Reading teen, 18, fatally shot at student apartment complex near Kutztown University, police say

Authorities said an 18-year-old male from Reading has died following a shooting in an off-campus apartment complex near Kutztown University.

Diego Velazquez, 18, was pronounced dead at 2:14 a.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township from a gunshot wound, according to the Lehigh County coroner’s office.

His death has been ruled a homicide, and besides the coroner’s office, Pennsylvania state police and the Berks County district attorney’s office are investigating. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

The shooting happened about 12:50 a.m. Saturday in the fifth floor of the Advantage Point Student Apartments in the 400 block of Baldy Avenue in Maxatawny Township, according to state police spokesperson David Beohm.

The victim was not a Kutztown student, said Beohm, who had no further details. Anybody with information is asked to call state police at Reading at 610-378-4011.

University officials issued two online alerts Saturday about the shooting, with the second advising students and the campus community they could resume normal activities “as the perpetrators are believed to have left the area.”