Student fatally shot at Kennesaw State University in Georgia

A female student was fatally shot on the Kampus of Kennesaw State University in Georgia around 4 pm local time. At 4:07 pm, KSU Emergency Management released an issue of urgency to seek shelter.

At 4:43, KSU Emergency Management released another statement, informing that the "Suspect is no longer a threat to campus" and that police were performing activities on campus. According to the available information, the suspect has been detained. No further details about the person have been yet released.

The official release issued by the University is laconic and does not provide detailed information. As it can be read: "Kennesaw State officials can confirm that a female student was fatally shot on campus. A suspect has been detained. There is no threat to the campus community. Kennesaw State University Police are working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and we will provide updated information once it becomes available."

Ben Berman, a student living near the crime scene, informed one of the newspapers: "I didn't hear anything. I was very surprised when I got the alert from KSU." It is the second time in three months that the shooting in Georgian College has taken place.

College campus gun policy is regulated within the state without an unequivocal regulation provided on the national level. Moreover, the regulations also tend to change quickly. The data shows that in the states that allow carrying arms on campus, the amount of shootings is higher, impacting the number of suicides on the college grounds.

Georgia regulations allow concealed carrying of a firearm on the campus within a school safety zone, as the information provided on the KSU website states: "Handguns can legally be carried in a concealed manner by lawful weapons carriers within a school safety zone, with the exception of certain facilities."

Moreover, the information provided by the KSU report that "Only weapons carry permit holders may carry handguns on campus, and those handguns may only be carried in a concealed fashion. To qualify for a permit, individuals must apply through their local probate court."

Shootings in colleges, particularly mass shootings, are devastating and characteristical occurrences happening in the United States. Since the 1960s, at least 102 people have been killed during the college mass shootings in reported 13 college mass shootings. The exact data are unclear because officials do not provide the statistics, contrary to K-12 school shootings. Thousands more were injured or harmed during the shootings. The cases of shootings, however, are even more widespread. Although in some of the instances, perpetrators manage not to hurt other people or themselves before getting arrested or using guns as a threat, the majority of the cases cost people's lives and health. Around 60% of students declare that the case of gun violence negatively impacts their sense of safety on campus. A similar percentage reflects the stricter gun regulations in the school and college territories.

However, just in the previous 10 years, there have been over 320 instances of using gunfire on campus, in which over 90 people were killed and more than 240 have been physically harmed.

Sources: Fox5 Atlanta, Kennesaw State University