A Northern Arizona University freshman has been arrested after killing a fellow student and injuring three of the victim's fraternity brothers in an early morning campus shooting.
Flagstaff Police Chief Greg Fowler identified the shooter as freshman Steven Jones, 18, and the victim as fellow student Colin Brough.
Fowler says that the fatal shooting broke out after members of two 'student groups' got into a confrontation in a parking lot outside Mountain View Hall - the campus' all-Greek dorm where the majority of the school's fraternity and sorority members live.
When the fight turned physical, Fowler says Jones pulled out a handgun and shot Brough, a member of the fraternity Delta Chi, to death.
Brough's fraternity brothers Nicholas Prato, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring were also injured, after reportedly tackling the gunman to the ground.
It's still not known what sparked the fight.
Jones was subdued as officers arrived at the scene at 1:20am. They were able to take Jones into custody and he has reportedly been cooperating with police.
One witness told the
Arizona Daily Sun that the shooter opened fire as a party was ending in the parking lot outside the dorm.
'We had just left a party and were standing in the street getting ready to walk home when a guy walked up with a pistol and just started shooting,' the witness said.
'I heard five or six shots and then my friends just tackled him. They got him really quick. We were leaving and it all happened on the sidewalk across from Mountain View.'
'He didn't get a chance to hurt himself. I saw him in handcuffs when the cops came.'
The three others who were injured in the shooting were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries. Their conditions are not currently known, but Fowler says that they all suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Fowler described the victims and shooter as members of two student organizations, but would not officially confirm whether those organizations were fraternities.
However, the national office of Delta Chi fraternity confirmed the
Washington Post that some of its members were 'involved' in the shooting, but said it 'was not a chapter related incident'.
Student Maria Gonzalez was awake when the shooting happened, and says she first suspected the gunfire was just firecrackers.
'I was studying for an exam so I looked out the window and see two people running, and that's when I realized they weren't fireworks they were actually gunshots,' she said.
Students were notified of the shooting through a text message alert system, but because of a glitch - most students never got the first warning of the shooting and were only notified later once Jones was in custody.
NAU freshman Mackenzie Cutrone told the
New York Daily News: 'That’s what’s absolutely crazy. The only way I found out about all of this was because of Twitter and Yik Yak.'
NAU President Rita Cheng also spoke at the morning press conference, describing the tragic shooting at 'isolated and unprecedented'.
However, she said that classes would go on.
'This is not going to be a normal day at NAU,' she said. 'Our hearts are heavy.'