One person was killed and six others were wounded when gunfire disrupted Lincoln University’s homecoming festivities Saturday night, law enforcement officials said.
The shooting happened just before 9:30 p.m. outside the International Cultural Center, where tables and tents were set up for a gathering that followed an afternoon football game, according to authorities.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe, during a press briefing early Sunday morning, said someone was taken into custody with a firearm, though he added that there may have been multiple shooters.
“We don’t have a lot of answers about exactly what happened,” he said. “Today, we’re operating as if this is not an incident where someone came in with the design to inflict mass damage on a college campus.”
De Barrena-Sarobe said there was no active threat to the campus; no further details about the victims or the possible suspect were released as of Sunday evening.
Lincoln suspended classes Monday and invited students, staff and other members of the campus community to gather at noon for “a moment of reflection, connection and collective healing.”
“What occurred last night was tragic for our students, our families, and our community,” Brenda A. Allen, the college’s president, said in a statement Sunday afternoon. “Gun violence happens far too often in our country, and we are heartbroken that Lincoln University and its students are among the latest victims of such senseless violence.”
More than 2,200 students are enrolled at Lincoln, which is 45 miles from Philadelphia, according to the school’s website, and it was the first degree-granting historically Black college and university, or HBCU.
Mayor Cherelle Parker, a 1994 Lincoln graduate, was on campus to help kick off the Homecoming celebrations, according to a post on her social media pages.
This is a developing story. Check MetroPhiladelphia.com for updates.
