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William & Mary students on edge after shooting hurts 3 men right next to campus; suspect arrested

Newly filed court documents say William & Mary's campus police first showed up to the scene to find three men lying on the ground, seriously hurt from the shooting.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A man is under arrest in connection to a triple shooting early Sunday morning in Williamsburg.

A Williamsburg Police Department spokesperson said officers got a call about a shooting just before 2 a.m. on Scotland Street, just steps away from William & Mary's. When they got to that location, they found the three men who had been shot. One is 25 years old, and the other two are both 24 years old. 

All three were taken to a local hospital, and are expected to recover. 

Around 10 a.m., investigators arrested Alvin Jackson Jr., 21 of York County. 

In recently filed court documents, officers said campus police showed up to the reports of gunfire to find the three men lying on the ground. One got shot in the buttocks and spine, the other's head got grazed by a bullet, and the third person got shot in the leg. 

Court records state witnesses told officers they believe a fight started out between the three men and Jackson involving Jackson's girlfriend.

Officers wrote in the paperwork that the nearby security footage showed a person shooting multiple times into a crowd of people and then running toward William and Mary's campus. 

Officers said a woman, who they later learned is Jackson's girlfriend, ran after him. They later saw a car leave the same parking lot where Jackson and his girlfriend ended up.

Investigators said they found the same car on Scotland Street and then knocked on the door where the owner of the car lived. They said they found Jackson's girlfriend, who admitted to police she saw Jackson start running and ran after him to try to figure out what happened, claiming she didn't realize there had been a shooting. 

She told investigators Jackson was in the home with her after she said she drove Jackson to his mom's home where he changed his clothes. 

Officers then arrested Jackson without incident.

"I had a lot of friends who were off-campus text me that morning to see if I was okay even though I didn't hear about it until later," William & Mary Junior, Abby Paras, explained.

Paras said she got an alert from the university around three o'clock Sunday morning. She was near the campus since she returned early from Spring break for work. She said it feels like gun violence is inching closer to her safe space. 

"I know they weren't students, but it definitely could've been students because a lot of students go to those bars," said Paras. "It's kind of scary thinking, you hear about this and you're like it's never going to happen to me here, but it happens so often that it's got to happen close to me."

Seth Nelson attends William & Mary and lives in the dorm building right next to Scotland Street where the shooting happened. He said it doesn't make him seriously concerned about his personal safety, but he is more worried about the people involved and the other students who go out to those bars on the weekends.

"I mean, three men got hurt. I just hope they are okay," said Nelson. "I see tons of people streaming back and forth from the campus and bars. It is concerning for the people who participate in that kind of activity." 

A spokeswoman for William & Mary sent a statement to 13News Now, saying, "Our thoughts go out to those injured. We are grateful no William & Mary students were involved."

In addition, the spokeswoman sent us the email students received, saying their safety is a top priority. It went on to say campus police will increase patrols in the area where those restaurants are on Scotland Street and Richmond Road on the weekends through the end of the academic year. 

According to court records, Jackson was on parole at the time of the Sunday shooting. He was previously charged with threatening someone with a gun.  

Jackson faces nine felony charges, including aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding, use of a firearm to commit a felony and shooting a firearm in public place resulting in injury. He's held in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bond. 

The Williamsburg Police Department is asking anyone who might have information about this incident to please contact them at 757-220-2331. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Peninsula Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or they can submit a tip online or by using the P3 Tips App on a mobile device.

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