A Palm Beach County man squeezed off two shots Wednesday during a fight at an overnight party in a Florida Atlantic University apartment, paralyzing the campus for nearly 12 hours during finals week, police said.
Authorities tracked Omar Graham, 23, to Johnson & Wales' College of Culinary Arts campus in North Miami, where they arrested him. FAU police said he will likely face charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on a college campus.
''It's very fortunate that no one was killed,'' said Keith Totten, deputy chief of FAU police.
It is unclear what led to the fight in residence hall 58, but FAU officials do know that a newly activated campus-wide broadcast system worked as planned in alerting thousands of students of the shooting. The alert was sent out less than 30 minutes after the incident.
SYSTEM UPDATED
Like many schools, FAU updated its emergency-notification system in the wake of last year's mass murders at Virginia Tech.
As police worked to piece together the events Wednesday afternoon, students at FAU's main campus in Boca Raton were allowed to venture outside after hours of seclusion.
The campus remained closed until Thursday, but the lockdown, which began less than an hour after the shooting, was lifted about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. All classes were canceled -- in the middle of final-exam week -- but will resume Thursday. Wednesday's exams will be made up Saturday.
Police located Graham after releasing a surveillance photo of the man believed to be the gunman and appealed to the public for help in finding him.
Here's the account of the shooting, according to police:
About 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, a party in an on-campus apartment, in a building housing juniors and seniors, turned raucous.
At some point, Graham, who was captured on surveillance video wandering the halls with an open beverage, opened fire. A man who is not an FAU student suffered a superficial cut in the fracas, although it may not have been from a bullet.
`JUST A STORM'
FAU police activated the newly improved notification system -- implemented just six weeks ago -- alerting the student community that there was an armed suspect on campus and that everyone should immediately seek shelter.
''When we first heard the alarm, a lot of people thought it was just a storm,'' said sophomore David Shreve, who works for the school newspaper, The University Press. ``It took a while for it to sink in that it was a malicious event.''
Messages were posted on the FAU home page and throughout the website. A university-wide e-mail was sent out asking those on campus to seek shelter and those offsite to remain off campus. A new reverse 911 system was also used.
In addition, notices were posted in residence halls regarding the situation.
Thanks to the surveillance images, witnesses identified the alleged shooter as Graham. Police learned he was affiliated with Johnson & Wales. The Palm Beach Post reported he is a student at the school.
Despite the shooting, FAU's six other campuses held classes as usual Wednesday.
Commencement ceremonies will take place Friday, as scheduled.
Video | Police hunt for man in University shooting