the price is very high. As I write this I could be offered just about anything and if I had a special request it would be a day wait at most. Who are you kidding?