Worcester State University will remain closed after a double shooting in a parking garage early Saturday morning left one person dead and another injured.
Massachusetts State Police said the person who was injured was taken to UMass Medical Center to undergo surgery.
Worcester Police confirmed they had someone in custody who is being charged with trespassing and possession of a firearm. A firearm was recovered near the scene.
State police said the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. during an altercation and was not an active shooter situation. Neither of the victims nor the assailants are students, according to the Worcester County District Attorney.
All campus events, including homecoming and family weekend, have been canceled.
"It's very eye opening to just be able to see something like that can really happen at any moment," student Javian Nieves said. "You could just be in the wrong place."
Students woke up to alerts going off on their phones as a shelter-in-place went into effect on campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.
"Phone starts blowing up, hear about a shooting that went down over in Wasylean parking lot, start calling around, making sure everyone is OK, seeing if my roommates are all good," freshman Jordan Roback said.
Many of the students who spoke to NBC10 Boston on Saturday said they later saw videos of the shooting circulating on social media.
"I was just scared," sophomore Dani Guerrero said. "You wouldn't think that would happen to your school, you know? And then you see all the posts. It's scary."
The university in Worcester, Massachusetts, is offering counseling services for students, as all school activities both on and off campus have been canceled until further notice.
"It's very unfortunate something like that could happen here," Roback said. "I hope it never happens again. My prayers go out to the families and the victims. It's just very unfortunate."
The shelter-in-place order that was issued early Saturday morning has since been lifted.
Earlier, the university issued this alert at 2:49 a.m.: "Shelter In Place is in effect /All buildings. Immediately proceed to a secure location on the interior of the building. Please do not go outdoors and remain away from windows or openings to the outside. Await further instructions. More information will be provided as it becomes available."
The message, shared on the Worcester State University website, was also shared on its social media.
The university said in an update at 5:15 a.m. that there was not an immediate threat at the campus, but the shelter-in-place order remained in effect.
The update posted to the university website also asked for anyone with information about the lot at Wasylean Hall, a dormitory on campus, to contact university staff and police at the Sheehan Multipurpose Room in the Sheehan Residence Hall.
Counseling resources are available, the update said. It ended by noting, "The campus community will be advised of further details as they become available."
The school posted another update shortly before 7:30 a.m. saying that the university will be closed Saturday "due to and [sic] ongoing incident. ALL University events, on and off campus, are canceled." They did not say if the shelter-in-place was still in effect.
A large police presence was seen on campus about an hour after the warning was posted Saturday morning. Law enforcement agents in marked and unmarked vehicles lined the campus roads near Wasylean Hall.
The Worcester County District Attorney says they don't believe this was a random incident. Authorities are asking anyone who has videos or heard or saw anything that could be helpful to this investigation to contact the Worcester State University Police.
Worcester State is located about 50 miles west of Boston. The campus has 10 buildings, including four residence halls, and enrolls about 6,200 students.
Founded as a teacher-training school in 1874, it became a liberal arts and sciences college and was known as Worcester State College until 2010, when Massachusetts made all its state colleges into universities.
