Campus Alert Archive
Duquesne

Five Duquesne Basketball Players Shot Outside Vickroy Hall After a Black Student Union Dance

PAshootingadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At approximately 2:00 AM EDT on September 17, 2006, five Duquesne University men's basketball players were shot outside Vickroy Hall on Duquesne's Bluff campus in Pittsburgh after returning from a Black Student Union dance. William B. Holmes III, 19, of Pittsburgh, fired approximately 12 shots at players Sam Ashaolu, Shawn James, Kojo Mensah, Aaron Jackson, and Stuard Baldonado following an argument about a woman flirting with the team. Ashaolu, shot twice in the head, was the most severely injured. The shooting predates the modern Clery emergency-notification framework by two years; in 2006 Duquesne notified students of the on-campus violence primarily through email, the campus police phone tree, and the student newspaper Duquesne Duke.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
5
Institution
Duquesne University
Private R2 · PA
~8,300 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPhone
Approximate reconstruction360 chars
[Duquesne University Police and Pittsburgh Police were dispatched to the area outside Vickroy Hall at approximately 2:15 AM EDT after the shooting of five basketball players. Duquesne did not have a campus-wide SMS notification system in 2006; initial notifications to students were limited to in-person evacuation by RAs and word of mouth in residence halls.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The shooting occurred outside Vickroy Hall, a residence hall on the Bluff campus, immediately after players left the Black Student Union dance
Duquesne adopted a campus-wide SMS emergency notification system (DU Alert) only after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting
On the night of September 17, 2006, RAs in nearby residence halls knocked on doors to lock down the buildings during the police response
All five gunshot victims were transported to UPMC Mercy Hospital, located adjacent to the Duquesne campus on the Bluff
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction299 chars
[Duquesne University President Charles J. Dougherty issued an early-morning email to the campus community confirming that five members of the men's basketball team had been shot outside Vickroy Hall and were receiving treatment at UPMC Mercy. Campus operations continued; classes were not canceled.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

President Dougherty's email — sent to campus distribution lists during early morning hours of Sept. 17 — was the first university-wide notification of the shooting
Duquesne did not cancel classes; instead the university held a campus-wide prayer service that evening and increased visible police presence on the Bluff
The use of email as the primary mass-notification mechanism reflects the pre-2008 era; the Clery emergency-notification rule had not yet been promulgated
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction293 chars
[Duquesne University Police, working with Pittsburgh Police, identified and charged William B. Holmes III, Derek Scott Lee, and Brittany Jones in connection with the shooting. The university issued additional updates to the campus community about the investigation and player recovery status.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Holmes turned himself in to Pittsburgh Police several days after the shooting; Lee and Jones were arrested shortly thereafter
Sam Ashaolu's recovery — including learning to walk and speak again — became a long-term institutional story for Duquesne over the following years
Brittany Jones, a Duquesne student who allegedly helped the shooters bypass dance security, was charged with conspiracy and barred from campus
Context

Background

The September 17, 2006 Duquesne University shooting is one of the most consequential pre-Virginia Tech, on-campus, multi-victim shootings at a private American university. At approximately 2:00 AM EDT, five members of the Duquesne men's basketball team — Sam Ashaolu, Shawn James, Kojo Mensah, Aaron Jackson, and Stuard Baldonado — were shot outside Vickroy Hall, a residence hall on Duquesne's Bluff campus in Pittsburgh, immediately after they left a Black Student Union dance held in the student union. According to court records, William B. Holmes III, 19, and co-defendant Derek Scott Lee, 19, had attended the dance with Duquesne student Brittany Jones, who was alleged to have helped them bypass security frisking. After Jones flirted with members of the team, an argument ensued; Holmes and Lee allegedly retrieved firearms and opened fire as the players exited the building. Sam Ashaolu, a Nigerian-born transfer player who attended high school in Toronto, was shot twice in the head; bullet fragments remained lodged permanently in his brain and his playing career ended. Holmes was sentenced to 18 to 40 years; Lee received 7-14 years; Jones received two years probation and was barred from the Duquesne campus. The case is significant for this archive because it occurred at a private American university just seven months before the Virginia Tech shooting, and Duquesne's notification response — relying on RA door-knocking and a presidential email rather than SMS — illustrates the state of campus emergency communications in the months immediately preceding the federal regulatory shift that would mandate SMS-capable notification systems across U.S. higher education.
Analysis

Key Findings

Five basketball players were shot in a single incident outside a residence hall, with all five surviving but Sam Ashaolu sustaining permanent brain damage
Duquesne had no SMS-capable mass-notification system in September 2006; the modern Clery emergency-notification framework would be enacted two years later
The shooting occurred seven months before the Virginia Tech massacre, illustrating the pre-2008 state of campus alert practice at a typical private R2 institution
Sam Ashaolu's recovery — learning to walk and speak again over years of rehabilitation — became a defining institutional narrative for Duquesne
A Duquesne student was charged for allegedly helping the shooters bypass dance-security frisking, illustrating insider-facilitated weapons-on-campus risk
Outcome
Five players shot, all survived. Sam Ashaolu sustained the most serious injuries, including bullet fragments lodged permanently in his brain. Holmes was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted homicide and aggravated assault. Co-defendant Derek Scott Lee, 19, received 7-14 years. Brittany Jones, the Duquesne student who allegedly helped the shooters bypass dance security, received two years probation and was barred from campus.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    5 Duquesne Players Shot; One in Critical Condition - Washington Post
    washingtonpost.com
  2. News
    Man Who Shot 5 Duquesne Basketball Players Sentenced to Up to 40 Years - Fox News
    foxnews.com
  3. News
    Last Duquesne shooting defendant pleads guilty - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    post-gazette.com
  4. News
    Last defendant in Duquesne shooting pleads guilty - ESPN
    espn.com
  5. Source
    Sam Ashaolu - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  6. News
    Nine Years Later, Revisiting Duquesne Men's Basketball Shooting - Only A Game (WBUR)
    wbur.org
  7. Student Paper
    Campus shooting lawsuit dismissed - Duquesne Duke
    duqsm.com
Tags
shootingathletes-targetedresidence-hall2000spre-emergency-notificationpennsylvaniapittsburghprivate-r2pre-virginia-techhistorical
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion