Several injured in shooting on university campus in Virginia

Several people were injured in shootings on the grounds of a university in the US state of Virginia. One person is in critical condition and four others have non-life-threatening injuries, local station WTVR reported, citing police. The Virginia State University campus initially remained cordoned off following the incident. The police were called to the campus in Ettrick, south of the capital Richmond, early Saturday morning (local time) because of reported shots fired, a police spokesman told the broadcaster. The emergency services found five people with gunshot wounds in front of the university's residential buildings. All were taken to hospitals. According to the university, several suspects were involved in the incident. There was initially no further information about how many people were said to have shot or what preceded the shots. Initially nothing was known about possible arrests. Students and employees were asked to avoid the affected area and follow the instructions of security forces. The shots were fired just before the start of the new semester. According to the university's official calendar, classes are scheduled to begin on Monday. The university only welcomed its new students at a welcoming ceremony on Friday. Virginia State University, founded in 1882, is one of the historically black universities in the USA, the so-called Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). According to the university, around 5,000 people study there.