Princeton Adams, 19, has been charged and is being held for allegedly shooting a non-student and a Grambling State University police officer at an on-campus party held on Oct. 18.
Adams is charged with two counts of attempted second degree murder and is currently being held at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center.
A night of partying in the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center at GSU ended in chaos when Adams allegedly opened fire at the ‘Pajama Jam’ event in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 18.
Louisiana State Police PIO Master Trooper Micheal Reichardt said a Grambling State University Police officer was shot in the leg and a non-student was shot twice.
“The officer suffered non-life threatening injuries,” Reichardt said. “The other victim was airlifted to Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport with serious injuries.”
According to students in attendance, shots were fired at approximately 12:55 a.m. in the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center hallway, where the party was being held, near the DJ booth.
University Police were at the party. However, students report that police did not do security checks at the entry point.
“The police did not check my purse or any of my friends purses,” a student who requested anonymity said. “We literally paid and got in. I could see how it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to bring a gun inside the assembly center because the police didn’t check.”
Grambling State University Police Chief Jerry Melton, who took over the top job at the university police department earlier this month, released immediately after the shooting.
“Improving campus safety is an ongoing and active effort at Grambling State University,” Melton said. “We are grateful for the support of the City of Grambling, the City of Ruston, our Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police for the immediate and continuous support in our campus safety efforts. We look forward to sharing more information with our students and visitors who are preparing to visit our campus.”
Several ‘GSU Safety Alerts’ were sent out to students over an hour after the incident occurred.
“Our goal at Grambling State University is to provide a safe, enjoyable environment for our students,” GSU President Rick Gallot said. “To help in this effort, we will work with our student life and campus safety teams to grow our policies and procedures to better accommodate our student body.”
Gallot encourages anyone with related information to contact University Police.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to those impacted by last night’s events both directly and indirectly,” Gallot said. “I encourage all of our campus and community to support Louisiana State Police in their investigation by calling (318) 274-2222 with any related information.”
Gallot and other university staff announced a meeting to discuss safety plans for homecoming and other upcoming major events on campus.