Gunfire across six American college towns over Halloween weekend left three people dead and about 30 others wounded, after separate shootings flared near campuses in Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Michigan and Colorado, police and local reports said.
Why it matters: the shootings struck during one of the busiest weekends of the student calendar, when Halloween parties, a homecoming weekend and a rivalry football game had drawn large crowds onto streets near campuses, and they turned celebrations in several states into crime scenes on the same night. Police in each city said the attacks were not reported to be connected to each other.
Three killed in shootings near college communities
Newark police in Delaware said six people aged 15 to 21 were shot on the south sidewalk of East Main Street, across from Choate Street, at about 11:13 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, as crowds gathered for Halloween night near the University of Delaware. Four teenagers and a University of Delaware student were among the victims, according to police updates reported on Sunday.
Two 15-year-old boys were among those wounded, and one of them remained in hospital in critical condition, police said. A 20-year-old man who suffered a collapsed lung was in serious condition and was later identified as a University of Delaware student. Newark police said a 16-year-old victim from the Wilmington area was found carrying a loaded firearm during the investigation and was charged with possession of a firearm by a person under 21, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and breach of release, with cash bail set at $60,100. Police stressed that the teenager was not said to have fired the gun and that the wider shooting investigation remained active.
The University of Delaware sent an emergency alert at 11:29 p.m. on Saturday telling students and staff to avoid the area while Main Street stayed closed from Library Avenue through Academy Street. The university later said all in-person and virtual classes would be suspended on Monday, November 2, to give students and staff time to recover and seek support. No arrests directly linked to the shooting had been announced, and Newark police asked anyone with photos or video to contact Detective Paige Klein.
Bloomington police in Illinois said eight people were shot near Illinois Wesleyan University at about 1:25 a.m. on Sunday. A 19-year-old woman died at the scene, while seven others were taken to hospital, including a woman who remained in critical condition. The university said two of those injured were Illinois Wesleyan students and had suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Bloomington police are leading the investigation with help from Illinois State Police, the McLean County sheriff’s office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Boulder police in Colorado said a 19-year-old University of Colorado Boulder student was killed and another 19-year-old student was left in critical condition after shots were fired at a house on Marine Street in the University Hill neighbourhood just before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Officers had shut down a large Halloween party at the home at about 10:02 p.m. after a noise complaint, and detectives believe a smaller group later tried to force its way into the house before shots were fired inside. Police said they had interviewed about 20 witnesses and released images of two people described as persons of interest, and no arrests had been announced. Boulder’s police chief said the shooting was the city’s first homicide of 2026.
Bloomington police in Indiana said seven people aged 17 to 27 were shot near Indiana University at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, after a large crowd gathered around Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street during the university’s homecoming weekend. Officers monitoring the area heard gunfire and saw a man carrying a firearm running away, police said. The man was detained near Dunn Meadow, where officers recovered a gun and shell casings, although investigators said it was not yet clear whether he had fired any shots. No deaths were reported in Bloomington, and police said a disturbance in the crowd may have preceded the gunfire.
Near Michigan State University in East Lansing, a gunman wearing a Michael Myers mask opened fire and wounded one person, Metro Detroit News reported. Another person was wounded in a separate shooting at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, and it was not clear whether the two shootings were related.
Birmingham police in Alabama said one person was killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting outside Legion Field after the Magic City Classic football game on Saturday night, when officers found nine people with gunshot wounds in the 400 block of Graymont Avenue West shortly after 7:50 p.m. One victim was in critical condition and the other seven injured people were described as stable. Police said one person had been detained for questioning and multiple weapons had been recovered, after nearly 70,000 people attended the annual rivalry game at Legion Field, which Alabama A&M won 31-28. Police Chief Michael Pickett described the night as two senseless acts of violence, according to AL.com.
Investigations continue as campuses recover
Counts of the wounded varied slightly between outlets as police updates came in, with one roundup counting 30 wounded across six shootings and another counting at least 29 wounded across five college areas, but every account agreed on the core toll: three people killed and roughly 30 wounded, with the investigations still open in each city.
Campus shootings were part of a wider violent Halloween weekend across the United States. USA Today counted at least 15 people killed and dozens of others injured in shootings across 11 states over the weekend, including several shootings in Dallas entertainment districts where large crowds had gathered for holiday celebrations.
What is confirmed is that three people died, that about 30 others were wounded in separate shootings near college communities, and that police in Newark, Bloomington, Boulder, Birmingham and East Lansing are each running their own investigation. What is not confirmed is any motive in these shootings, whether any of them are linked, or the identities of the shooters in most of the cases. Police in each city have appealed for witnesses, photos and video to come forward, and the University of Delaware’s decision to suspend classes on Monday shows how the weekend’s violence is still being felt on campus days after the gunfire stopped.
