A reader brought to our attention this story from The Hilltop, Howard University’s student newspaper, covering an apparent drive-by shooting in one of the campus parking lots last week. According to the article:

At exactly 2 a.m. Wednesday morning in the West Towers parking lot, a drive by shooting occurred. Four gun shots, the sound of tires screeching and yelled explicits woke some students up abruptly. “All I heard was gunshots, so I walked to the window and saw a gold car drive by,” said junior speech pathology major Nyla Funderburk

…When campus police were contacted by The Hilltop, they said that the case was “already being investigated”.

This is old news by now, having happened over a week ago, with this article in The Hilltop appearing on Tuesday. What surprises us more is that the Hilltop’s story seems to be the only place this was covered anywhere, be it print, television or blog. We realize that “if it bleeds, it leads,” and no one was injured in this case, but is it true that if no one bleeds, then it might as well have not happened at all?

Considering how shootings in schools and on university campuses are usually big news, that this one flew completely under the radar of anything other than the school newspaper seems odd, even if no one was hurt. Is a shooting without a victim on a college campus really not news, or are the expectations of what’s “news” on an urban campus different from those at a college outside a city?