At around 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, two people were killed in a school shooting at the University of South Carolina. Reports from Fox News say that the shooting took place on the fourth floor of a five-story building in the bustling state capitol.

According to the Charlotte Observer, a professor from the university's public health division was gunned down in what authorities called a murder-suicide. Although not yet officially disclosed, reports say that one of the two people killed was Raja Fayad, a graduate director and head of the division of applied physiology at the campus' Arnold School of Public Health.

The shooter, however, is still yet to be identified.

Almost half an hour after the shooting happened, Newsweek reported that the school alerted the students, saying, "Shooting at New School of Public Health. Remain indoors. Obey officials." After the first message was released students said that they were moved to safer school buildings as the campus was placed on lockdown, with some students kept in classrooms as requested by the campus police.

By 2:18 p.m., the students received an update via text message stating that there was "no longer an existing threat on campus."

According to Charlotte Observer, Fayad's neighbor shed some light on what could have accounted for the incident. The professor's next-door neighbor, Fathi Elsahli spoke about Fayad's stormy relationship with his girlfriend, and problems were at its worst a few weeks ago when he moved out to be with another woman.

University president Harris Pastides later acknowledged the murder-suicide, addressing the incident in a statement posted on the school's website. "Today, the USC family experienced a great tragedy. The thoughts and prayers of our entire community are with the families of the deceased tonight. We know the grieving period will be long and our counseling center is available to anyone who may need assistance."

Students praised the way the university handled the incident, with senior Cole Mumpower saying, as quoted by Charlotte Observer, "Our school was proactive about this. I don't feel unsafe. But this is scary to know stuff like this can happen so close."

Others, however, are more critical. Public relations student Emilie Dawson told the Charlotte Observer, "I was in class when we got the alerts, and the teacher had no kind of procedure to follow. I was shocked after events on campuses like Virginia Tech, that there was no procedure or way to get information to the professors faster than the students. The university needs some kind of plan for this."

This is not the first time that a shooting on-campus occurred in the university. Charlotte Observer added that in 1979, an 18-year-old killed two students and wounded five at an on-campus fraternity party, making it the worst on-campus crime in the university's history.