http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/22/delaware.shootings/Investigators probing Friday's shootings of two students at Delaware State University believe the suspect they're looking for is a male student who is no longer on campus, the school's police chief said Saturday.
Student Devin Jackson speaks with a police officer before leaving the Delaware State University campus Friday.
James Overton also downplayed the possibility that gang warfare could have played a role in the incident."Our investigation doesn't lead to believe there is any turf battle," Overton said. There have been no arrests in the case.Investigators interviewed and released two people of interest who provided information that helped police identify another person of interest. They're also seeking more witnesses based on the information, Overton said. Police believe a dispute broke out among a group of eight to 10 students who had left the Village Cafe between midnight and 1 a.m. Friday and gathered on the pedestrian mall in the center of campus, near Memorial Hall.Close to 1 a.m., someone fired four to six shots, some of which hit two students.Don't Miss
Some of their classmates told The Associated Press that tension had been rising between groups of friends from New Jersey and Washington, D.C."They've been getting into it, New Jersey people and D.C. people," said James Dillion, according to the AP."Thursday night, they saw each other again and got into it," he said. "Everybody's still astonished about what happened." Shalita Middleton was shot twice in the abdomen; the other student, Nathaniel Pew, was shot once in the ankle. Both are 17-year-old freshmen from the Washington, D.C., area.Police have been unable to interview Middleton because of her serious condition. "When she's able to talk to us, the hospital will notify us," Overton said. The campus -- which was open for limited activities Saturday -- will return to normal Sunday, said Delaware State University President Allen Sessoms. There will be regular classes Monday."I don't think there is a continued danger to the students," Sessoms said. "We're pretty sure the gunman is not a danger to the community, but we want to make sure the students know that." On Friday, he called the shooting an internal problem for the university."These are just kids who did very, very stupid things ... and we've got to deal with that," Sessoms said. Classes were canceled after the incident and the university was on lockdown, which was directed mainly at the 1,200 people living in dormitories and an on-campus apartment complex for upper-level students.The shooting brought to mind an April 16 incident on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, where student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty members before killing himself.An independent investigative panel that released its assessment in late August concluded that more timely and specific information by Virginia Tech officials might have saved lives."We have learned tremendously from the tragedy at Virginia Tech," Sessoms said, adding that the response and notification of students was almost immediate. 
Watch police report on status of investigation ยปUniversity spokesman Carlos Holmes said earlier that the school immediately posted "timely warning notifications" in residential halls, on Web sites and on campus phone messages."Any time you pick up a phone, you automatically hear a message that lets you know the situation," Holmes said. "We've used everything we have at our disposal."Delaware State's 400-acre main campus is on the north side of Dover, Delaware's capital, about two hours away from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. It has an enrollment of about 3,700 students.According to the most recent crime data reported by the university to the U.S. Department of Education, serious crimes on the Delaware State campus are rare.Burglaries were the most common offenses from 2003 through 2005. The highest number was 37 in 2003. From 2003 through 2005, there were seven rapes, seven aggravated assaults and no cases of murder or manslaughter.The university was struck by tragedy in August when three teens who were either enrolled at Delaware State or in the process of doing so were shot to death execution-style in a Newark, New Jersey, schoolyard. Another teen was wounded.University personnel and students can check the status of the situation on the campus Web site at www.desu.edu or by calling DSU at (302) 857-7669
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