This year, a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll found that four in 10 Americans think schools in their communities are not safe from gun violence. And, violent crime has continued to surge in many Democrat-led cities due to soft-on-crime policies that put offenders back on the streets. This week, one school announced that it would make drastic changes to its security measures in response to violence that occurred on campus recently.
Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland will have a wall constructed around the campus after several students were shot at the campus last week, according to multiple reports.
On Tuesday, university President David Wilson explained that the wall would extend barriers by about 8,000 feet and circle 90 percent of the campus to “eliminate unfettered access.” In total, the school would invest $22 million in these security measures, including installing more metal detectors, more police patrols, and more security guard booths.
“We’re doing this, let me be clear, not to keep out our neighbors and our community writ large; we are doing it to keep out the bad actors,” Wilson said in his remarks to students and faculty.
Reportedly, the shooting that occurred on Oct. 3 during homecoming week happened as students were walking from an auditorium to the campus student center for the coronation ball. The school was placed on lockdown. Police believe there were two gunmen who shot five people, four of whom were students. All victims were released from hospitals last week.
According to NBC News, this is not the first time violence broke out during the university’s homecoming celebrations (via NBC):
Previous Morgan State homecoming celebrations have also been subject to violence. In October 2022, a young man was shot during what officials called an unsanctioned homecoming after-party on campus, and the year before, a freshman was arrested and charged with shooting his classmate over homecoming weekend.
This week, Baltimore police posted images of the two men they are searching for in connection with the shooting. The victims were 18 to 22 years old.
Reportedly, the shooting is believed to have started as “a dispute between two smaller groups, and one individual was a target of two individuals who had weapons,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said, according to the New York Post.