2 college campus shootings renew school security concerns

BALTIMORE —Two college campus shootings in less than a week have prompted renewed security concerns for students and staff.

Police said two people were shot on the campus of Bowie State University Saturday night. That followed a shooting just four days prior at Morgan State University, where five people were shot.

On Monday, classes were canceled at Bowie State, but resumed at Morgan for the first time since the shooting.

“This is our best and brightest, and they’re ducking and dodging bullets and glass,” Randallstown NAACP president Ryan Coleman said.

Coleman said the response to Saturday night’s shooting at Bowie was a mess.

“I was at Bowie. They didn’t have enough police. It was totally chaotic,” he said.

Police said shots were heard as students were celebrating homecoming. Officers found two 19-year-old young men shot. Both are recovering after suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Neither of the victims were students.

“It just seems that the (historically Black colleges and universities) are not getting the resources that they need, and whether it’s fighting over programming with other schools or actually getting funds to handle issues, they’re just not getting it, and that’s problematic,” Coleman said.

Bowie State officials said they beefed up security for homecoming events, but Coleman believes both schools need to double their police force, conduct more active shooter training for officers and let Maryland State Police take the lead in ensuring safety during big events like homecoming.

HBCU advocate Sharon Y. Blake called the shootings horrifying and heartbreaking. She agreed that there is a need for more security in the short term.

“In the long term, I really believe there should be a culture change on that campus. When I attended Morgan, an HBCU, we had dorm mothers. We had respect for the adults. The adults knew us and called us by name. Relationships are important,” Blake said.

This week is “I Will Listen Week” at Morgan State, including games, movies and a mental health awareness fair, among other activities.

Morgan State President David Wilson will hold a town hall on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the student center.

Police are still searching for suspects in both cases. Investigators at Morgan State are searching for the men in this video as persons of interest.