Baltimore Co. Police arrest man in shooting at Towson U.
Baltimore County Police said Tuesday they arrested a 19-year-old man who they allege shot himself and two others on Towson University’s campus early Saturday morning.
The suspect’s name was not released because he has not appeared before a court commissioner, said Joy Lepola, a county police spokeswoman.
The suspect is not the injured Towson student, who was released from the hospital Tuesday, Lepola said.
The shooting at an informal gathering of hundreds of people at the heart of the campus scared students of the university and their parents, prompting questions about campus security. Towson officials said Tuesday they placed a veteran officer of the school’s Office of Public Safety on paid leave while investigating whether the officer followed procedures that night.
The suspension followed “an initial internal review,” according to a statement from Towson University President Kim Schatzel, Vernon Hurte, the vice president for student affairs, and Charles Herring, the university’s director of public safety.
In the statement, Schatzel, Hurte and Herring said they “look forward to [the injured student’s] return to class and campus,” while Schatzel and Hurte remain in close contact with her and her family.
One of the two other shooting victims, neither of whom were affiliated with the school, has been released from the hospital while the other was still being treated as of Tuesday afternoon.
Baltimore County police, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, did not answer questions Tuesday about the condition of the third shooting victim. All of the victims were described previously as “stable.”
University officials maintained after the shooting that university police “constantly” monitor the campus via foot patrols, saying public safety officers hadn’t witnessed any illegal behavior that night. They touted how quickly they responded to the shooting, within one minute, but did not explain how such a large event went seemingly undetected until gunshots rang out.
On Monday, officials said public safety officers would double foot patrols and increase their monitoring of unsanctioned events and “active engagement” with those who attend them.
Saturday’s gathering featured hundreds of revelers, a DJ and a musician, and left alcohol containers, disposable cups and other debris strewed about the university’s Freedom Square, located underneath Lecture Hall.
Videos of the party posted to social media showed a large crowd gathered in the square. Many held up their cell phones as a rapper performed near the DJ booth, from which cash was thrown in the air.
“We remain resolute that the safety of our community and campus is our top priority,” Schatzel, Hurte and Herring said. “As such, TU senior leadership continues to take action in response to this isolated incident.”
School officials said the Office of Public Safety continued to support an investigation led by the Baltimore County Police Department.
University leadership is exploring more ways to keep the outdoor areas of campus safe, Schatzel, Hurte and Herring said in the statement. The review includes assessing “access to the spaces and resources on campus, to monitoring of those spaces, to access to parking for non-affiliates.”