Law enforcement searching for suspect involved in shooting deaths of Alcorn State students
Published 10:38 am Tuesday, February 18, 2020
PORT GIBSON — The Alcorn State family is reeling from the shooting deaths of two Alcorn State students in Port Gibson Monday night.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, four people were reported shot at a home on Highway 61 South in Port Gibson at 11:45 p.m.
Deputies with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the scene where they found the four victims.
Two of those shooting victims, 22-year-old James Carr of Itta Bena and 19-year-old Tahir Fitzhugh of Pennsylvania, later died as a result of their wounds.
According to the release from MBI, law enforcement officials have identified a person of interest connected to the shooting and are “attempting to locate him.”
“We are deeply saddened to report that two students have passed as a result of critical injuries suffered in the shooting,” Alcorn State said in a statement released Tuesday. “Although campus safety was not compromised, out of an abundance of caution, Alcorn Campus Police instituted a lockdown on all campuses. The lockdown has been lifted and the university is open for normal business operations.”
The university said the Division of Student Affairs Office of Counseling Services will be making counselors available to any students, faculty or staff who seek assistance.
“Alcorn State University extends our heartfelt prayers to the families and loved ones of the students we lost and humbly ask for the university community’s thoughts and prayers for the full recovery of those injured and impacted as a result of this unfortunate event,” the university’s statement said.