After Monroe Police responded to a shooting near ULM’s campus in the 800 block of Filhiol Avenue Wednesday night, ULM sent out an emergency alert to students, faculty and staff.

The emergency notification system, Warhawk Alert, notified them by automated phone calls, text messages and emails.

Officials sent the first alert at 11:28 p.m., which first informed of the off-campus shooting and the suspect’s status as “not yet in custody.”

The alert advised all members of the ULM community to take caution and to be aware of their surroundings.

Though the suspect had not been found, the emergency alert was lifted at 6:05 a.m. Thursday, and classes resumed as normal.

The update to the alert said, “The ULM campus is safe and secure.”

However, students who live near where the incident occurred decided to take more precautions, as the area has become familiar with violent crimes.

Anirudha Dasgupta, a junior computer science major, lives with other ULM students in an apartment near where it occurred.

“There was a shooting right across from our street. There was a murder on this street. We are a bit scared. For the first time, we didn’t keep our door open for the afternoon sun,” Dasgupta said.

Other ULM students living on Filhiol Avenue expressed concern about the shooting and related events in the area.

“Living on Filhiol has been extremely unnerving. The ULM student who was murdered this summer lived two houses down from me. The shooting early this week was another incident that has put our street in the news,” said Dana Fennell, a junior communications major.

Preliminary investigations revealed that two white males drove to the location to purchase methamphetamine from a black male. The black male then shot the white male passenger in the head.

The victim remains in critical condition in an area hospital and his identity is unknown.

Police have not identified the black male, but he’s described as being approximately 5 feet 10 inches, 180 pounds and wearing dark colored clothing.

Detectives searched the area all night from around 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.  in “an aggressive attempt to find the shooter,” according to Monroe Detective and Director of Media Relations, Reggie Brown.

Brown said 15 officers searched the neighborhood on foot and knocked on all doors in the area. He also said the shooting was “an isolated incident” and part of drug transaction that went “awry.”

“Students and faculty should feel absolutely safe that they’re not in any kind of danger,” Brown said.

Monroe Police are still collecting information in an ongoing investigation to find the suspect, who they do not believe is still in the area.

An official university statement from Brice Jones, ULM’s assistant director of media relations, echoed Brown’s.

The statement said ULM “has taken every action to ensure the safety of our campus.”

It also said the incident did not involve any student, faculty or staff.

Jones also said the Monroe PD’s CASE Unit and Street Crimes Unit worked the area, while Tom Torregrossa, ULM’s police director, increased campus patrol with law enforcement monitoring “all buildings, residence halls and campus property with the utmost scrutiny.”

“We would like to stress that, while the ULM community should always remain vigilant, there is currently no immediate threat to our campus,” Jones said.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Monroe Police at 329-2600 or Crime Stoppers at 388-2274.