Lebanon man arrested in shooting of teen near Dartmouth College

Lebanon man arrested in shooting of teen near Dartmouth College Visit The Boston Globe Scroll to top o...

Lebanon man arrested in shooting of teen near Dartmouth College

Visit The Boston Globe Scroll to top of page

A teen was shot Friday night on the sidewalk outside the Christian Science Reading Room at 1 School St. Hanover, N.H.

HANOVER, N.H. â€" A 22-year-old Lebanon, N.H., man was arrested by police Saturday and charged with the shooting of a teen near the Dartmouth College campus Friday, causing the school to order the community to shelter in place.

Gage Young, 22, was arrested shortly before 3 p.m. by Hanover police, Chief Charlie Dennis said in a statement. Young was charged with second-degree assault, which is a felony, according to the statement.

“Our preliminary investigation has revealed Mr. Young was traveling through the town of Hanover when he discharged a handgun toward the 19-year-old victim, striking him and causing serious bodily injury,” Dennis said in the statement.

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The two men did not know each other, Dennis told the Globe in an e-mail. It was not clear whether the teen was an intended target.

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The teen was taken by ambulance to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he remains in stable condition, Dennis said.

Earlier in the day, Dennis called the shooting an isolated event and said “no further safety concerns related from those involved in this incident.”

The victim was shot just before 10 p.m. on the sidewalk outside the Christian Science Reading Room at 1 School St., college officials said a statement posted on the school’s website early Saturday.

The reading room, which is part of the First Church of Christ Scientist, is about a block from downtown Hanover, and about a block-and-a-half from the college.

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The victim is not affiliated with Dartmouth, the statement said.

The campus community sheltered in place “as soon as gunshots were reported by police to Dartmouth Safety and Security officials,” the statement said.

Automated alerts were sent out to students, faculty, and staff by phone and e-mail shortly after 10 p.m., the statement said. The shelter notification was lifted Saturday at 12:46 a.m.

According to Dennis, a 911 call reporting a possible gunshot victim was received by the Hanover Communication Center at approximately 9:45 p.m. Hanover police, fire, and EMS personnel responded to the scene.

When they arrived, the victim was found on the ground, the statement said. EMS personnel treated him at the scene before he was taken to the hospital.

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Hanover police aske anyone who was in the area of School, West Wheelock, and Allen streets who heard or saw anything that night, to contact them at 603-643-2222, Dennis said in the statement.

The shooting led to a “large police response” from departments in the region and from New Hampshire State Police, the statement said.

“Police investigated several reports of gunfire-like sounds at other locations in Hanover, but found nothing to indicate that shots had been fired in any other location,” the statement said.

Word of the shooting shook students at the elite Ivy League school, nestled in a bucolic Granite State town. But those who spoke to the Globe grew up in an era of school shootings and campus lockdowns, and Friday night’s shelter-in-place order had a familiar ring.

“Honestly, I’ve been a bit desensitized, and I can’t just be surprised and shocked every time this happens,” said 19-year-old Nicholas Zhang, of Cupertino, Calif.

Z hang sheltered in his dorm with friends Friday night, learning about the shooting through a series of e-mails and text messages from the college. He said he remembered lockdowns at his school due as a precaution after receiving reports of bomb threats and people carrying guns.

Friday’s incident was only the latest in a series of emergencies at school, he said.

“You just start to accept it as part of reality in America,” he said.

Students seeking support can contact campus safety and security at 603-646-4000 to speak with a dean or counselor on call, according to school officials.

Danny McDonald and Bryan Marquard of the Globe staff contributed to this report. John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.Source: Google News | Netizen 24 United States