University student shot to death in South Carolina

A student at Coastal Carolina University in the US state of South Carolina has died after being shot outside his dormitory building, university officials say.

The victim, identified as 19-year-old sophomore Anthony Darnell Liddell from Bennettsville, died on Tuesday evening after being shot at his residence hall near the school’s Conway campus, university spokeswoman Martha Hunn said on Wednesday.

Liddell was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, where he was pronounced dead.

The suspected shooter left in a vehicle and police continue to search for him, according to school officials.

The shooting prompted school officials to order a lockdown of campus buildings through the night on Tuesday.

There have been several deadly shootings across the United States over the past few months, putting the issue of lax gun control laws back in the spotlight.

On December 14, a 20-year-old man, identified as Adam Lanza, killed twenty children and six adults before pointing the gun at himself at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut.

In a shooting incident a week later, four people, including the shooter, were killed in the state of Pennsylvania. A number of police officers were also injured during the exchange of fire.

In another incident on December 28, 2012, a gunman shot and injured three police officers at the Gloucester Township Police Department in New Jersey. The gunman, reportedly a prisoner at the Gloucester Township station, was shot and killed by the officers.

Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot and killed in the US.

The US averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.

The year 2012 has been a record-setting year for gun sales in the US.

About 4.5 million firearms are sold annually in the United States at a cost of 2 to 3 billion dollars.

Over 100,000 US citizens have signed an online petition to the White House, dubbed “We the People,” asking US President Barack Obama’s administration for a renewed national debate on gun control.