LITTLE ROCK (Arkansas), Oct 27: Two students were killed and another injured in a campus shooting at the University of Central Arkansas at the weekend, police officials said on Monday.

Police said two university students, 18 and 19 years old, were killed and a third person who did not attend UCA was wounded and later released from hospital.

The three were shot just after 9:00 pm local time on Sunday (0200 GMT Monday) near a campus dormitory, and police said there were four male suspects in the shooting.

“We have two suspects in custody, and very good leads on where to find the other two,” campus police Lieutenant Rhonda Swindle told reporters.

The campus remained closed until further notice with all classes scheduled for Monday cancelled as police conducted an investigation.

Police offered no motive for the crime, but sought to reassure concerned students and residents that the case would be resolved.

“We don’t believe this to be a random incident like some of the shootings on other campuses,” Swindle said, calling to mind the 2007 massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute Tech in which a deranged student shot and killed 27 fellow students and five teachers in the deadliest school shooting in US history.

Swindle said the victims in Sunday’s shooting “may possibly have been targeted, and that the suspects were acquainted with the victims, so we want to assure students and the community that the campus is secure.” The University of Central Arkansas is the second largest university in Arkansas, with a current enrolment of nearly 13,000 students.

“It’s just an awful tragedy,” UCA interim president Tom Courtway said, according to Arkansas television station KATV. “It’s the worst thing that can happen on a college campus.”

Counselors and chaplains were called in to help grieving students and relatives of the victims.—AFP