Columbia, South Carolina — A man has been charged with murder after participating in a marijuana deal that ended in shooting Two people were killed and another injured inside a dorm room at South Carolina State University, police said.
Khamanti Littrell Kennedy, 18, ran from the bedroom after the shooting Thursday night at the Hugin Suites apartment complex, according to an arrest warrant filed by the State Law Enforcement Division.
Kennedy, who is not a student at the university, was out on bail after being arrested last September for possessing a gun on campus, according to court records.
Henry L. was found Crittington, 19, and Terrell Thomas, 18, died in the shooting. They were not students at South Carolina State University. The name and condition of the injured man were not revealed. Officials said he was a student.
Kennedy arrived at the university with three other people in a car Thursday night. The men took something out of their car and the shooting occurred during a marijuana drug deal in the bedroom, according to the arrest warrant.
The memo did not specify who fired the weapons.
It was the second fatal shooting on campus in just over four months. A 19-year-old woman was killed in a shooting near the same apartment complex during National Day celebrations on October 4. Several people were arrested on weapons charges.
New security measures put in place after the shooting, including additional surveillance cameras, helped identify Kennedy as a suspect, campus officials said.
Kennedy was arraigned Tuesday in Orangeburg County court and denied bail. He answered the judge’s questions, and it appears that he did not have a lawyer with him, according to what he mentioned The Times and Democrat From Orangeburg.
The university said it had taken more security measures after the recent shooting incident. Visitors can only be on campus from 9am to 9pm and must undergo security screening. Students have their own gate to enter the campus and must have their own ID cards.
The school is also asking lawmakers for $8 million for more security improvements, a new police station on campus and additional officers.
South Carolina State University, founded in 1896, is the only historically black public university in the state and has more than 2,900 students, according to its website.
The university community recently celebrated the 58th anniversary of what has come to be called Orangeburg massacre: Three young men were killed on February 8, 1968, when officers opened fire on a crowd of black students who had gathered on campus after demonstrating against segregation at a bowling alley.