The man fatally shot Sunday at Elizabeth City State University was identified as Isaiah Caldwell of Albany, New York, authorities said Tuesday.
The university quickly released a statement on the gun violence that unfolded and addressed student life concerns, but administration officials, university police and city police have said little about the investigation itself. No arrests have been made.
Investigators have identified people of interest who are not thought to be students at the UNC system school, State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Chad Flowers said Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing, he said.
Caldwell, who was killed in the gunfire, was at the historically Black university during its annual Viking Fest when “individuals not connected to the university exchanged gunfire on campus,” said fraternity organization Groove Phi Groove in a statement.
“Isaiah was a remarkable brother who always sought the positive in every situation,” Groove Phi Groove said. “He was a pillar of support for many brothers and a mentor to others.”
Authorities previously said Caldwell, 24, was a visitor to the campus, and the fraternity said he was “fellowshiping, and bonding with campus students.”
The shooting erupted early Sunday morning at the center of campus after Yard Fest, which wraps up the weeklong Viking Fest.
Six people were wounded, four of them by gunshots, while the other two were injured in the commotion.
Classes were canceled through Tuesday and will be remote for the rest of the semester, which ends Friday, officials said.
Awaiting answers
Law enforcement officials investigating the shooting pointed Spectrum News to university officials for answers about the incident.
University officials have released few details since the shooting happened. A small makeshift memorial sprang up at the university Monday, but was gone Tuesday.
Spectrum News 1 has reached out repeatedly to campus police and the university administration for more details on a suspect but those requests have not been answered. The SBI said they are asking the public for help and are looking at social media videos from the event.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the administrative offices of the university because it is a part of the UNC system, but did not hear back in time for this report.
Students and parents are demanding answers and getting frustrated.
“I received about 15 missed calls from her early Sunday morning, letting us know about the situation of the shooting. A young man was shot and killed right in front of her," Emily Davis, whose daughter is a student at the school.
Davis said her daughter, Jaden, is a freshman and called her, terrified after witnessing the shooting.
“She just was so scared, and she was crying. I could hardly understand what she was saying. And you just heard people just in the background. A lot of chaos,” said Davis, who added her daughter chose to leave the university.
Davis made the trip from Ohio to pick her daughter up early, ahead of the last week of classes, and said the experience has been traumatic.
“You know, you always think it can't happen to you. It's not gonna happen to my kid. It's just it's something you see on the news until it does. And so going forward, it's, you know, we're hoping that, you know, she doesn't get panic attacks and large crowds and stuff.
Spectrum News 1 reached out repeatedly to campus police and the university administration for more details on a suspect -- they've been unable to provide any new details. The SBI said they are asking the public for help and are looking at social media videos from the event.
“Initially, they, you know, there was an incident. We're aware of an incident and 100% everybody knew that there was a gun. They knew there was a shooting there, knew that they knew that there were people with gunshot wounds, and that a young man had passed away. So that frustrated me a little bit,” Davis said.
Davis said her daughter had already planned to leave the school before the shooting but said she knows now she made the right choice.