Police: Man may have shot self at Mississippi university

Police tape blocks College Street in front of Whitfield Hall at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss., Friday afternoon, Jan. 4, 2019. The campus was placed on lockdown after reports of a shooting in front of Whitfield Hall, which houses Rent Auditorium. As of early afternoon, police were searching the campus for a male suspect. Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton confirmed there is one shooting victim, a male, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle. (Isabelle Altman//The Commercial Dispatch via AP) Police tape blocks College Street in front of Whitfield Hall at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss., Friday afternoon, Jan. 4, 2019. The campus was placed on lockdown after reports of a shooting in front of Whitfield Hall, which houses Rent Auditorium. As of early afternoon, police were searching the campus for a male suspect. Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton confirmed there is one shooting victim, a male, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle. (Isabelle Altman//The Commercial Dispatch via AP)

By Associated Press January 5, 2019 2 min read

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Police said Friday they’re investigating whether a former student at a Mississippi university shot himself, after a multi-hour campus lockdown earlier in the day and a building-to-building search for what had been described as another gunman.

Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that a gun was recovered in the victim’s truck near the scene of the shooting at the Mississippi University for Women.

Shelton said the injured man remains hospitalized Friday night but is expected to recover. He declined to describe the nature of the man’s injuries. Columbus police say they don’t release the names of crime victims.

“The public needs to know that we are investigating whether or not the shooting was self-inflicted,” Shelton said in a news release.

Shelton said police are testing the gun to determine if it was used in the shooting. He said police are also trying to determine whether the university or anyone else has surveillance video showing the shooting. Shelton said police are unlikely to release more information until Monday.