A shooting at Old Dominion University’s Constant Hall left two people injured and a gunman dead Thursday, according to university officials and law enforcement.

ODU sent an active threat alert to students and faculty as the situation unfolded, urging those on campus to shelter in place. The alert directed the university community to avoid the Constant Hall area while officers responded.

Norfolk police and university law enforcement converged on the scene. Officers located the shooter, and the gunman died during the confrontation. Authorities did not immediately release details on whether the shooter was killed by police or died by other means.

The two injured victims were transported to a local medical facility. Their conditions and identities had not been released publicly as of Thursday afternoon, and officials gave no immediate indication of whether they were students, faculty, or staff members.

Constant Hall sits near the heart of ODU’s main campus in Norfolk and houses several academic departments and administrative offices. Thursday’s shooting sent students scrambling for cover and prompted the university to lock down portions of the campus during what would otherwise be a routine midweek class day.

ODU President Brian Hemphill released a brief statement acknowledging the shooting and thanking law enforcement for their rapid response. The university did not hold an immediate press conference, and specific details about how the shooting began, what prompted it, and where exactly in or around Constant Hall it took place were not available in early reports.

Campus shootings have continued to force universities across the country to revisit their emergency response protocols and alert systems. ODU’s alert system appeared to function as designed Thursday, pushing notifications to students and faculty quickly after the threat was confirmed. Critics of university safety systems have long argued that the seconds between an initial report and a campus-wide alert can determine outcomes in active shooter situations.

Virginia has been the site of several high-profile campus shootings over the past two decades, including the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech that killed 33 people and remains the deadliest school shooting in American history. The state legislature has since passed a series of measures aimed at campus security, though gun control advocates and campus safety researchers argue that gaps in the system persist.

ODU, a mid-sized public research university with roughly 23,000 students, is located in the Ghent neighborhood adjacent to downtown Norfolk. The university serves a diverse student population and has a significant enrollment of military-affiliated students given the area’s dense concentration of naval and military installations.

Norfolk police had not released a full briefing on the shooting’s timeline or motive by Thursday evening. Investigators were expected to review security footage and interview witnesses as part of a standard post-incident investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also expected to trace the weapon used in the shooting to determine its origin and how the gunman obtained it.

The university canceled classes for the remainder of Thursday and encouraged students to use the ODU Counseling Services hotline, which was activated following the shooting to assist anyone affected by the trauma of the event.

Student reaction on social media reflected a mix of fear, confusion, and relief that the threat had been contained. Several students described sheltering in classrooms and offices while waiting for the all-clear, a scenario that has become grimly familiar to college students who regularly train for active shooter situations through campus drills.

University officials said they would provide updated information as the investigation progressed and committed to a full review of the day’s events once law enforcement completed its work. What exactly happened inside or around Constant Hall, who the gunman was, and what his connection to the university may have been are questions that investigators and the public are still waiting to have answered.

The Charleston Sentinel will continue to follow this story as additional details become available from law enforcement and university officials.