North Lake College Shooting: 2 Dead, Including Gunman

IRVING, TEXAS — A gunman opened fire Wednesday at North Lake College before killing himself, and a second person was found dead near him, authorities said.

Police said they did not believe there were any other shooters involved but they continued to search buildings on campus as a precaution, Irving police spokesman James McLellan said. Investigators have not determined how the second person was killed.

The Fox News affiliate in Dallas reported the gunman walked up to the female victim and started firing while she was seated.

Police have not confirmed such details as of Wednesday afternoon, but issued a description of the suspect. McLellan described him as a white man with a brown buzz cut. He was wearing an orange tank top with a gray stripe and may have had a black jacket. According to local media reports, the man was seen on surveillance camera footage while entering the campus.

The college sent out its first urgent alert at 11:43 a.m., and Irving police later confirmed that shots had been fired at the school at 5001 N. MacArthur Blvd.

The incident is being reported as a murder-suicide, inferring the suspect knew the homicide target. Irving police later issued an advisory alerting the threat to the public had passed, but said a thorough sweep of the campus was being conducted to be safe.

North Lake College is a two-year public community college serving about 10,000 students from the suburb of Irving and northern Dallas County.

Dennis Holmes, an adjunct professor at North Lake College, told KXAS-TV (NBC5) that he had been ordered to barricade himself in the Performance Hall room he was in at the time of the intrusion. Campus security later told him and others gathered there to exit the room, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Some students reported hearing gunshots and seeing officers with rifles scurrying across campus, the newspaper reported. One student recorded the scene as people were being evacuated from the building.

By 1 p.m. CST, school officials announced the campus would be closed for the remainder of the day in the shooting's aftermath. All would-be visitors to the campus were asked to stay away.

The Dallas Morning News reported that nearby MacArthur High School and Singley Academy also were placed on lockdown mode during the incident as a precautionary measure. In an added abundance of caution, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials said Orange Line trains would not stop at the North Lake College station during the incident, while a shuttle was set up between the Belt Line and Irving Convention Center stations, the newspaper reported.

Irving is located 13 miles northwest of Dallas.

By late Wednesday, school officials announced an extended cancellation of classes until Thursday as a result of the incident.

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