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Northwestern University orders shelter-in-place after shooting near campus leaves man dead and 2 teens injured

The school in Evanston, Illinois, called for students and faculty members to shelter in place Wednesday night.
Northwestern University orders shelter-in-place after shooting near campus leaves man dead and 2 teens injured
Northwestern University urged students and faculty to shelter in place as police searched for suspects in the shooting on Wednesday. Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune via Getty Images file

A man was killed and two teenagers were injured, one of them critically, in a shooting on a Chicago-area beach that prompted officials at nearby Northwestern University to order students and faculty to shelter in place as police searched for the shooters.

Officers were called to Clark Street Beach in Evanston, north of Chicago and just south of Northwestern University's campus, for reports of a shooting Wednesday night, Evanston police said just before 9 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET).

They found three male gunshot victims, the department said. A man, who police said was either 18 or 19, died, while a 15-year-old was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Another 15-year-old suffered a minor gunshot wound, police said.

At least two people were believed to have fled, first on foot and then in a vehicle, police said.

They were last seen fleeing north toward Northwestern University's Evanston campus, the school tweeted as it issued a call for students and faculty members to shelter in place.

The emergency order was lifted just over an hour later, before 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET).

"There is no danger to life safety at this time and no longer a need to shelter in place," the university said. "Police are confident the suspects are no longer in the area."

No arrests appeared to have been made early Thursday.

Police tweeted that none of the victims were associated with Northwestern, and they noted that the incident did not occur on campus.

They said that the shooting did not appear to be a random act and that there was "no indication of danger to the public." Still, police urged caution and asked residents to report anything suspicious.