Fatal shooting claims two lives on South Carolina State University’s campus
This comes as the university’s second incident of gun violence this academic year
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, gunshots disrupted the campus of South Carolina State University, fired in a student housing building, and leaving two deceased, NBC News reported. The two people fatally shot were not students at the university.
The New York Times has reported that both victims had been on campus visiting students of South Carolina State. They have been publicly identified as 19-year-old Henry L. Crittington and 18-year-old Terrell Thomas, as stated by South Carolina State University spokesperson Sam Watson. Mr. Watson added that one male student of the university had also been wounded in the shooting. The New York Times reported that as of Friday, Feb. 13, the student was hospitalized, with no public update on his condition.
No suspect is in custody for the shooting, as of Feb. 16, as documented by 12 26 News, a Georgia-based news channel. While South Carolina law enforcement is investigating the shooting, some students of the state university have expressed feeling unsafe on campus. One student commented to 12 26 News that she feels her dorm is lacking proper safety precautions, saying, “Hugine [dorm] is not really [secure], and there’s no cameras. Please, we need cameras in every Hugine suite.” Another student, a freshman at the university, expressed,“I don’t feel safe low-key because they let anybody on this campus.”
Classes were cancelled at South Carolina State “through Monday in the wake of… [the] shooting,” as reported by Live 5 WCSC News. The campus had “remained on lockdown until about 5 a.m. Friday… [and] counselors are available to students who may need help” navigating and coping after the tragedy, WCSC added.
Black Enterprise noted that this is the second act of gun violence that South Carolina State University’s campus has suffered within the 2025-2026 academic year. “In October 2025, another shooting occurred during Homecoming festivities, where gunfire near the same residential area claimed the life of 19-year-old Jaliyah Butler and left another individual injured,” the company detailed. “In the aftermath [of that shooting], University President Alexander Conyers announced the addition of new fencing along the campus perimeter and additional security patrols,” South Carolina Public Radio detailed. However, following this recent, second deadly shooting on the campus, the university’s “Board of Trustees [met] in emergency session at 5 p.m. Friday,” SC Public Radio further reported.
WIS 10, a South Carolina news station, has reported that the university has decided university entrances and exits will be redesigned “to strengthen campus security and improve traffic flow at key access points,” students will be required to have a valid student ID and display parking passes on campus, and visitors will be assigned to only enter through one specific gate.
From 2013-2025, 81 fatalities occurred from targeted gun attacks on college campuses, and 27 fatalities occurred during mass shootings on college campuses, according to an article by Best Colleges, a college-finding resource and newsletter. The graph on gun violence fatalities published in this article comes from Everytown, “the largest gun violence prevention organization in America,” as per their official website. Everytown has further reported that “US. Gunfire on school grounds… disproportionately affect[s] Black students.”
The university president of South Carolina State University issued a statement on the university’s website about the violence, stating, “Our prayers go out to the victims and their families who were impacted by this incident. We strive to provide a safe environment for our students and understand that recent gun-related crimes on campus could cause concerns for parents… Please know that the safety of all University students is our priority and we continue to increase security measures beyond our existing policy prohibiting the possession or carrying of firearms on campus property.”