7 Shot Near Ball State University Campus, Suspect Arrested

Seven people are wounded nd three others are in critical condition after a shooting at an off-campus party near Ball State University in Indiana, early Saturday morning.

The Star Press reports that a 19-year-old has been arrested in connection with the overnight shooting and is being held without bond in the Delaware County jail. University officials said in a statement that the suspect, Va Shaun Hartnett is not a Ball State student and is being charged with two counts of attempted murder.

The shooting took place around 12:45 a.m. near campus in Muncie, with partygoers including several Ball State students and people not connected to the school, said Muncie Police Chief, Joe Winkle.

Authorities found shooting victims at the scene, later learning two other victims had been taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital for what was reported to be treatment of gunshot wounds.

The Muncie newspaper reports that of the seven injured in the shooting, only one — a female — was a Ball State student and was grazed by the bullet. Winkle tells CNN that a confrontation among non-students led to the shooting.

"It was a party with a DJ," Winkle told CNN affiliate WTTV. "Evidently there was some kind of a confrontation inside the house. It turned into a shooting, (and) we've got seven gunshot victims."

Details from the affidavit reveal Harnett was attending a "large house party" when he was confronted by another local man, 19-year-old, Spelmon Allen, who first pointed a handgun at Hartnett's friend. According to the documents, the teenager then pulled out his own 9-mm handgun and shot Allen three times in the chest or stomach.

The Star Press adds that as Allen collapsed in a driveway, two of the shooting victim's friends, Tyler Childers, 20, and a man later identified as Daymarr Kennedy, seemed to be retrieving something from Allen's pants, which is when Hartnett fired several additional shots at them.

The residence where the off-campus party took place is rented to Ball State students, but is not on university property or owned by the school.

Photo credit: Ball State University