Suspect Arrested In Virginia State University Shooting

A 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody on Saturday in connection with a shooting earlier that morning on the campus of Virginia State University that left five people wounded.

The suspect, who has been identified as Camron Harris of Henrico, Virginia, was located hiding in a closet inside Seward Hall, a university dormitory, at approximately 4 p.m. He was taken into custody roughly 14 and a half hours after the incident and is being held without bond at the Chesterfield County Jail.

According to Chesterfield County Police, officers responded at about 1:28 a.m. to a report of a shooting in the 3300 block of Boisseau Street, near the university’s Quad Annexes and outside campus residence halls in Ettrick, Virginia. Upon arrival, they found five individuals with gunshot wounds. The victims, who ranged in age from 17 to 23, consisted of four males and one female.

Four of the five were not students at Virginia State University. The sole university student among the injured was a 20-year-old man who sustained non-life-threatening injuries and has been released from the hospital. A 21-year-old man who is not a student remains in critical condition. The other three victims — a 23-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman, and a 17-year-old boy, all non-students — sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Virginia State University mass-shooting suspect found cowering in campus closet https://t.co/7FFnx2UcA3 pic.twitter.com/jmq615sTYK

— New York Post (@nypost) August 16, 2026

Harris, who is not enrolled as a student at Virginia State University, is facing a litany of felony charges. These include four counts of malicious wounding and four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, while authorities have indicated that additional charges may be forthcoming as the investigation progresses.

Harris is currently scheduled to appear in state court on Monday.

The shooting prompted a campus lockdown that was later lifted after authorities determined there was no immediate threat to the university community. Residence halls had opened approximately one week earlier, and many students had recently completed the university’s New Trojans Experience orientation program for incoming students. Classes were scheduled to resume on Monday, August 17.

Virginia State University, a historically Black institution located about 20 to 25 miles south of Richmond, has approximately 5,700 students.

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