Student shot and killed on the Jackson State University campus
Jackson MS. October 17, 2023
An investigation is underway at Jackson State University after a student was killed in a shooting on campus.
A statement released by acting President Elayne Hayes-Anthony said Jaylen Burns was taken to a hospital from campus after reports of shots being fired at the University Pointe Apartment Complex, which is on the Valley Street side of campus. The shooting was reported about 10 p.m. Sunday.
According to police, Burns apparently tried to drive himself to the hospital, but couldn’t make it.
“We made contact with the man at Lynch Street and Alta Vista, who had been shot multiple times,” said Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade. “Upon speaking with a witness on scene, she had said it had transpired on the campus of JSU, near the apartment complex University Pointe.”
Burns was an industrial technology major from Chicago and a campus leader.
WLS in Chicago spoke to Burns’ father, Jason Burns, who said his son was with one of his fraternity brothers, who wanted to break up with his girlfriend and get his things out of her apartment. Jason Burns said he was told the girl had a group of people at her apartment, where a fight broke out and someone had a gun.
Jason Brown told WLS that his son was trying to break up the fight when he was shot and killed.
“He wasn’t a violent kid, he didn’t know anything about guns or fighting or gangs, you know, anything about that,” Jason Burns told the news station in Chicago. “He just — I don’t know, I never felt like this before in my life.”
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JPD is assisting campus police with the investigation into the fatal shooting. Officers worked throughout the night and Monday morning scouring the apartment complex looking for clues.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jaylen’s family, friends and all those who knew him,” Hayes-Anthony said in a message to students. “He was an ambitious and bright young man, who believed in being of service as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and president of the C100 Chapter at JSU, an affiliate of the 100 Black Men of America. We grieve the tragic loss of his life due to this act of violence.”
She encouraged faculty, staff and students in need of grief support to contact the Latasha Norman Center for Counseling Services at 601-979-0374 or email latashanormancenter@jsums.edu. Classes were suspended Monday in response to the shooting.
