WVU officials address recent shootings on, near campus

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee issued a statement following two shootings less than a day apart on and near the school’s campus.

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On Friday, a student was shot and killed at a housing complex on campus. Two men were arrested and charged. Less than 24 hours later early Saturday, another shooting occurred near campus after two men lured a student to an apartment and tried to rob him.

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Here is the statement in full from WVU:

Dear West Virginia University family,

Early Saturday morning, our campus community was alerted to another shooting that took place off-campus. The incidents that have taken place in the past two days have our campus concerned and unnerved. The loss of one of our students and the injury of another is a tragedy that should never have occurred.

I realize it may feel that West Virginia University is no longer a safe campus. I want to reassure everyone that our University has a commitment each and every day to keep our campus as safe as possible. When acts of violence do happen, we are fully prepared to act — from our University Police at the scene to our mental health services and CARE team after an incident takes place. Over the last few days, we have called upon these resources and more to make sure all feel cared for and safe.

These two events are certainly shocking, and the University is responding with all possible resources to determine what additional measures can be taken to prevent them from happening again. We will also partner with local and state agencies in those discussions.

But the events of Friday and Saturday remain an aberration to our life here.

Our University Police do an outstanding job of protecting our campus and responding when things go wrong. Our campus is a small city and a microcosm of the world around us. The sad fact is our part of the world is also beset with all the ill — and good — of society at large. We cannot stop bad things from happening — but we can work to prevent them and be prepared for when they do.

As we work on additional measures, I encourage you to be familiar with the safety procedures and resources we currently have on campus. I urge you to visit safety.wvu.edu to review all safety information.

As I say often, I care about our students as if they were my own children, and I want us all to be safe. I pledge to all Mountaineers, both current and future, that we will redouble our efforts to ensure our campus is the safest it can possibly be.

Student killed, 2 arrested after shooting near WVU that led to campus alert Student killed, 2 arrested after shooting near WVU that led to campus alert

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