RADFORD, Va. – Daran Perkins was laying in bed when shots rang out Tuesday night in the 500 block of Fairfax Street, about a block away from Radford University.
"You could look out the door and see that there were cops over this way, but you didn't really know what was going on," Perkins said.
Radford University junior Andrew Scott lives about a block away from where the shots were fired, but was asleep at the time and did not hear them.
Messages on his phone were what woke him up and alerted him.
"It was just a bunch of GroupMes and text messages from people wanting to make sure I was OK," Scott said.
According to police, someone shot at a car and then ran away.
That doesn't bother Scott.
"I feel like we have one incident a year and then nothing else really happens for the rest of the year," Scott said.
A university alert Tuesday night advised anyone on campus to stay inside, but the university was not on lockdown.
"At no time were they unable to leave," said Caitlyn Scaggs, Radford University's university relations associate vice president.
She emphasized if there's ever a question about whether to send out an alert or wait for more information to avoid any possible confusion, the university will always err on the side of caution.
"Safety is always priority. We are going to prioritize a quick warning with as much information as we have at the time," Scaggs explained.
Anyone who receives an alert cannot reply to it for more information or clarification.
Scaggs said the university's police department works very closely with the city of Radford's police department to keep the public updated as much as possible as information becomes available.
"We're always open to growing and learning and improving upon what we do," Scaggs said.
Radford police were not available Wednesday for an update on the investigation.