Another Fatal Shooting at S.C. State Leaves Two Dead

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by WILL FOLKS

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Agents of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are leading yet another investigation into a shooting incident at S.C. State University (SCSU) – a historically black institution of higher learning located in Orangeburg, S.C.

The latest incident, which occurred on campus Thursday evening (February 12, 2026), left two people dead and another wounded.

According to a statement from S.C. State, the campus was placed on lockdown shortly after 9:15 p.m. EST when shots were reportedly fired inside the Andrew Hugine Jr. suites residential complex.

“SLED investigators are on site and actively investigating,” the school’s statement noted. “University officials have not yet confirmed the victims’ identities or the condition of the wounded person.”

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The campus lockdown was lifted early Friday morning, although classes at the school were canceled.

In a statement issued early Friday (February 13, 20266), SLED confirmed its agents were “investigating a shooting that occurred on the campus of South Carolina State University last night where two people were killed and one person was injured.”

“The incident happened inside a room in the Hugine Suites housing complex,” the statement noted. “Three men were shot. One man died at the scene, and the other man died at the hospital.”

According to SLED, information regarding the identities of the victims would be released by the Orangeburg County coroner’s office. 

No information was immediately available regarding what prompted the shooting – or whether any suspects were being sought in connection with it – but the school indicated its public safety department was being assisted by the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety (ODPS) and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) in “patrolling on and around the campus.”

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Thursday’s shooting comes less than half a year after two separate shootings at S.C. State led to the death of a female victim and the hospitalization of a male victim. Those incidents remain under investigation.

The escalation of deadly violence on the school’s campus has parents concerned for the safety of their children.

“This is really getting out of hand,” S.C. State parent Latoya Williams wrote on Facebook. “We send our children to school to further their education, however it’s others there or not even attending taking our children lives.”

Williams, who lives in nearby Abbeville, S.C., added she was glad her child “decided not to attend (classes) on campus anymore.”

Hugine Suites has been the news recently for excessive marijuana usage among its residents. In fact, just a week before the shooting an online petition was launched urging SCSU to “protect non-smokers from secondhand marijuana smoke.”

“Dozens of non-smokers in Hugine Suites are dealing with the same daily reality—headaches, irritated eyes, disrupted sleep, and the stress of living in an environment they can’t control,” a social media post promoting the petition noted.

Home to approximately 3,300 students, S.C. State is the only public, four-year HBCU in the Palmetto State. The university’s roots stretch back to the creation of the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Institute in 1872, which at the time was an affiliate of Orangeburg, S.C. based Claflin University. On March 3, 1896, the South Carolina General Assembly severed ties with Claflin and established the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina — the state’s first public college for black youth.

The school was renamed S.C. State in 1954.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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