Five people have been injured, one critically, in a shooting at Virginia State University which involved multiple suspects.

Officers responded to the incident outside a residence halls at about 01:28 local time (05:28 GMT) on Saturday, the university said.

Five individuals, who were all found with gunshot wounds, were taken to local hospitals. Four had injuries which were not deemed to be life-threatening, according to the university.

Local police told the BBC on Saturday afternoon they believe more than one shooter was involved but no arrests have been made.

A temporary lockdown on the campus has since been lifted but a “significant” law enforcement presence is still on site, the university confirmed in a statement.

It added that Chesterfield County Police are leading the investigation with help from other local law enforcement and campus police.

According to the university’s website, classes for the new term were set to begin on Monday and campus dormitories opened for returning students on Friday.

Lieutenant James R Lamb of Chesterfield County Police Department told the BBC one of the victims is a student and another is under 18.

“We don’t have anybody in custody,” Lamb said. “We know there was more than one shooter, so I would say the suspects are still at large.”

He said investigators were still reviewing surveillance video for evidence and are not currently treating any of the five people who were injured as suspects.

Virginia State University (VSU) has about 5,000 students and is just over 20 miles south of Richmond, the capital of the US state of Virginia.

It is also one of the country’s historically black colleges and universities.

Such institutions were created to provide higher education to disenfranchised African Americans, who were otherwise prohibited from attending most colleges. (BBC)

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