Virginia State University shooting suspect sent Instagram chat saying ‘I’m tryna find the gun,’ court docs say
A shooting Saturday at Virginia State University that left five people injured allegedly stemmed from an argument involving the suspected shooter, court documents state.
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The suspect, identified by Chesterfield County police as Camron Harris, 19, also discussed the shooting in Instagram messages, according to the documents.
The early morning shooting in the area of the Quad Annexes left a 21-year-old man critically injured. A 17-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman, and a 20-year-old VSU student suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Harris, who is not a student at the school, was found Saturday afternoon hiding in the closet of a girl’s dorm room, according to court documents. He’s been charged with multiple counts of use of a firearm and malicious wounding, court records show.
It’s not clear if he has obtained an attorney.
Police were called to the historically Black university in Ettrick around 1:30 a.m. Saturday for reports of gunfire. Officers located a firearm and several cartridge casings and saw vehicles and structures that had been struck, court documents state.
A person told police that they heard that Harris was involved in the shooting and that Harris and another person had a verbal dispute earlier in the day, the documents state. The person also said their friend overheard Harris say he was going to come back to the school and shoot, according to the court documents.
A second person also came forward and told police that they heard a man named Camron was planning to shoot due to an argument that happened earlier, the documents state.
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Investigators learned that Harris had posted an Instagram Story of the VSU campus shortly before the shooting. They also obtained Instagram messages between Harris and another person in which he allegedly talked about finding a gun and shooting at the school, according to the documents.
In one message, a person asked Harris if he heard the gunfire.
“It was us,” Harris responded, according to the court documents.
In messages to another person who asked Harris if he wanted to go for a walk, Harris responded, “I’m tryna find the gun.”
“wait,” the person responded, including cat-laughing emojis.
“Oh yes,” Harris said, the documents state.
“Lemme help you,” the person allegedly wrote back.
The court documents allege that Harris sent a photo of a gun followed by a message that read: “We js got the shootin.”
Detectives were able to ping Harris’ phone, which showed his location was at the school. They later located him hiding in a dorm room.
The court documents state that Harris confirmed to a detective that the Instagram account belonged to him and said no one else uses it. He denied possessing a firearm and allowed the detective to look through his phone. A detective observed photos of a firearm that matched the one sent in his Instagram account, according to the court documents.
Police also said Harris mentioned a group chat on his Instagram page that included other people associated with the shooting, but the app had been deleted from his phone, the documents state.
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