CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Court documents obtained by CBS 6 reveal Instagram messages sent from the account of the 19-year-old accused of shooting five people at Virginia State University over the weekend.
Camron Harris, 19, who is not a student at VSU, was arrested more than 14 hours after the shooting, which happened around 3:30 a.m. Saturday along Boisseau Street.
Court documents say a person told an officer that they heard Harris was involved in the shooting. The person said Harris and another person had been feuding and had gotten into a verbal argument.
The person told police that a friend overheard Harris say he was going to come back and shoot. They also gave police Harris' Instagram handle.
Court documents say an Instagram story posted to Harris' account showed a video of the VSU campus, time stamped less than 20 minutes before the shooting.
Another person told police that before the shooting, they heard a male named Cameron was planning to shoot due to an argument.
Detectives obtained a phone ping for Harris' phone number, and his device's location was shown on VSU's campus. Investigators were also able to obtain Instagram account information, including messages.
At 1:42 a.m., an Instagram account messaged Harris: "u heard them shots," to which Harris replied, "It was us."
Court documents unveiled a message chain that began at 4:23 a.m. between Harris' account and another user:
User: "Wanna go on a walk ?"
Harris: "I'm so rn"
Harris: "I'm tryna find the gun"
User: [cat laughing emojis] "wait"
Harris: "Oh yes"
User: "Lemme help you"
Harris: "Ale got it"
Harris: [sent photo of a handgun]
Police said Harris' account sent a message at 2:03 a.m. saying, "We js got the shootin."
Officers found Harris hiding in a dorm room closet and interviewed him. Court documents say he confirmed his cell phone number and that the Instagram account was his, stating that no one else uses the account.
Per court documents, Harris denied having a gun and allowed a detective to look through his phone. A detective found photographs of a gun in a green backpack that matched the one shown in a photo in the Instagram messages.
When Harris was detained, the person who tried to hide Harris identified a green backpack as his. Police did not find a firearm in the backpack.
Harris also mentioned a group chat that included other individuals associated with the shooting on his Instagram account. When a detective tried opening Instagram, they found the app had been deleted.
Harris was then taken to the Chesterfield County Jail, where police obtained eight felony warrants: four counts of malicious wounding and four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bond.
At last check, a 21-year-old man, who is not a VSU student, is in critical condition. A 23-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy, who are also not students, had non-life-threatening injuries.
A 20-year-old VSU student who also suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting has been released from the hospital.
Police said additional charges may be filed.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
