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Fatal shootings at Grambling State not random, sheriff says

From left, Grambling State University junior Jaylen Hamilton, senior Kyana Manning and junior LeVonte Abbott cry as they stand near the scene of a shooting in Grambling, La., Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. Authorities said a student and his friend were fatally shot after an altercation that began in a dorm room and ended in a courtyard at the historically black college in northern Louisiana. (Hannah Baldwin / Associated Press)
Associated Press

GRAMBLING, La. – Authorities were searching Wednesday for a gunman who shot and killed a Grambling State University student and his friend after an altercation on the Louisiana college’s campus.

Lincoln Parish Sheriff Mike Stone said the suspect and victims knew each other “to some extent” and stressed that the shooting wasn’t random or an act of terrorism.

“There are no indicators that this incident bears any resemblance to any of the random acts of violence or domestic terrorism that have been experience around our country in recent weeks,” Stone said in a statement.

The suspect remained at large hours after the shooting, but classes at the historically black college were held as usual.

The sheriff’s office said the suspect was a black male but didn’t immediately release a detailed description of him.

Grambling senior Earl Andrews and his friend, Monquiarious Caldwell, were killed in the shooting, university spokesman Will Sutton told news outlets. Both were 23 and from Farmerville, Louisiana, which is about 30 miles from Grambling.

Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s spokesman Stephen Williams said detectives joined Grambling State’s campus police in investigating the double homicide after getting 911 calls starting at 12:04 a.m. Wednesday.

The university in northern Louisiana has an enrollment of nearly 5,000 students.

“It was an altercation that started inside one of the dorm rooms and spilled out into the courtyard,” Williams said. “We’re interviewing witnesses.”

The university posted a message on Twitter that said offices would be open Wednesday with normal business hours and students were expected to attend classes as scheduled.

Andrews’ aunt, Mattie Boyette, told KSLA.com that she had no idea why anyone would want to shoot him.

“He was here at Grambling, good student, good kid. He just wanted an education. He just wanted to better himself,” Boyette said.

“His momma, his sister and his brother, he was the apple of their eye,” she said.

The deadly shootings happened during the school’s homecoming week. KSLA.com reports that Sutton said it was too early to say whether any homecoming events would be affected.

A Grambling State student was wounded last month in a separate shooting on the campus. Sutton told news outlets then that a student let another person into a dorm and there was a fight that ended with a student being shot in the left arm on Sept. 21.

No suspects have been named in any of the shootings.