Two people injured in shooting at Bowie State University on homecoming weekend

Two people were shot Saturday night during homecoming weekend at Bowie State University, according to social media posts by the historically Black college in Maryland.

In a post early Sunday to X, formerly known as Twitter, Bowie State said university police had received a report of gunfire at 11:45 p.m. Saturday near its Center for Business and Graduate Studies. According to a statement by the Maryland State Police, two men, both 19 years old, were found injured and taken to a local hospital. There’s no indication either victim is a student at Bowie State, the statement said.

The shooting comes only days after five people were shot Tuesday night after a homecoming week event at Morgan State University in Baltimore, another Maryland HBCU located about 35 miles from Bowie State. The Morgan State shooting, which prompted the university to cancel and postpone its remaining homecoming events for the first time in history, is the third consecutive year gun violence has marred homecoming at the school.

In response to the shooting at Morgan, Bowie invited Morgan students to join its own homecoming celebrations this weekend and increased its homecoming security measures. According to NBC Washington, Mark Cummings, Bowie State’s campus police chief and director of public safety, said the school would deploy more unarmed and armed officers on campus, security teams on bikes and walking beats, metal detectors and security wands at homecoming events, upgraded security cameras and more lights in dark areas around campus.

During a news conference Friday afternoon, Morgan State president David K. Wilson said four shooting victims had been released from the hospital and the fifth was in stable condition. Baltimore police commissioner Richard Worley said Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland is offering a $9,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooters, adding police don’t believe the suspects are students.