ARTICLE UPDATE – 11/15/23:
The PVAMU employee killed in Monday’s campus shooting has been identified as Kendrick Wilder Sr., a 31-year-old father of four.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Devon Elliott Rhodes. He has been charged with murder and remains in the Waller County Jail. University officials said Rhodes previously worked with Wilder at the farm but did not share why or when he had been terminated. Records show Rhodes was out on a $100 bond on a separate charge in Harris County.
Wilder’s wife said he told PVAMU’s human resources department that he “feared for his life” after a fight with the gunman three months prior, Fox 26 reports.
“[Rhodes] got fired three months ago. They knew he was violent because he attacked my husband before at work,” said Mia Wilder. “My husband got suspended. They decided to let my husband come back because he worked there for eight years. He was actually supposed to be promoted to become a supervisor next week.”
Wilder said Rhodes shouldn’t have been let on campus and claims the school “didn’t have the gates locked like they were supposed to.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE – 11/14/23:
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — An employee at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) was shot and killed Monday by a former co-worker at the school’s farm.
University Police Chief Michael Curry said officers received a 911 transfer from the Waller County Sheriff’s Office dispatch regarding a caller who said someone had been shot at Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Farm and Ranch shortly after 9 a.m., ABC13 reports.
When campus police arrived, they found a male victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his back. Officers began performing life-saving measures until Waller County EMS arrived. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene around 10 a.m. Curry said officers also stopped the vehicle of the suspect as he attempted to leave campus. The driver was detained without incident.
Police have not provided a description of the suspect and the victim’s identity has not yet been released. Curry did not say what led up to the shooting but that both men previously worked together at the farm. Charges against the suspect are pending.
A shelter-in-place order was issued on campus, and nearby Jones Elementary School was placed in a “secure state.” All exterior doors were locked and no one was allowed in or out of the building. Both orders were lifted after the suspect was detained.
The university canceled classes for the remainder of the day and said assistance would be made available through its Student Counseling Services and the Employee Assistance Program. The PVAMU Police Department is leading the investigation.
Less than 10 hours later, another shooting occurred on a different Texas college campus located approximately two hours from PVAMU. Around 7 p.m. Monday, a 30-year-old Victoria College student was shot in a campus parking lot. You can read about that incident here.
We will provide additional updates as they are made available.
