A shooting occurred on the 300 Block of East Street, Bloomsburg on Saturday Nov. 1 at around 11:30 p.m.. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg by at least one round. According to the police report, the round that hit the boy’s leg was fired by a handgun.  

In the police report the suspect is described as being a male wearing a dark colored sweatshirt, red pants, black and white colored sneakers and a black beanie style hat. The suspect was last seen on surveillance footage running north on East Street towards East 3rd Street.  

Police found evidence at the crime scene showing that there were three rounds fired from the handgun.  

The university sent an email out to Bloomsburg students, staff and faculty saying “The university is aware of a shooting incident that occurred overnight in the 300 Block of East Street in Bloomsburg. While no university students were victims, a sixteen-year-old male juvenile was struck by at least one round fired from a handgun.” 

While the crime happened off-campus, many students are still concerned due to how close it was to campus and off-campus housing.  

Christian Giovacchini, a sophomore Bloomsburg student says “I was about a block away from the shooting. When it happened, I was pretty unphased, I didn’t believe a shooting could happen at Bloom.”  

Giovacchini continues to say that he walked right past the scene to go check on his friends. When asked how he feels about Bloomsburg’s safety, he said “I still have faith in Bloomsburg safety. A lot of cops arrived, and they locked down the areas very well. For me, it was more unnerving than scary.”  

Mason Resh, a sophomore student at Bloomsburg, was out partying for “Halloweekend”. He explains that they were at the Fraternity house of Beta Sigma Delta.  

“Once we got word of the shooting, me and everyone else I knew there left. We went to Main Street to go find our friends,” Resh says.  

Resh continues to say “I feel as though safety on campus is iffy. In today’s world, it’s hard to trust anyone. I definitely feel like there needs to be more of a police presence, especially when we have these big weekends [i.e. Halloween, Block Party]. . . Because just like Saturday, you never know what can happen.”  

The suspect of the shooting has yet to be put into custody. The Town of Bloomsburg Police Department requests that anyone with any additional security footage or evidence contact them at 570-784-6300.