police respond to reports of gunshot victims near Auburn university

 police respond to reports of gunshot victims near Auburn university

Auburn police dispatcher said early on Sunday that she had no immediate information to release. Police did not immediately return repeated telephone messages seeking comment. A local coroner's office also said it had no information on the situation to immediately give out.

The disaster relief trailer was parked near the entrance to the University Heights apartment complex and large amounts of yellow tape roped off areas around a front entrance area. An Auburn police truck had towed a large array of spotlights to the area outside the building and they were brilliantly lighting up the entrance to the complex early on a dark, overcast morning.

Auburn University campus police said they had no information and referred calls to city police.

Vasha Hunt, a photographer with the Opelika-Auburn News, was at the apartment complex hours earlier and told AP by telephone before dawn that authorities had set up a white tent there where there was a lot of activity. He said police kept a number of bystanders back for hours away from the scene.

Hunt said at least some of those who initially gathered outside appeared to be residents waiting for permission to enter their apartments and about a dozen police cars, ambulances and other emergency vehicles were parked nearby. Some other reports said students looking on in a somber mood at the scene and that some complex residents who showed identification were later let back into their apartments.