A teenager has been arrested after five people were shot at Virginia State University (VSU) in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Camron Harris, a 19-year-old from Henrico in Virginia, was found hiding in a closet on campus after the incident, police told US media. He is not a student at the university.

Only one of the five victims was studying at VSU, and all were taken to local hospitals with gunshot wounds.

A 21-year-old man remains in a critical condition. The other four, whose ages range from 17 to 23, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Local officers initially told the BBC that they believed more than one shooter was involved.

VSU, located south of the state's capital Richmond, is one of the country's historically black universities.

Officers responded to the incident outside a residence halls at about 01:28 local time (05:28 GMT) on Saturday, the university said.

Classes for the new term were set to begin on Monday and campus dormitories opened for returning students on Friday, according to the university's website.

Lt James R Lamb of Chesterfield County Police Department told the BBC on Saturday that authorities believed there to be multiple assailants involved.

VSU has more than 5,000 students. It and other historically black institutions were created to provide higher education to disenfranchised African Americans, who were otherwise prohibited from attending most colleges.

Additional reporting by Sakshi Venkatraman

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Washington DC and Hafsa Khalil