Spelman Student Killed in CAU Campus Shooting PDF Print E-mail
By Le'dia Smith -- Black College Wire   

Early Thursday morning, Sept. 3, gunfire erupted during a fight on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, leaving one student dead and another wounded.

Jasmine Lynn of Kansas City, Mo., was walking with a group of friends when she was struck by a stray bullet as a fight broke out in the 200 block of James P. Brawley Drive.

Image
thehilltoponline.com
Jasmine Lynn
“One of the friends actually heard the gunshots, actually saw the weapon and told her to get on the ground,” Atlanta Police Lt. Keith Meadows said. “As she was getting on the ground, she was struck in the chest by a stray round.”

Lynn, 19, was studying psychology at Spelman College, one of the surrounding schools. She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she died.

Jerome Jones, an 18-year-old student at Clark Atlanta University was with Lynn and was hit by a bullet on the wrist and was treated at an Atlanta hospital and released Thursday, police said.

“At this point, we have not been able to determine the nature of the altercation on Mitchell Street,” Meadows said. “However, we are questioning a number of witnesses.”

He said, “We have not been able to determine whether any of the individuals involved in the physical altercation were actually students from Clark Atlanta or any of the surrounding colleges.”

For now, police are looking for one suspect, though investigators have not ruled out the possibility of more than that, Meadows added.

Hilltop Staff Writer Aaron Randle is among those mourning the death of Lynn. He was a classmate of Lynn’s at both Lincoln College Preparatory Middle School and Lincoln College Preparatory High School.

“Jasmine was a really beautiful and balanced person,” Randle said. “Despite her surroundings and upbringing, she was still focused to do well in college.”

The university complex where the incident took place is located in one of Atlanta’s tougher neighborhoods. The area has had some problems with safety in the past, which led students to push for a close campus back in 2006.

Clark Atlanta senior psychology major Jacqueline Brimmage knows the dangers of the area, and was awakened by the police sirens Thursday morning.

“Where they were walking was in the ghetto,” Brimmage said. “I would not have been there yesterday at one in the morning — I would not have been there any night at that time. Everyone knows that that’s an area you would not want to walk through. It’s not a normal path people take.”

Spelman President Beverly Daniel Tatum released a statement Thursday morning, which said: “On behalf of the entire Spelman College community, I want to express our deepest sympathy to Jasmine’s family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time of grief.”

A memorial service organized by students was held at 8 p.m. in front of Spelman’s main gate on Westview Drive. Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University are two of the four adjoining campuses that make up the Atlanta University Center. Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine make up the other two.

Lynn’s death was one of several killings of HBCU students recently. Howard University’s Daniel Jones, 21, was a victim of gun violence on Aug. 15  in Fort Worth, Texas. Michelle Coleman, 21, a Florida A&M University student, was killed in a shooting in Miami on July 6.

 

Le'dia Smith writes for The Hilltop, the Howard University student newspaper, which originally published this article.
Posted Sep. 04, 2009
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]