Written by Gabe Burns, Editor-in-Chief

A man was injured by gunfire and the perpetrator remains at-large after an incident near campus Wednesday.

The Valdosta Police Department responded to a shooting at Jackson Square Apartments on Melody Lane early in the afternoon. Investigator Derrick Sinclair confirmed a male victim was shot in the leg by an unidentified male aggressor. The wound was non-fatal, and the victim was taken to South Georgia Medical Center.

The men’s names have not been publicly disclosed.

Building C, where the incident occurred, and part of Building D were evacuated, according to the VDP and resident witnesses. The police said the suspect was not found in the apartment building.

Apartment residents Megan Allen and Shannon Kelley said “five or six” gunshots were heard and the apartments were soon evacuated. They added they heard the police went to VSU to search for the suspect.

VSU student witnesses attested to campus police visiting the communications building Wednesday afternoon, searching for Detavian Daniels, a VSU student and Jackson Square Apartments resident. Daniels said students in his class told him police were searching for him. He said when he returned to his apartment, he approached police and was put in hand-cuffs outside the apartment for roughly five minutes.

“I heard someone was shooting around my home, so I came home,” Daniels said. “I fit the description of the shooter, so I was detained for a few minutes until I was cleared.”

VSU Police Chief Charles ‘Alan’ Rowe confirmed his department visited classrooms in search of a student, but he said they believed the individual was a witness, not a suspect.

“Initially, we believed a possible witness could be a student,” Rowe said. “One of our officers did go to that communications building to see if he was in class. Not a suspect; he had some key information we needed to know at the time. He had a little background information that helped us out.”

Rowe said it was “an isolated incident between two known people” and he was on the scene for much of the afternoon to ensure VSU would be safe.

“At this point, due to the investigation, there’s absolutely no connection to this university,” he said. “We do not believe there is a threat to the university or to the community at large. The Remerton Police Department and Lowndes County Sheriff’s department do not believe there’s any threat to the public at this point.”

Melody Lane was re-opened around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening. The suspect is at large and there is an ongoing investigation. The Spectator will provide updates as they come.