A shooting at a South Carolina State University dorm left two dead and another injured just four months after another deadly shooting on the college campus.
This image made from video shows the South Carolina State University campus in Orangeburg, SC, after a shooting at an apartment complex early Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP)Henry L. Crittington, 19, died at the scene of the shooting Thursday night at the Hugin Suites housing complex, and Terrell Thomas, 18, died at the hospital, authorities said. The condition of the third person at the hospital is unknown and his name has not been released.
The eight-hour lockdown on the campus was lifted on Friday morning. No arrests have been announced, but authorities say there is no further threat.
Thursday night’s shootings come a little more than four months after two shootings during an Oct. 4 homecoming celebration. One, which happened near the same apartment complex, killed a 19-year-old woman. Another person was injured in the firing. School officials later announced new security measures.
Kaya Mak had just finished delivering food to the campus when she heard gunshots and saw a large number of police officers coming through a gate.
He said he wasn’t sure where the shots were coming from.
“Their loud sirens shook me,” she told WLTX-TV “We were looking around, me and other people on campus, we were all looking around saying ‘what’s going on?'”
The university has canceled Friday classes and is making counselors available to students.
Several people have been arrested on gun-related charges in connection with the October shootings.
After the October shootings, university president Alexander Conyer announced new fencing around the campus perimeter and the addition of additional security patrols to better control pedestrian access, according to a news release at the time. Crews were also set to repair damaged perimeter barriers.
Lawmakers should look at laws that would allow students and others to carry guns on college campuses if they are locked and concealed in a vehicle, a lawmaker said. This allows them to quickly and easily grab a weapon if the situation escalates, Democratic state Rep. Hamilton Grant said in a statement.
“We were grieving at homecoming and this community is grieving again,” said Grant, a 2011 graduate of the university.
Founded in 1896, the school is South Carolina’s only public historically black university, and has more than 2,900 current students, according to its website.
The university community recently celebrated the 58th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre. They recalled that three young men were killed on February 8, 1968, when officers opened fire on a crowd of black students who had rallied on campus after demonstrating against segregation at a local bowling alley.
