On Sunday evening at 7:55 PM, Illinois State University issued an emergency alert to all students warning of shots fired at the Bone Student Center. 

In an email received by The Vidette, the ISU student newspaper, ISU Media Relations confirmed that the shots were fired as the result of a fight between two individuals.

The suspect, described as a “slender black male 5’10,” black afro hair style, wearing all black,” was last seen running South of the student center. A photo has been released by the Illinois State University Police Department, but the suspect remains at large. The victim sustained a non-lethal gunshot wound and was treated at a local hospital.

Teddy Spencer, a 2024 LTHS Alumni and music education and composition major at ISU, didn’t realize the shooting had happened until his mother texted him.

“I checked more on my phone and saw that the university had put up a watch notice and that there were reported shots fired at the Bone… I was going to go study there; I’m glad I didn’t.”

Spencer recalls checking up on his friends regarding the shooting, some of whom were in the Milner Library attached to the Bone Student Center: “They were pretty scared…I know some of the music students, they were in the practice rooms and they put the pianos up to the doors, and the percussionists would grab the hammers that we had just in case they needed it. Some people were ready.”

Despite the situation, the campus is apparently business as usual and, in fact, bustling with activity.

“It feels like it didn’t happen – There’s people outside, it’s the most active I’ve ever seen the quad. People are outside playing frisbee and sunbathing. I don’t think it has quite hit people yet that something like that has happened on campus, and I don’t know if it will until after finals.”

“I hope this is an isolated event. I’m gonna take some caution more in the future, but we have three or four police departments on campus so we’re pretty safe.”

This isn’t the first shooting to happen around campus during the school year. During Homecoming week, one person was killed with another critically injured at a Circle K gas station near the Bone Student Center and Hancock Stadium.

In a letter to ISU students and staff, President Aondover Tarhule expressed “concern for the victim and their family, as well as shock and anger that such violence occurred on our campus.”

The Bone Student Center was closed Monday and will reopen Tuesday at 7 AM. Counseling and mental health services will be provided to both students and staff.