Morgan State University Plans Wall Around Campus After Shooting

After a shooting left five people injured during homecoming festivities, Baltimore's Morgan State University leaders announced they plan to build a wall around most of the campus and station security personnel at entrances and exits. The wall would extend existing barriers by about 8,000 feet to encircle 90% of campus and effectively “eliminate unfettered access,” said university President David Wilson. “We’re doing this, let me be clear, not to keep out our neighbors and our community writ large; we are doing it to keep out the bad actors,” Wilson told an auditorium filled with students, faculty and staff of the historically Black university, the Associated Press reports. After the shooting the night of Oct. 3 following a coronation ceremony for this year’s Mister and Miss Morgan State, university leaders canceled classes and homecoming activities for the remainder of the week. They’re now grappling with how to keep students safe as gun violence becomes an ever-growing threat in schools. In a town hall meeting Tuesday, Wilson faced questions from students and staff demanding to know what more could have been done to prevent the shooting. Students were walking from an auditorium to the campus student center, where a coronation ball was scheduled to start, when the gunfire erupted. No arrests have been made. Police have released surveillance images of persons of interest and asked for help identifying them. Police believe the violence stemmed from a dispute and involved two shooters. In addition to the wall, other potential upgrades include more metal detectors in campus buildings, weapons detection technology, increasing police patrols and adding security guard booths. The anticipated cost is more than $22 million.