Two people have been reported dead at the University of South Carolina (USC) in what is being classified as an isolated murder-suicide.
According to WLTX, the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said the incident occurred around 1 p.m. at the Arnold School of Public Health on the school's Columbia, S.C. campus.
USC's first alert came in at 1:16 p.m. local time with a shelter in place order. The second alert came 13 minutes later warning anyone on campus to seek shelter if they had not already done so. The third and final alert came at 2:15 p.m., deeming the campus safe and heralding the closure of the area around the Public Health building.
As of 3 p.m. ET, Thom Berry, an SLED spokesman told WLTX he would not be disclosing who the shooter or the victim was. He only indicated the shooter killed one person before committing suicide and that it was an isolated incident.
"There was no active shooter situation, other than the two individuals that are now deceased and were involved in this situation," he said.
Berry told WLTX that Richland County Coroner Gary Watts may be able to provide more information Thursday night or Friday.
The Columbia Police Department and the U.S. Marshals aided in the investigation and response.
The Greenville News reported its managing editor Bill Fox's daughter Augusta was in a classroom about three blocks away at the time of the incident. She said her classroom mostly acted calmly, barring the door with tables, though several students' eyes were glued to their smartphones for updates.
Classes in the Public Health building were also cancelled for the rest of the day.
