The Lone Star College campus in north Houston has been declared safe by the Harris County Sheriff's Office, marking the end of a shooting incident that shocked locals and made national news Tuesday afternoon.
Standing in for county sheriff Adrian Garcia, HCSO's Armando Tello told reporters that law enforcement units arrived to the scene at 12:53 p.m. in response to an armed altercation between two men, at least one of whom was a known student at the college.
The gunman accidently shot himself in the buttocks as he put his gun away.
Tello confirmed that three individuals suffered gunshot wounds — the two men involved in the argument, both in custody, and a college maintenance man in his mid-50s who was caught in the crossfire.
The shooter has been identified as 22-year-old Carlton Berry. He has been charged with aggravated assault.
A law enforcement source tells KHOU Ch. 11 news that the gunman accidently shot himself in the buttocks as he put his gun away. He then darted into a nearby wooded area. After a manhunt that brought out scores of officers from multiple agencies, the shooter turned himself in around 2:15 p.m. at Northwest Medical Center, where Berry's condition remains unknown.
Although the maintenance man is in stable condition, the second man in the argument was shot three times and remains in critical condition at Ben Taub Hospital. Another student at the scene suffered a possible heart attack, according to witnesses.
"In 40 years, this is the first kind of incident like this we've ever had," Lone Star chancellor Richard Carpenter said. "This is a safe campus."
The Lone Star College shooting brought a huge police response.
Sante's Garden Room is decorated with two olive trees.
Photo by Chris Furia