Father of Five Fatally Shot One Block from Union College
A 22-year-old father of five was fatally shot one block west of Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska this afternoon. Law enforcement said that the victim was Edgar “E.J.” Union Jr., a 2013 graduate of Lincoln High School.
The Lincoln Journal Star reported that Union had five daughters: a 2-year-old, 3-year-old triplets and a 6-year-old and had lived in Lincoln for about 15 years. Law enforcement suspect that the shooting was the result of a brawl.
Police have not reported any arrests made, although Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said that it was assumed that Union knew the shooter.
“This does not appear to be a random act and we believe there is not an ongoing threat to the general public,” the Lincoln Police Department tweeted.
The shooting prompted a 30-minute Union campus lock-down. The shooting had nothing to do with the college or any of the Adventist entities in the area. None of the students, staff or church members were involved.
“We thank God for keeping Union’s campus safe, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those involved in the shooting,” the college said on its website.
The shooting took place in the College View neighborhood in Lincoln which surrounds Union College, College View Seventh-day Adventist Church, College View Academy, the AdventSource resource center for the North American Division of the Adventist denomination, the Christian Record ministry for the blind and the local Adventist Book Center.
The neighborhood was originally known as Peanut Hill in the 19th century when Adventists first arrived in the area to start a college. The neighborhood was so named because at the time Adventists connected to Battle Creek Sanitarium were promoting peanuts as an alternative to meat.
