MIDWEST CITY, Okla. — One person was killed and another is in custody on Monday after a shooting at an Oklahoma community college, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at Rose State College in Midwest City, located southeast of Oklahoma City, KOCO-TV reported. The victim and the alleged shooter were both men, police said.
According to the Midwest City Police Department, the gunfire appeared to be connected to a domestic situation and took place near the humanities building on campus, The Oklahoman reported.
‼️ROSE ALERT: We are currently experiencing an active shooter situation on campus. Please shelter in place and follow instructions from law enforcement officials. The shooter is in custody and police are on scene. More updates to follow. ‼️ pic.twitter.com/UDDosM8l0S
— Rose State College (@RoseState) April 24, 2023
The college sent an original alert at around 12:16 p.m. CDT, KWTV reported.
Midwest City police Chief Sid Porter told reporters that the suspect and victim “are acquainted through a domestic situation.” He added that the victim was shot once.
“(Officers) confronted a subject with a gun, they ordered him to drop the gun, which he did, and they took him into custody,” Porter told reporters.
Neither the suspect nor the victim, who died at the scene, has been identified, The Oklahoman reported.
“We watch one guy go down as another irate man -- he was saying something, but we couldn’t quite understand what he was saying -- and a female was trying to grab him and just calm him down,” 19-year-old Kevin McCormack, who witnessed the shooting, told the newspaper. “It was about eight shots we heard while we were running inside buildings calling to people ‘Get inside, get inside!’”
McCormack said college officials alerted students quickly to shelter in place.
“They were fast. We were inside of the room and then suddenly got the alert, and this is like a two-minute timer,” the Choctaw resident told The Oklahoman. “It was a ridiculously fast thing, so I don’t know if it was like a bank panic button, but it was effective. I have a lot of faith in Rose.”
According to its website, Rose State College is a public, two-year institution. It has more than 13,000 students and more than 60 academic programs.
