Investigation Continues After Man Shot At Florida Memorial University
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MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) – Score of cops rushed to Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens after a student was shot in the leg on campus.
Chopper4 was over the scene at 15800 NW 42nd Avenue, where a huge police presence could be seen at around noon.
As police scoured the grounds, the school was put on lockdown – no one in or out.
"I received a text from one of my friends inside who said that someone got shot," said student Maria Kecskempcf.
The shooting was marred by misinformation from the start.
FMU issued a blast email saying the shooting event "occurred off campus."
CBS4 News confirmed, however, the student was shot in a campus dormitory.
FMU student Frank Aird said he was walking to the dormitory when he noticed a raucous group of people nearby.
"I just see a whole crowd of people, people just going wild," Aird said. "So I'm walking over there and I hear gun shots, 'pow, pow, pow.'"
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the man was shot at a dorm then driven to the front gates by friends. That's where they were met by police and fire rescue.
Rescue crews took the man to a nearby hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.
As for the erroneous blast email?
"At that time, that was the information that I had," said Ceeon Smith, FMU's director of communications.
For four hours, police and the school refused to say whether an attacker or attackers were on the loose and the campus remained buttoned up.
"Being concerned for the safety of our faculty, our staff and our students, we did issue a lockdown," Smith said.
School officials sent out a statement to students and staff, saying, in part:
"At this time, a campus lock down has been ordered while police officials and campus officials complete their investigations. Please stay in your dorms, offices and buildings until further notice. For your safety, a lock down has been ordered."
Many students were concerned about missing their studies.
"I'm just waiting for the school to open back up so I can go to class. That's all I'm really worried about," said student Khambrel McCoy.
Nearly two hours later, the lockdown was lifted.
Nearby, Jan Mann Opportunity School has also been placed briefly on lockdown.
The circumstances behind the shooting are under investigation.
