NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Halloween night was a time of fear for students living in a neighborhood just off campus.

“I saw her bleeding from the back of her head, so I ripped off my shirt and put it on the back of her head and just held it there.”

ODU student Christian Clements describes what happened after a girl got shot in his neighborhood about two hours after midnight. She was grazed and is expected to recover.

Clements lives on 42nd Street and neighbors say gunfire here is not uncommon.

“Everyone hears it and they get all hyped up and then they forget about it. And it happens again and it’s like, is this really supposed to be that normal?” said Mickal Mikuria, and ODU student who lives down the street. 

The university did not send out a safety alert. Because the shooting happened off campus, the university says it did not fall under alert requirements in the Federal Cleary Act.

“It was not on our campus property,” said ODU Director of Communications Giovanna Genard. “However we did send a notification in partnership with Norfolk Police later that afternoon.”

Student Trevon Majette disagrees with the way the alerts are determined. 

“Even though the boundary is 43rd street they should cover this street because there’s a lot of ODU students who live on this street.”

Genard says students who live in off-campus neighborhoods can get the latest safety notices by signing up for alerts from Norfolk Police.

Clements says he will sign up.

“Definitely. Anything to keep us safe. Especially on this street it’s always dangerous at night.”