1 dead, 1 wounded, 2 detained in shooting near Texas Southern University

Two people were reportedly shot at an apartment on or very near the Texas Southern University campus on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015. Students and staff were put on lockdown as the shooter remained at-large. Two people were reportedly shot at an apartment on or very near the Texas Southern University campus on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015. Students and staff were put on lockdown as the shooter remained at-large. Photo: Cody Duty | Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty | Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close 1 dead, 1 wounded, 2 detained in shooting near Texas Southern University 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

One Texas Southern University student was killed and another wounded in a shooting Friday at a student housing complex on the southeast Houston campus.

The incident forced classes to be canceled Friday and the campus was put on lock-down for much of the day.

The freshman who was fatally shot was "a beautiful young man, trying to get his life together," TSU President John Rudley said Friday afternoon. "I wish he was still here."

Police said two of three possible suspects in the shooting have been detained. Officials are still searching for the third.

The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. at the Courtyard Apartments at 3445 Blodgett near Tierwester, according to the Houston Police Department.

About 60 students watched from the complex parking lot Friday while Houston and TSU police and officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. It's at least the third shooting in recent weeks on or near the TSU campus.

While it is unclear if the shootings are related, students said Friday they don't feel safe.

"How do you study and watch your back?" said Daijsa Fowls, 19.

In the last shooting at TSU, on Tuesday, a person leaving an event at the campus museum was wounded during an argument with another person. The person apparently pulled out a gun and shot the victim, who was rushed to nearby hospital and was alive the following morning. The shooting happened on the campus along Tiger Walk, police said.

In another shooting in August — also in the parking lot of the Courtyard, which was the scene of Friday's killing — a man, later identified as 20-year-old Darrius Nichols, fired a gun toward a crowd of people.

TSU officials said Alexandra Nicks and LaKeytric Quinn were wounded in the shooting. Quinn was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Nicks was also taken to a hospital and treated for a gunshot wound. Her condition was not released.

Nichols, a sophomore at TSU from Garland, surrendered at the scene and was taken into custody. He has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the case.

Rudley said shootings have increased this year as TSU has relaxed rules for on-campus parties and for who can and cannot come on campus -- something he said students had been calling for in recent years. Rudley said the school, which has 32 police officers, needs to increase its police presence and crack down on who is allowed in student housing complexes.

But, Rudley said, many of TSU's students come to campus from rough neighborhoods where they learn to carry a gun for self-defense.

"I talk to freshmen here who say, 'I have to have a gun to protect myself,'" Rudley said. "We've got this problem. In both instances it was freshmen who where involved and bringing with them what was acceptable in their communities -- and that is to have a gun on you."

This post has been updated throughout.