One person was killed and three were injured after a gunman opened fire early Friday morning at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, according to officials.
School police chief Greg Fowler identified the shooter as being Steven Jones, an 18-year-old student. Jones has since been taken into custody, Fowler said during a press conference early Friday morning.
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The incident took place at 1:20 a.m. at a parking lot on campus outside the Mountain View Hall dormitory after two student groups got into a confrontation, which “turned physical,” Fowler explained. He added that Jones stopped his actions with his handgun and “everything calmed down for a few minutes,” which was when Jones was apprehended.
It is not clear what the confrontation was about.
The person who was killed was identified as student Colin Brough while the three injured — Nicholas Prato, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring — are currently being treated for gunshot wounds at Flagstaff Medical Center. Their conditions were not immediately known.
Rita Cheng, president of NAU, called the shooting “isolated and unprecedented” at the news conference, adding that the campus is secure and classes will go on as scheduled. Support services are being made available for faculty and students. In a statement, Cheng later said, “We are, of course, shocked and deeply saddened by the circumstances that bring us together this morning. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and our entire Lumberjack family.” The shooting comes the same day President Obama goes to Oregon to meet with families and victims of last week’s shooting, in which nine people were injured and 10 were killed, including the gunman, at Umpqua Community College. Fowler said the Arizona Board of Regents bans students from carrying guns on campus but that they are allowed to keep them in their cars. —NBC News contributed reporting to this article.Recommended
