TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A homicide on campus at the University of Arizona: This one happened near a dorm Sunday night. As of Tuesday morning, police had announced no arrest.
Craig Smith was at U of A Monday as part of our team coverage:
The killing happened at a volleyball court right in front of a busy dorm around 11 p.m. when the campus could still be pretty active. University of Arizona is an open campus in a busy part of town, but that can let trouble in.
Monday was a busy morning on campus with students headed to class. The university had told students the shooting is an isolated incident that does not suggest any continuing threat.
University Police say bystanders got images of the shooter. Police describe him as heavy set, between 19 and 25 years old with collar length curly hair and a beard:
Investigators say the killing happened on a volleyball court near the Arizona-Sonora Dorm. U of A says about 400 students usually live at that dorm.
One of the residents, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “My friend, she heard the gunshots and ran into our room. We didn’t hear anything and then the girl across from us was already on the phone with the cops and freaking out just seeing everything.”
U of A Freshman Amber Hoeft lives in the Arizona-Sonora dorm too. She said, “You never think it’s actually going to happen near you or in your situation but something like this happens and how it really opens your eyes and now we’re all kind of walking around campus scared to go about our days.”
University Police say just before 11 p.m., Tucson Police told them about a shooting.
They found a college-aged man on the ground next to a car. Witnesses said they were going to take the victim to a hospital but decided to wait for first responders. UAPD and emergency medical workers tried to revive the man, but could not.
Though the killing happened on the U of A campus the victim, is not a student at the university. He studied at Pima Community College, which has a campus nearby.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
