Campus Alert Archive
GSU

Three Students Shot Outside a Freshman Dorm at Grambling State After Fight Escalates to Gunfire

LAactive shooteremergency notificationmedium confidence

On the evening of April 16, 2013, a fight in front of Douglass Hall, a freshman dormitory at Grambling State University, escalated into a shooting that left three students wounded. Tracy Lamar Greene Jr., 19, Brandon Cooper, 21, and Jarion Walker, 20, were each shot in the legs and treated at Ruston General Hospital. The altercation involved both students and non-students, and the university's communications director confirmed GSUPD responded to the 7:14 p.m. incident after a residential assistant's call. The university subsequently increased security patrols in high-traffic campus areas including the McCall Dining Hall and Tiger Express food court.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
3
Institution
Grambling State University
Hbcu · LA
Grambling State Emergency Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction191 chars
GSU ALERT: Shooting reported outside Douglass Hall. Campus police are on the scene. Students should remain inside their buildings and away from the area of Douglass Hall until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The shooting was reported at approximately 7:14 p.m. CST on April 16, 2013, outside Douglass Hall, a freshman dormitory in the Freshman Village section of Grambling's campus
The university's communications director confirmed that GSUPD was alerted by a call from a student residential assistant, not by 911, which reflected the common informal alert chain in small HBCU campus environments
All three victims sustained bullet wounds but all were ambulatory; none required emergency surgery
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction203 chars
GSU ALERT: The immediate threat near Douglass Hall has been resolved. Three students have been treated for injuries. Campus police are continuing their investigation. Increased security will be in place.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Following the shooting, GSUPD increased security in high-traffic areas including McCall Dining Hall, Tiger Express food court, and the Freshman Village area
The altercation involved both Grambling students and non-students from off campus, a recurring pattern in on-campus shooting incidents at HBCUs with open campuses
Context

Background

Grambling State University is a historically Black public university in Grambling, Louisiana, with approximately 5,000 students. The April 16, 2013 shooting outside Douglass Hall -- a freshman dormitory in the Freshman Village complex -- followed a fight that broke out between students and non-students on campus. The shooting, reported at 7:14 p.m. CST, wounded three students, with all three suffering bullet wounds to their legs. The university's spokesperson Will Sutton Jr. confirmed that the alert chain began with a residential assistant's phone call to GSUPD rather than a 911 dispatch, illustrating the informal first-responder role that dormitory staff play on smaller campuses. The Gramblinite student newspaper covered the ongoing investigation two days after the shooting, noting that GSUPD increased security patrols in high-traffic dining and common areas following the incident. The 2013 shooting was part of a documented pattern at Grambling that the Louisiana Illuminator would later characterize as at least one shooting per year from 2017 onward; the earlier incidents helped establish a campus safety debate at the institution that would intensify significantly after the 2017 homecoming double-homicide and the 2021 multiple-shooting semester.
Outcome
Three students wounded, all non-fatal leg wounds. No fatalities. University increased security presence following the incident.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Update: Three Injured in Grambling State Campus Shooting (KTBS)
    ktbs.com
  2. Student Paper
    Investigation into shooting continues (The Gramblinite, Grambling State student newspaper)
    thegramblinite.com
  3. national media
    Grambling State Shooting Leaves 1 Dead, 3 Injured (Campus Safety Magazine)
    campussafetymagazine.com
Tags
active-shooterhbculouisianagramblingresidence-hallstudents-and-non-studentsopen-campusleg-wounds2013
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion