CHARLOTTE, N.C. — University of North Carolina Charlotte officials said the school's City Center Building in uptown was locked down briefly Thursday morning after gunshots rang out in the area.
[IMAGES: Shots fired at UNCC uptown building]
An alert was sent out by the school around 9:30 a.m. telling people to avoid the area until further notice.
UNCC Center City is on East 9th Street, near Brevard Street.
Lt. Brad Koch, with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, told Channel 9 a man was walking with his friend down East 9th Street in front of the UNCC Center City Building when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired several shots.
The man was hit by at least one bullet, according to Koch, and showed up a short time later at the hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Nobody else was hurt.
"There certainly could have been additional victims, innocent victims, by standers who are in the school who could have been struck,” Koch said.
Koch said the suspect vehicle sped off and no arrests have been made.
At least one bullet shattered a window at the UNCC Center City Building. Channel 9 crews were first on the scene and could see bullet holes in several glass windows in the front of the building.
"Oh my God, I was freaked out,” student Kaleigh Herold said. “I didn't know what was going on. Are we having class? What are we doing."
Koch said that the UNCC building was not targeted and the victim is not affiliated with the school.
Police are looking over surveillance video in an effort to identify and find the shooter.
School officials said around 10:05 a.m. that the lockdown was lifted and that there was no longer an ongoing threat but still wanted people to avoid the area.
Koch also said two other schools in the area, First Ward Elementary and Charlotte Lab, were briefly placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution.
Over the past 180 days around the area, there have been 62 reports of crime -- one auto theft, six aggravated assaults, one strong armed robbery, a burglary and 31 larcenies.
Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.
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