Spelman student killed by stray bullet on campus

VIDEO - A 19-year-old college student walking with friends was struck and killed by a stray bullet early Thursday on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, police said.

TheGrio Staff

Sep 4, 2009

ATLANTA (AP) — A 19-year-old college student walking with friends was struck and killed by a stray bullet early Thursday on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, police said.

Jasmine Lynn, of Kansas City, Mo., was struck in the chest when shots were fired during a fight nearby. Another student whose name was not released was hit on the wrist and taken to a hospital.

Lynn was a student at neighboring Spelman College, part of the historically black Atlanta University Center.

“One of the friends actually heard the gunshots, actually saw the weapon and told her to get on the ground,” Atlanta Police Lt. Keith Meadows said. “Before she was able to get on the ground she was struck in the chest by a stray round.”

Another student said she heard at least five gunshots.

Police said security cameras probably captured the gunfire but that they do not yet have a clear description of the shooter.

Hours later, students hurried across the campus complex in a morning rain.

Achanti Perine, 19, a junior public relations major at Clark Atlanta from Prince George’s County, Md., was walking to class, as she usually does, near the scene of the shooting. She said she had not heard about the killing.

“We all are aware of what goes on around this campus, so I’m not surprised,” she said of the neighborhood. “That’s too close to home.”

Clark Atlanta issued a statement Thursday morning saying campus police were working closely with the Atlanta Police Department on the case.

The statement said the university is offering counseling to students and employees. Campus officials said they will hold a series of town hall meetings on Thursday for faculty, staff and students to give updates and discuss campus safety.

Clark Atlanta, Spelman, Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine make up the Atlanta University Center. The historically black colleges are next door to each other in a southwest Atlanta neighborhood. The campuses are so close it’s often hard to tell where one ends and another begins.

Students commonly cross between schools to visit each other and can take courses on each other’s campuses.