Submitted by Fox First at Ten on January 22nd
HOUSTON (AP) - Authorities in the Houston area say they've detained a person of interest in connection with today's shooting on the campus of a community college. The shooting sent students fleeing for safety, and prompted officials to put the Lone Star College campus on lockdown. The college issued an alert on its website telling students and faculty to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus. According to a law enforcement official in Washington, authorities believed there could be a second shooter. A spokeswoman for the Harris County Health System said two people were taken to a hospital emergency center. But a sheriff's spokesman says three people were injured. Student Cody Harris says he was in a classroom with about six or seven other students, waiting for the psychology class to start, when he heard eight shots. He says he and the other students fled the room. Another student who was in a second-floor lab says he didn't think the noise came from gunfire at first -- but once people in the lab realized what it was, they fled to a nearby student services center.
UPDATE: NBC News is reporting that at least 3 people have been shot. There's no word on their condition.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A law enforcement official says Texas authorities have at least one person in custody in connection to the Lone Star College campus shooting in Houston, and local authorities think there could potentially be a second shooter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case. The official says multiple injuries have been reported. The Houston-area community college is on lockdown amid reports of a shooter on campus. Lone Star College System issued an alert on its website telling students and faculty to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus.
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NBCNEWS.COM - Sheriff's deputies are responding to reports that shots were fired at a Houston-area community college with multiple people wounded.
NBC station KPRC-TV reported that investigators were working to determine if there was an active shooter on the North Harris campus of Lone Star College.
Live aerial video taken by the station showed emergency crews moving two people on stretchers into ambulances. Dozens of police vehicles were visible.
Police officers in SWAT gear were shown on the video entering buildings on the campus.
It was unclear how many people were injured or if the people seen on the stretchers had been shot.
At least one person has been detained at the college, deputy constables told KPRC, but they did not say if that person was suspected of shooting anyone. Deputies were also searching a sub-division for another possible suspect who fled the scene.
Witness Amanda Vasquez told KPRC she was in English class when heard shots fired, apparently in the hallway. She said she got under her desk, while other student ran out of the classroom.
Jed Young, a spokesman for the college system, told The Associated Place that a "shelter-in-place order" was issued at the college due to reports of a shooter on campus. Students, faculty and staff were advised by the college website to take immediate shelter where they were. The school later said it was on lockdown.
Harris County sheriff's deputies told KPRC-TV that the shooting was reported shortly after noon CT at the North Harris campus.
Lone Star College is a community college system based in the Houston region and has six campuses associated with it.
Lone Star College's North Harris campus is 20 miles north of Houston in unincorporated Harris County. The campus has roughly 18,000 students.
