Two dead in apparent murder-suicide at USC

Two people are dead in an apparent murder-suicide Thursday after shots were fired inside a University of South Carolina research building, officials said.

The State Law Enforcement Division, which investigates all deaths on college campuses, wouldn't identify the shooter or the victim, whether they were students or faculty members or if they were male or female.

SLED spokesman Thom Berry described the shooting as an "isolated incident," and said there was never an active shooter-threat on campus.

Students, faculty and staff first learned of the danger through the school's emergency notification system, which sent out an alert at 1:16 p.m. saying shots had been fired at the Arnold School of Public Health on Assembly Street. People were told to seek safe shelter and to obey officials.

The alert came about 30 minutes after campus police got an initial call reporting "some kind of incident" at the public health building, Berry said.

All USC buildings were put on lockdown as police in bullet-proof vests swarmed the area and blocked Park, College and Assembly streets.

Student Augusta Fox was in the middle of a criminal justice class at Currell College about three blocks away when the first alert went out.

"We don't know how many shooters there are, where they are," Fox said. "Basically everyone is being told to stay where they are, and no one is allowed to leave."

All eyes were on a live video feed showing the School of Public Health or on social media accounts threaded with rumors and speculation. Students called parents, texted friends.

Some reported that everyone inside the campus library was moved to the bottom floor.

Sydney Van Beek, a Simpsonville native, said she was on the second floor of the public health building when the fire alarm went off.

Thinking it was a drill, Van Beek said she and her classmates walked across the street and saw police officers and an ambulance pull up.

"We saw it slowly escalating and didn't really know what was going on," the USC sophomore said.

She said armed SLED agents were evacuating the area and led students to a music building across the street, where students were locked in a room with dimmed lights and told to stay away from the door.

The lockdown lasted for about an hour until a university alert at 2:15 p.m. said there was no longer an existing threat on campus.

Public health classes and classes held at the School of Public Health were canceled for the rest of the day, according to campus officials.

Addressing the media late Thursday afternoon, Berry said SLED agents were still processing the crime scene, which he described as a room with two bodies inside.

Their identities likely won't be released by the Coroner's Office until Friday, Berry said.

He declined to say what weapon had been used.

"This is a process that will take some time," Berry said during the news conference. "It is very slow, very methodical work because we want to make absolutely sure it's done right."

Acknowledging the murder-suicide, USC President Harris Pastides issued a statement Thursday night that said the USC family had experienced a "great tragedy," The State reported.

"The thoughts and prayers of our entire community are with the families of the deceased tonight," Pastides said.

On social media, solidarity took the shape of a hashtag: #PrayforUSC as students expressed shock and disbelief over what The State called the first multiple shooting death at USC in more than three decades.

Social media users said they planned to wear garnet and black in memory of the two lives lost. Tweets of condolences came from schools across the country, including the University of Southern California and Clemson University.

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