Shooter kills three people at US university

A gunman killed three people in an act of violence on the University of Virginia campus in the eastern United States. Two others were injured, said the university and the police on Monday night in Charlottesville. A student at the university is an urgent suspect, it said.

The young man is on the run and is armed. He is considered dangerous and may be driving a black SUV. The background was initially completely unclear.

After the crime on Sunday around 10:30 p.m. local time, people on campus were asked to get to safety and not to go out. The site was cordoned off and classes for Monday were canceled. The police responsible for the university issued a description of the alleged shooter. She did not give any details about the victims. It was not known whether they were also students. Helicopters are also used in the search.

Hours earlier, the bodies of four students were discovered in an apartment near the University of Idaho campus in the Northwest of the United States. The university said they were probably the victims of a murder, citing the investigators. Again, the background was not known.

The US has long struggled with massive levels of gun violence. Firearms are often readily available in the country. According to the latest data from the health authority CDC, around 20,000 people were shot in the USA in 2020 alone - more than 50 a day. In 2020, firearm injuries were the number one cause of death among children and young people there for the first time – ahead of traffic accidents.